Tech Nation’s Upscale 4.0 has announced its top 30 fast-growing tech companies following a selection process which saw thousands of startups apply.
Upscale is based around honest conversations, meetups and workshops, delivered by scale coaches and seasoned entrepreneurs who have been through it all. The six-month programme is designed to help fast-growth tech companies with fundamental growth challenges, from hiring and international expansion to maintaining company culture.
“I’m delighted to welcome this year’s companies onto the Upscale programme,” said Sinead Daly, Mid-Stage Programme Lead at Tech Nation. “As we enter our fourth year, Upscale has built an incredible network of over 100 alumni, who have a wealth of experience to share with the cohort.”
With a strong focus on peer-to-peer learning, alumni come out of the programme with invaluable knowledge on the pressing, practical and often painful issues founders face. Some of these insights can also be seen in Upscale: the book, which features honest advice from some of the UK’s leading technology entrepreneurs and investors.
This year’s programme kicked off with a launch event at the Farncombe Estate in the Cotswolds on 24–25 January, where companies and founders had the opportunity to network and hear from seasoned experts, including Aneesh Varma, Founder & CEO of Aire, Angie Ma, Co-founder & COO of ASI Data Science and Cherry Freeman, Founder of LoveCrafts, on the challenges of scaling and leadership.
“Our off-site launch event will bring our founders together for the first time,” explained Sinead. “We’ll embed those tight-knit connections upfront, think about what scaling really means and explore how leaders can thrive while managing such rapid growth.”
Leading the way in UK tech
The 30 companies that have been selected represent some of the finest mid-stage talent from across the UK, some of which will grow to be future leaders in the global tech economy.
Tessa Clarke, Co-Founder & CEO of London’s highly successful food sharing startup OLIO, and a member of this year’s cohort, said: “As OLIO transitions from closing our Series A to being Series B ready, we’ll need to take our performance to a new level – we can’t wait to benefit from being part of Upscale 4.0!”
Another new member, James Hadley, Founder & CEO of Bristol-based software company Immersive Labs, added: “Immersive Labs is proud to announce that it will be joining Upscale, We look forward to sharing experiences with other fast-growing companies, while learning from Upscale mentors about how to succeed in a competitive global market.”
Spanning different locations, sizes and levels of performance, Upscale 4.0 also represents companies from across a wide spectrum of sectors, and reflects the growth seen in areas like ecommerce and fintech.
