It’s no surprise that Glasgow has such an appetite for startup support, given the huge amount of tech activity and innovation which has taken place in the area. Glasgow City Innovation District’s (GCID) Glasgow Tech Fest set the tone for a year of momentum behind innovation in the city and with Glasgow now being chosen to host the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation European conference in 2024 following GCID’s successful bid, the future is looking even more full of exciting tech developments.
The long-established Tech Glasgow Tech Social, and the other events delivered in the Livingstone Building of the University of Strathclyde, has seen a healthy uptake in new members and now boasts a sponsorship from xDesign. The renovation of the revamped Met Tower is now underway, and Glasgow City Council is continuing to offer a tech event subsidy which aims to support more tech events cropping up in the area.
Despite all this amazing activity, we know it’s challenging building a startup and we want to help. The Techscaler programme, delivered by CodeBase and the Scottish Government, helps people across Scotland to launch and scale tech startups, regardless of background, technical ability, or stage of the journey their startup is at.
Seven Techscaler hubs across Scotland provide work and event space for startups to grow and gather, expert mentors and industry operators deliver mentorship and education programmes, and a peer-led community network creates connections. At our Glasgow hub, based at the Barclays Eagle Labs campus, we help the Glasgow and West of Scotland community build startups in a supportive, inclusive and safe environment. Activity doesn’t just take place in the main hub,however. The Techscaler team works with people across the region to help startups build, grow and scale.
In the Glasgow & West Techscaler region, based at the Barclays Campus and hosting events in various venues across the region, we’ve been hard at work engaging with the local tech community. On the first Wednesday of every month, founders and startup employees gather at Unfiltered, a chance to network and learn from others. On 8th June, we held a Founders Open Day with Barclays Eagle Labs and Start Up Grind, which saw 45 founders father in the hub all day to share ideas.
Community Manager Marj Clark shared, “It was exciting to see so many founders congregating in one place to share ideas and learn from each other, and evidenced that the appetite for the founder community in Glasgow is high.”
Education wise, we’ve seen huge engagement from the Startup First Steps first cohort (the Techscaler course all about taking your product to market) in the Glasgow-based in-person sessions, and the Glasgow contingent has been committed and connected throughout the ten-week course. Course participant Genna Masterson of The Gifted Kind shared that “Techscaler is making [her] believe it’s possible” while Richie Wan of Refermyjobs shared how by taking the course they’ll be “further down the startup journey, closer towards having our product out to market, getting users on board and engaging with investors.”
If you’d like to get involved in the Glasgow tech scene more and find help accessing the wealth of resources available to tech founders in the area, apply for Techscaler membership and access top-class education, workspace, mentorship and community. There are partnerships available from NHS Test Beds, Filament Stac, CENSIS, and more, and we’d love to have you on board. Just visit the Techscaler website, fill out the application form, and we’ll help you build your startup in Scotland.