The 13 hottest startups in Scotland

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13. Twig

13. Twig

Twig is an education company that creates digital learning materials (mostly in the form of short, three-minute videos) for seven to 16 year olds.

Twig World is free to state schools in Scotland thanks to a partnership with Education Scotland, but its materials are offered through a subscription service to the rest of the UK. It is also available to some schools in the US, Japan, Spain, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Australia, South Africa, Korea and Brazil.

Total amount raised: Unknown

Headcount: 50

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12. Clear Returns

12. Clear Returns

According to Scottish startup Clear Returns, up to one-third of all online orders are returned, and processing them can be expensive. First-time buyers can also be seriously put off by an item that doesn't really match its online description, and might never shop with that retailer again.

Clear Returns uses data analytics to establish which products are consistently being sent back, and why. CEO Vicky Brock calls these "toxic items," as some of them raise the likelihood of a customer's entire order being returned.

Some customers are "serial returners" too, taking advantage of free returns to order products that they rarely keep.

British fashion retailer M&Co saved £415,000 after it stopped actively promoting the top 10% of frequently returned items, thanks to data provided by Clear Returns. The company partnered with IBM in July to use its big data and analytics to help out even more retailers.

Total amount raised: $134,260 (£86,878)

Headcount: 15

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11. Administrate

11. Administrate

Administrate is a Scottish success story because it's doing particularly well outside its home market. Its software helps training companies and training departments manage their admin, deliver e-learning, and keep their websites up to date and take online bookings.

It doubled its staff last month after winning lots of overseas contracts with companies like Boston Whaler, Ag Leader, and NSF. Now, 50% of its revenue comes from overseas. Adminstrate says it has served over 2 million students, and other customers include PwC, Elsevier, Scania, Becker, and learndirect.

Total amount raised: $1.54 million (£997,000)

Headcount: 32

10. 4J Studios

10. 4J Studios

Games developer 4J Studios created the console version of "Minecraft." According to founder Chris van der Kuyl, the game hasn't been out of the top 10 in global gaming charts in the last five years since its launch, and has now sold 20 million copies.

Funding: Unknown

Headcount: 22

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9. Flavourly

9. Flavourly

If you watched this year's "Dragons' Den," you'll be familiar with gourmet food and beer startup Flavourly. The company delivers packages of food and beer from independent suppliers to subscribers on a monthly basis, which include products such as bacon jam and chilli popcorn.

Founder Ryan O'Rourke and CEO Assean Sheikh famously turned down a £75,000 joint investment from "Dragons' Den" investors Piers Linney and Peter Jones after this year's show finished. Instead, Flavourly launched a campaign on Crowdcube, and smashed its £300,00 target to raise £515,000 in the biggest round of crowdfunding for a Scottish company yet.

The company has now shipped over 1 million products and has 10,000 subscribers across both its clubs.

Total amount raised: $955,980 (around £618,000)

Headcount: 11

8. Celtic Renewables

8. Celtic Renewables

Biotech firm Celtic Renewables is the first company to create biofuel from the byproducts of the scotch whisky fermentation process.

The company developed its method on an industrial scale capable of fuelling cars in Belgium, but was recently awarded a grant of £11 million by the UK government to build its own facility in central Scotland.

Total amount raised: $2 million (£1.29 million), plus UK government grant

Headcount: 9

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7. Outplay Entertainment

7. Outplay Entertainment

Dundee-based mobile games developer Outplay has released games such as "Mystery Match," "Bubble Blaze," "Alien Creeps TD," and the popular "Monster Legacy." In March the games studio partnered with Angry Birds developer Rovio to launch a bubble shooter game called "Angry Birds Stella POP!" (now known as "Angry Birds POP!").

Outplay's newest title is "Craft Candy," which launched in October.

Total amount raised: £7.8 million.

Headcount: 100

6. ZoneFox

6. ZoneFox

Zonefox's insider threat detection program lets companies quickly identify when someone is trying to steal information from within their organisation.

Its customers vary from high-tech manufacturing companies through to games developers, and the company recently helped an engineering firm spot someone trying to take £10 million worth of intellectual properly out the door.

Total amount raised: £1.7 million in equity investment, £500,000 in grants and other awards.

Headcount: 9

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5. PureLifi

5. PureLifi

pureLiFi is developing an alternative to wireless networking called "LiFi," which uses LED light to send data from one device to another. The company spun out from the University of Edinburgh, and shipped its first product, called Li-Flame, at the end of last year. Li-Flame makes standard LED fixtures into access points for Internet devices.

People are getting more and more interested in this idea, which is called visible light communication (VLC). NASA has already inked a deal with an LED equipment company, LVX System, to explore using LiFi aboard the International Space Station instead of Wi-Fi.

Total amount raised: $4.6 million (£2.97 million)

Headcount: 16

4. Money Dashboard

4. Money Dashboard

Money Dashboard gathers a user's banking and credit card accounts into one place to help them better manage their finances. It's free to use, and works with most major banks and credit and debit card companies.

Its software now has more than 100,000 users, and generates more than a million transactions a week. It launched iOS and Android apps at the end of September, which boosted downloads of its product by 80%.

Total amount raised: $7.79 million (£5 million).

Headcount: Unknown

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3. Mallzee

3. Mallzee

Described as a "Tinder for fashion," Mallzee's app lets users to swipe through more than a million products from hundreds of retailers.

The company raised £2.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Royal Mail in July. Before that, Cally Russell turned down an £75,000 offer from Peter Jones on "Dragons' Den" for 15% of the business.

Russel says Mallzee's revenues have grown by 500% this year (but isn't sharing what they actually are), and sayd that the app now boasts "hundreds of thousands" of users.

Total amount raised: $4.96 million (£3.2 million)

Headcount: 22

2. Fanduel

2. Fanduel

Fantasy sports site Fanduel was formed in Edinburgh, and still has a base there. But its product, which offers games in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college-level football and basketball, is aimed entirely at the US and Canadian market. The company's headquarters are now in New York.

Still, Fanduel is a Scottish success story. It grew by 300% in 2014 and its revenue increased from $14 million (£9.1 million) in 2013 to $57 million (£37.2 million) in 2014. The company has over one million paying users and is predicted to pay out $2 billion (£1.3 billion) in prizes this year.

The company raised a $275 million (£177 million) Series E round in July, and is now valued at over $1 billion (£654 million).

But things are getting a little difficult for the fantasy sports giant. Earlier this month, the FBI and US Justice Department started looking into the business models of Fanduel and rival Draftkings to establish whether daily fantasy sports betting violates federal gambling statutes. That investigation started a scandal over whether employees were using inside information to win on competitor sites.

Total amount raised: $363 million (£243 million)

Headcount: 500

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1. Skyscanner

1. Skyscanner

Skyscanner is one of Scotland's most famous startups. Initially a search engine for flights, the company now lets users compare hotels and car hire too. The company reported revenues of £93 million in 2014, with profits at around £17 million.

Longtime investor Scottish Equity Partners is rumoured to be selling 10% of its stake in the company at a price that could value Skyscanner at $1 billion (£654 million).

Total amount raised: $5.19 million (£3.36 million)

Headcount: Over 700