Glasgow-based Android and IOS developers Motovate Ltd, supported by Business Gateway, has invested £100,000 to develop a mobile app that could revolutionise how businesses manage their personnel and HR teams and save them money by removing their dependency on agency labour.
CEO and founder Kenny Maclean has been supported by Business Gateway Glasgow and the Scottish Enterprise CAN DO Innovation Challenge Fund to create a platform for both UK and international markets. Launched in June 2018 through the University of Glasgow’s International Business School competition, the firm took advantage of The Scottish Enterprise Innovation Challenge, a live portal for innovation projects that allows businesses like Motovate to engage with global companies and opportunities for growth.
The app has been designed to save businesses money and minimise their dependency on agency labour by enabling companies to offer shift work to in-house staff. Key features include allowing employers to determine the real time availability of staff sorted by geo-location, view employee ratings by managers, identify the number of vacancies and also offers training and rewards for app users.
Motovate was the only UK firm invited to speak at the world’s largest technology festival, the Viva Technology Conference in Paris. After showcasing the new technology to Accor Hotel Group, the app is now in trial for roll out with the chain. Guest speakers at Vivatech included Matt Brittin, President of Google Europe and Africa and Usain Bolt, who revealed a new start-up project.
The new technology will solve common challenges faced by businesses such as improving accessibility and driving efficiency. Mobile apps are ideally positioned for growth in this area due to the increased dependency on smart phones alongside changes in work patterns. An additional benefit is that the platform can be rebranded for any business, a feature currently being trialed by DHL and the NHS.
The technology can be tailored to cross sector industries and markets and Motovate has ambitious activation plans for international expansion. One example of where the app can be used to meet the needs of its users is Shanghai, a region that is experiencing huge demand for translation services within healthcare.
Kenny Maclean, CEO, Motovate Ltd, said: “We’re enormously proud of how far we’ve come with Motovate over the last year. Our close relationship with Business Gateway and Scottish Enterprise has helped us to constantly innovate our technology to meet the needs of all users. Innovation is about repurposing what’s already out there. It’s not about reinventing the wheel, it’s using the wheel for something else. That’s my main focus; repurposing a tool to deliver a new outcome.
“Business Gateway is an ‘enabler’ and was crucial in moving my business to the next stage. I’ve been in contact with Business Gateway for fifteen years. Anyone starting out in business would be foolish not to engage with them, it’s a fantastic framework.”
Lynne Gorman, Business Adviser at Business Gateway Glasgow, said: “Business Gateway offers publicly funded support at any stage of the business journey. Over the years we’ve supported Kenny with a range of specialist support services such as financial oversight, legal and intellectual property advice and one-to-one consultancy support.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with Kenny and the team at Motovate to launch what will be the next step in real-time HR and recruitment technology.”
Supported by Glasgow City Council, Kenny MacLean will be a spokesperson at the 2019 VentureFest; a Scottish festival of discovery and innovation that will create more visionary, global businesses that embrace the possibility of tomorrow. Find out more about VentureFest here.
Business Gateway also delivers Scotland’s national digital business skills training programme; DigitalBoost. The programme helps thousands of Scotland’s SMEs thanks to funding from the Scottish Government. DigitalBoost provides local workshops such as; 1:1 support from a digital expert, online tutorials, and practical guides on topics including social media, cyber resilience and data analytics. Since the launch of DigitalBoost in 2016, over 36,000 hours of 1-2-1 support have been provided, free of charge, to over 2000 businesses.
