EIE start-ups raise £40m in funding TECHNOLOGY start-ups that have been showcased at the annual Engage, Invest, Exploit (EIE) forum have raised more than £40 million since the inaugural event in 2008, organiser Informatics Ventures has revealed. EIE alumni that have secured funds since this year's conference, held at Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms in March, include fashion shopping app developer Mallzee, UWI Technology - which makes "smart labels" that signal when food is past its best - and security software specialist ZoneFox. Informatics Ventures, the mentoring organisation led by Gordon Stuart, is now preparing for its second event in London in a bid to forge closer links with potential investors south of the Border. Stuart told Scotland on Sunday that the rationale behind EIE London, to be held on 27 November, is "to get companies in front of investors who wouldn't otherwise make the journey to Scotland, but also encouraging them to come up here to see the bigger picture." He added: "We're great at the angel investor level, but we really need more people to fill the funding gap." Kerry Sharp, head of the Scottish Investment Bank, said: "The London event provides two tremendous opportunities - firstly a valuable platform for the ambitious companies pitching, but more widely it increases our links with investors from London and beyond, which is really important in attracting international capital to Scotland."