The Scottish Government has unveiled the launch of a dedicated technology hub in San Francisco aimed at fostering closer links between start-ups and international investors.
The month-long pilot programme, run by tech incubator CodeBase, will see 12 Scottish startups working in areas ranging from healthtech to spacetech, with office space in San Francisco for two weeks straight. The center is located near the South Park district, home to several venture capital firms.
A key goal of the plan will be to establish a permanent hub in the area, allowing business owners to remain in Scotland while maintaining easy access to San Francisco's tech community.
Scottish welfare economics secretary Mairi McAllan said the program will help raise the visibility of Scottish tech startups and help foster closer links with international partners.
“Our £42 million Techscaler network showcases some of Scotland's most promising startups on the global stage. The Techscaler San Francisco pilot center is helping their companies make connections in the world's leading startup community,” he said .
“The benefits are clear, our startups are expanding their networks and engaging with communities of like-minded owners, startups and investors. This will help increase their visibility and grow their businesses in the global market.”
The center was created with the support of flexible office accommodation provider Mindspace.
“Mindspace works with governments in several countries to create landing spaces for startups. It's amazing that the Scottish Government has joined that list,” said co-founder and CEO Dan Zakai.
“We've seen firsthand the value of exposing startups to San Francisco's tech ecosystem. We hope to do more in the future and make the Techscaler center a permanent fixture.”
Launched in November 2022, Techscaler is a national tech startup support program aimed at strengthening the Scottish tech ecosystem, set up based on key recommendations from the Scottish Tech Ecosystem Review.
Since its launch, Techscaler has recruited 643 startup founding members across 517 companies, offering expert mentorship and advice, providing seven workspace hubs, and hosting events and meetups.
One of those members is notation.dev, which creates a set of open source tools for building serverless applications and has become one of the first companies to use the new Silicon Valley hub.
“Joining downtown San Francisco has energized me and allowed me to connect with people around the world working on the cutting edge of technology,” said founder Daniel Grant.
“The power of San Francisco is the speed 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 “.
Other startups participating in the program include Playmaker, Unbagged, Krucial, National Support Network, Estendio, Your Spin, Valla, eCERTO, Infix, Lovat Compliance and Refer My Jobs.
“Activities like this demonstrate Scotland's ambition to become one of Europe's leading startup communities; we are leading by example internationally and helping to drive a fair and growing economy,” McAllan said.
