Opportunity North East Limited

🤝 Strong regional partnerships and diverse leadership are essential to driving long-term prosperity across the North East. This is a fantastic opportunity to play a strategic role in championing Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire as a world-class destination to live, work, visit and invest. If you have experience in areas such as business growth, digital innovation, education and skills, food and drink, creative industries, governance or regional economic development, take a look at this opportunity with VisitAberdeenshire. 👇

ICYMI - the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) returns to the UK in 2027 and the north east is hosting! WRC Rally Scotland is a new gravel-based event, based in north-east Scotland with stages running across Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray.  Our dramatic landscapes and world-class forest roads are expected to provide a spectacular sporting challenge for the WRC’s leading drivers and manufacturers, while the region’s infrastructure and transport links offer a strong platform for teams, media and fans attending the event. The agreement forms an initial three-year deal beginning in 2027 and ends an eight-year absence for the championship in the UK, following the most recent running of Wales Rally GB in 2019. The World Rally Championship has a global TV audience of 1.3bn people and on average, each European rally generates €41m in economic impact. This week, a council report predicted the World Rally Championship could generate around 76,000 hotel room nights and inject up to £20 million a year into the city economy alone. Last week, Motorsport UK outlined some of the opportunities for local businesses to get involved This is more than a major sporting event. It’s a clear signal of the North East’s growing reputation as a destination capable of hosting world-class international events – backed by strong infrastructure, outstanding landscapes and a collaborative regional partnership. Sign up at the Rally Scotland website to stay up to date with opportunities linked to the event – from supply chain and services to hospitality and experiences. Link in the comments 👇 VisitAberdeenshire Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce Aberdeenshire Council Aberdeen City Council

👏 Aberdeen-based Aqura Systems has been named the winner of the Regional EDGE Winner of Winners (WOW) Award, supported by RBS, securing an additional £50,000 after competing against three fellow regional champions from across Scotland. Aqura Systems - an autonomous AI-driven microorganism identification system to generate alerts and predictions of toxic algal blooms for the fish and shellfish farming industries has now secured total award funding of £100,000. Founder Chris Hyde received the award last night at a Scottish EDGE alumni event. Commenting after he said: "I am delighted to have won the winner of winners for Aqura. This additional EDGE award is going to make a huge difference to our product development and launch this year. All of us in the team are extremely excited about the future." Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE added: “Congratulations to Aqura Systems on being named our Regional EDGE Winner of Winners. This award recognises the very best of this year’s Regional EDGE winners, and Aqura Systems impressed the judges with the strength of its vision, ambition and growth potential. “We are also incredibly grateful to Royal Bank of Scotland for its continued support. This new investment is a major vote of confidence in Scottish entrepreneurship and will help us back even more ambitious founders across Scotland in the years ahead.” Opportunity North East Limited works with Scottish EDGE and The Scottish Government to deliver Regional EDGE North East. The competition champions entrepreneurial ambition across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, and the funding is awarded through the rigorous Scottish EDGE process. 👏 Well done Chris! 📸 from Opportunity North East Limited of Chris with the original Regional EDGE North East award 📸 from Scottish EDGE of Chris receiving his award with Darren Pirie, Heidi Simpson (nee Barnes) Dave Furnival

📰 Today, The Press and Journal splash covers the push for a multi-billion pound data centre for #Blackdog, near #Aberdeen. Here’s what ONE CEO Jennifer Craw MBE thinks: 🗨️ "Global investment in AI hyperscale data centres is no longer constrained by demand, it’s constrained by access to reliable, large-scale green energy. That’s where the north east of Scotland stands apart. 🗨️ We have direct access to offshore wind, backed by decades of engineering expertise and an energy system built for delivery. At a time when hyperscalers are competing for access to power, that gives us a genuine competitive edge. 🗨️ This is about bringing together our strengths in energy and our growing cluster of digital tech businesses to establish the north east as a global hub for applied and industrial AI—creating high-value industries, skilled jobs and long-term economic growth. 🗨️ The opportunity is clear: to anchor the next generation of AI infrastructure where power is available, proven and ready to scale.” 📰 You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eQMXicTt If you’ve got views on how the north east can be a global hub for applied and industrial AI, let us know in the comments 👇 📸 Thanks to True North Advisors!

Wishing ALL the finalists in the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce #northernstarawards the very best of luck ahead of the awards ceremony tonight. A particular good luck to those organisations where founders are working with ONE Digital Tech and ONE Food, Drink & Agriculture! dax group COMET Clairvynt AI Ltd Farmlay Eggs Mackie's of Scotland VisitAberdeenshire

Thank you Paul Cheek for a inspirational week of entrepreneurial education - from #AI to #DisciplinedEntrepreneurship and all delivered with energy and purpose. We know founders are already applying their learnings - watch this space for more founder-stories.

📰Did you see ONE in the April edition of the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce Business Bulletin? The April bulletin focuses on #technology, #innovation and #security. ONE CEO Jennifer Craw MBE is on page 4, sharing her thoughts about accelerating AI-driven entrepreneurship in the north east of Scotland. 🗨️ "Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming core infrastructure for innovation driven businesses, enabling small teams to test ideas faster, develop products more quickly and reach customers earlier. 🗨️ "AI is not only accelerating how companies are built - it is also creating entirely new categories of businesses. For regions like the north east, this creates a significant opportunity. 🗨️ "By combining our industrial expertise with digital technology and AI capability, we can build the next generation of climate, energy and industrial technology companies." 👀 We also spotted #digitaltech founder Colin Dawson sharing his thoughts about his digital transformation company dax group. 🗨️"It's all about helping companies succeed in the modern era - putting digital at the forefront. 🗨️"If you want to remain competitive, and you want to build a business that people want to work in, then digitally astute businesses statistically outperform their peers time and time again." 🤔 How do you see #AI shaping the future of #entrepreneurship and #growth in the north east?

📰 A strong week of stories spotlighting the north east’s entrepreneurial ambition! It’s been fantastic to see such prominent coverage of our collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the likes of the Press Journal and Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, highlighting the momentum building across our region’s innovation ecosystem. From the inspirational visit of Paul Cheek to the growing pipeline of AI-driven enterprises taking shape in the north east, it’s been brilliant to see the championing of our region, its entrepreneurs and its future economy. At Opportunity North East Limited, we’re focused on supporting founders to build and scale globally competitive businesses – and raising awareness of that work is a vital part of the journey.

🗨️ "The thing I love most is coming back over, seeing those entrepreneurs, running into them, and hearing their stories of what they went on to do after the programme" In this video, Paul Cheek - serial tech entrepreneur, Senior Advisor to the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, and Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management - explains what happens when global expertise meets regional ambition. From exploring the power of #AI in shaping new ventures to applying the Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework in real time, the energy, curiosity and ambition from participants has been clear to see. At Opportunity North East, we’re committed to building a pipeline of globally competitive, AI-driven enterprises. Collaborations like this are helping to turn that ambition into action. A huge thank you to Paul for sharing his expertise and continuing to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs in the North-east. 👀 Give us a wave if you spot yourself in the video!

📢 AI could help #Aber­deen and the north east trans­form their eco­nomy and spur new busi­nesses.   According to Paul Cheek Executive Director at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, AI will create more jobs than it displaces in the north east.   After working with Opportunity North East and delivering workshops to local founders in Aberdeen last month, Paul sat down with The Press and Journal to share his unique insight on how #AI can transform the regional economy in the north east of Scotland.    The north east has a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of building scalable, AI-driven ventures. 📰 Check out the link in the comments to read the full article