News > LaunchMe Year in Review – Celebrating Impact and Growth

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LaunchMe Year in Review – Celebrating Impact and Growth

As we approach the end of another year, it feels like the right moment to pause and reflect on what the LaunchMe community has achieved. And honestly? It’s been remarkable.

Scottish Edge Success Story  

If there’s one thing that demonstrates the quality of support provided by LaunchMe, it’s this: LaunchMe has now supported the last four Scottish Edge winners. Four in a row! 

We’re proud to have supported Fair Feast, Narture, Proud Futures, and Smart Gym. It’s not just about winners either. In Round 26, two of the five finalists participated in the LaunchMe programme, and in Spring we supported four out of the seven finalists. These aren’t coincidences – they’re the result of entrepreneurs putting in the work, and a programme that genuinely helps social enterprises prepare for growth. 

Recognition Across the Sector

The ripple effects of impactful support extend far beyond individual businesses. This year has seen LaunchMe participants and partners recognised right across the Scottish social enterprise sector. 

At the Social Enterprise Scotland Awards, we were thrilled to see so many familiar names shortlisted, including Proud Futures (winner!), Highland Yoga Collective, ApparelXchange, Flosverse Techsphere, DataKirk (a LaunchMe partner organisation), and Orkney Dance and Fitness. 

The Social Innovation Challenge brought even more success, with Thrive East Lothian from the LaunchMe Autumn 2025 cohort, winning £50,000 and Point Five Climbing, from the LaunchMe Spring 2025 cohort, awarded £25,000. 

And we’d be remiss not to mention that our CEO Gael Drummond has been recognised in this year’s WISE100 Women in Social Enterprise Awards as a finalist in the Social Business Woman of the Year category. The shortlist also included LaunchMe participants Alena Rogozhkina from Abandoned Artists, Beth Morrison-Findlay from Just Breathe O2, and Starkeeper Morton from The Haven in Stonehaven. 

Investment Readiness Translating to Real Funding

The aim of LaunchMe is to support ambitious social enterprises become ready for investment and growth. This year, LaunchMe participants have achieved this and more. 

Eight Step Up loans have been approved for LaunchMe participants: 

There are more participants in the process of applying now. These aren’t small achievements. Each of these investments represents a social enterprise that’s proven its model, demonstrated its impact, and shown it’s ready to grow. That’s exactly what investment readiness looks like in practice, and Step Up is just the beginning! 

Building for Accessibility and Inclusion

Behind the scenes, we’ve been working hard to make sure LaunchMe continues to evolve and meet the needs of the diverse social entrepreneurs across Scotland. 

Our work with Third Sector Lab on LaunchPad – our digital learning platform – has been transformative. What started as a response to the Access Report has become a comprehensive resource that makes high-quality business support available to social entrepreneurs whenever and wherever they need it. We have designed the content with a diverse range of expert partners and social entrepreneurs, ensuring it reflects real needs and lived experiences. 

LaunchPad spans everything from governance and finance through to marketing, social impact, and diversity and inclusion, with new resources on net zero, procurement and tendering, and mental health under development. Content is arranged into topic rooms, and each room contains videos, written guidance, podcasts, and infographics – all designed to work for different learning styles and accessibility needs. 

Looking Ahead

As we move into 2026, we’re focused on improving further what works, whilst staying responsive to what social entrepreneurs tell us they need. The LaunchMe Autumn 2025 cohort has been wonderfully engaged, with participants making genuine connections and collaborating with each other. Peer support and the community feeling is something we’ll keep nurturing. 

We’re also thinking carefully about how we support social entrepreneurs at every stage – from those just starting out with an idea that will require investment, through to established organisations looking for significant investment to enable growth. The landscape of social enterprise support needs to work for everyone, and we’re committed to playing our part in making that happen.

Thank You

None of this happens in isolation.

Thank you to every LaunchMe participant who’s trusted us to support your journey, to our expert partners who bring such valuable knowledge and experience, and to the wider Firstport team who work tirelessly to make social enterprise accessible, achievable, and aspirational. 

Here’s to another year of supporting brilliant people doing important work. 

If you’re a social enterprise interested in joining LaunchMe, applications for our next cohort open in early 2026. For more information about the Investment Readiness Programme, visit LaunchMe – Firstport or get in touch with the team at launchme@firstport.org.uk.