The Scottish Government has launched its first Techscaler hub in Silicon Valley, as part of an initiative to help promising startups from Scotland build contacts with international investors and customers.
The month-long pilot Techscaler programme provides office space by Mindspace for 12 startups in San Francisco, one of the world’s leading startup communities, close to Silicon Valley, the city’s venture capital finance district. The new businesses are developing entrepreneurial ideas in areas from health technology to space tech.
Technology incubator CodeBase is running the programme and is aiming 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.
Launched in November 2022, Techscaler is a nationwide tech startup support programme to build the Scottish tech ecosystem, and was established following the key recommendations of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review (STER), authored by Mark Logan, chief entrepreneurial advisor to the Scottish Government.
Ahead of a speech in Edinburgh disccuding on priorities for the Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy portfolio, Mairi McAllan, Wellbeing Economy Secretary, commented: “Our £42million Techscaler network is showcasing some of Scotland’s most promising startups on the global stage. The pilot Techscaler San Francisco hub is helping businesses make connections in the world’s leading startup community.
“The benefits are clear, our startups are expanding their networks and engaging with communities of like-minded individuals of owners, startups 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 startup communities, we are setting an example internationally and helping drive a fair and growing economy.”
All eyes on Silicon Valley
Daniel Grant, founder of notation.dev, one of the first companies to use the Techscaler hub, commented: “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.”
The Techscaler programme offers startups in the region a range of benefits, to help grow their network, including:
- Guidance and support from experts, including industry operators, educators, founders, and investors
- In-person, online, and hybrid events to meet other founders and industry experts to expand their network
- Flexible hotdesking, dedicated offices, meeting rooms and event spaces in its seven Scottish hubs
- Access to curated content, toolkits, and playbooks created by founders with startup growth experience
Dan Zakai, co-founder and CEO of Mindspace, also added: “Mindspace works with governments from several countries to create landing spaces for startups. It’s amazing that the Scottish Government has joined that list. We have seen first hand the value of exposing startups to the San Francisco tech ecosystem. We hope to do more in future and to make the Techscaler hub a permanent fixture.”
