Tipping a hat to Scotland's social entrepreneurs, by Nick Freer

Research by American Express earlier this year found that Generation Z business leaders are pioneering a new approach with purpose, profit and wellbeing at the forefront of their ventures.

The study of UK entrepreneurs and senior leaders aged 18-27 revealed that while 88 per cent see hitting profit targets as the key measure of business success, 85 per cent said it’s important for their business to solve problems that others don’t, and 82 per cent of the sample considered their business to be “purpose driven”.

So, what does “purpose driven” actually mean? Respondents of the survey defined this as a business which “makes a positive difference to a significant environmental or social issue” (31 per cent), a business “using its mission and values to guide decision-making” (22 per cent) or one with “clear ethical credentials” (17 per cent). Leaving a positive legacy was crucial in the study, with 93 per cent of respondents wanting to “build something that their family will be proud of”.

For me, when you see a bona fide purpose-driven business out on the coalface you know – as they say, when you know you know. Back in 2017, I met entrepreneur Matt Fountain, who had given up the chance to study a PhD in the economics of art at Oxford in order to set up social enterprise Freedom Bakery in Low Moss prison near Glasgow.

Training inmates to make artisan bread for sale to cafes, restaurants and stores, CEO Fountain said at the time, in a national newspaper report we helped organise: “We incarcerate people as punishment for a crime, but when they get released they get incarcerated again by society”. Chapeau Matt, chapeau.

This week, we handled a press announcement for an initiative which aims to boost the creation and growth of Scottish tech businesses with a social or environmental mission. Techscaler – the Scottish Government’s programme for creating, developing and scaling tech startups run by CodeBase – partnered with The Ventures Lab, a global organisation on a mission to support early stage social entrepreneurs, with a view to strengthening the pipeline of impact-driven startups in Scotland.

Dr Kate Smith, CEO and founder of Edinburgh-based ProfessorMe, is one of the purpose-driven companies already receiving support from the partnership. Having developed what the company describes as “the world’s first AI professor”, she talks about improving the educational experience for students across the world, including in countries with disrupted education systems.

As Kate, a former journalist, puts it: “As a world-positive business, we want to reach learners no matter their personal circumstances or location. Research shows that if a woman receives a university education, it positively impacts her family for the next five generations.”

“We share a vision”, says Smith, “that a better world is possible”.

I guess that gets to the heart of things when it comes to social entrepreneurs and purpose-driven businesses. The Matt Fountains and Kate Smiths of the world should be applauded and feted. Social entrepreneurs of the world, unite and take over!