Scottish Government pushes button on Silicon Valley tech hub to showcase promising start-ups

Since being launched, the Techscaler programme has recruited more than 600 start-up founder members.

The Scottish Government has launched a dedicated Techscaler hub in Silicon Valley to help promising start-ups from Scotland build contacts with global investors and potential customers.

The pilot programme will see office space provided for a dozen fledgling businesses in San Francisco, one of the world’s top start-up communities, close to the Californian city’s venture capital finance district. The new businesses are focused on entrepreneurial ideas in areas including health technology and space tech.

CodeBase, the Scottish technology incubator, is running the programme and aims to create a permanent hub enabling business owners to remain in Scotland in the longer term while maintaining easy access to the San Francisco tech community.

Left to right: Alex Macdougall of Unbagged, Alex Gordon-Furse of Playmaker, Olga Maksimova of Lovat Compliance, at the Techscaler San Francisco Hub.

Daniel Grant, founder of Notation.dev, one of the first companies to use the hub, said: “Joining the San Francisco hub has energised me, and enabled me to connect with people from around the world working at the forefront of tech. The power of San Francisco is the velocity at which information moves through the city. It is a hyper-charged network that accelerates innovation, and connects founders with collaborators, prospects and investors faster than anywhere else in the world.”

Launched in November 2022, Techscaler was established in line with the key recommendations of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review (STER), authored by Mark Logan, chief entrepreneurial advisor to the Scottish Government. Via community hubs across Scotland, the programme delivers start-up education, mentorship, workspaces and a network of partnerships. Since being launched, Techscaler has recruited 643 start-up founder members across 517 companies.

Mairi McAllan, Scottish secretary for wellbeing, net zero and energy, said: “Our £42 million Techscaler network is showcasing some of Scotland’s most promising start-ups on the global stage. The pilot Techscaler San Francisco hub is helping their businesses make connections in the world’s leading start-up community.

“The benefits are clear, our start-ups are expanding their networks and engaging with communities of like-minded individuals of owners, start-ups and investors. This will help increase their visibility and grow their businesses in the global marketplace. Activities like this demonstrate Scotland’s ambition to become one of Europe’s leading start-up communities - we are setting an example internationally and helping drive a fair and growing economy.”

Mindspace co-founder and chief executive Dan Zakai said: “Mindspace works with governments from several countries to create landing spaces for start-ups. It's amazing that the Scottish Government has joined that list. We have seen first hand the value of exposing start-ups to the San Francisco tech ecosystem. We hope to do more in future and to make the Techscaler hub a permanent fixture.”

Last September, the Techscaler “Start-up Next Steps” initiative was launched in a bid to reduce the number of early-stage company failures. The course sees founders and senior team members learn how to plan and lead their technology companies to the next level, beyond the earlier stages of customer acquisition and product launch. It is designed to bridge the gap between the launch and early stage, and the scaling phase of the start-up journey.

Analysis: how CodeBase’s newest Techscaler offering aims to 'move the dial' on company-creation