New programme set to unlock Highlands and Islands’ next generation of digital and technology entrepreneurs

BT and Highlands and Islands Enterprise have launched a year-long scheme to back around 100 tech entrepreneurs and small organisations across the region, offering mentoring, expert advice and funding rather than just another grant pot. BT Group

The Digital and Technology Entrepreneurship programme, led by HIE and delivered with BT, is aimed squarely at the access problem rural and island businesses know well: getting to specialist expertise, investment and technical support without relocating to a city. For fleets running vehicles or depots in the Highlands and Islands, that matters less as a funding story and more as a pipeline to watch - it is a cohort of local entrepreneurs getting backing, not a broader infrastructure rollout. BT Group

Why this matters: Operators with routes or bases in the region should keep an eye on who comes through this cohort - new local suppliers in telematics, EV charging software or route optimisation could emerge from it, and early relationships tend to beat cold outreach later.