Some of Scotland's leading start-up tech companies will have the
chance to secure orders and build contacts in New York and New
Jersey under an expansion of the Techscaler International
programme.
Deputy First Minister announced that the Programme's
first visit to the east coast of the United States will take
place this year, alongside trips to Asia and California's Silicon
Valley.
Each will involve a small number of growth-stage companies which
are best placed to secure contracts, investment and commercial
traction.
A full calendar of events has been developed to help business
founders plan their approach to international engagement. They
include:
- Japan (April 2026)
- New York and New Jersey (June 2026)
- Silicon Valley (October 2026)
- Singapore (November 2026)
- Hong Kong and China (December 2026)
The Deputy First Minister announced the programme during a visit
to the Edinburgh offices of Codebase, which manages the
Techscaler initiative, to meet business founders who have
benefitted from previous international trips.
They included Tiny Air co-founder Chris Helson, who secured
orders for his company's pioneering surgical
decontamination technology following a visit to Singapore as
part of the 2025 programme.
The Deputy First Minister said:
“Techscaler International is about helping open doors for the
enormous business talent we have in this country.
“It is always inspiring to hear how those that have taken part in
the programme have seized the opportunity to capture new business
and take advantage of new international connections.
“Building on the success of the first pilot programme in Silicon
Valley in 2024, the initiative has been continually refined to
serve the needs of our entrepreneurs and respond to their
feedback. This expanded programme reflects the value it is
bringing to some of the country's most innovative companies.”
Co-Founder of Tiny Air Chris Helson said:
“The Singapore opportunity was fantastic and has led to sales
there- but the mentoring programmes from Techscaler have been
almost more valuable. They have introduced us to world class
advisors who know how to take a medtech company like us
global.
“We were in Singapore for three weeks and I was still making key
connections on the last day. I was introduced to a
large hospital in the north of Singapore by an anaesthetist
from Raigmore hospital in Inverness who now works in
Singapore and whose wife is a Global Scot. Those kind of networks
and connections are invaluable.”
Co-founder and Executive Vice Chair at CodeBase Steven Drost
said:
“Techscaler supports tech founders at every stage of their
journey, with an increasing focus on scaleups and providing
Scotland's most ambitious founders with a launchpad for global
success, and so it's encouraging to see the expansion of the
international programmes this year.”
Background
The Scottish Government's £42 million Techscaler programme is a
national programme for creating, developing and scaling up tech
start-ups delivered by Codebase to support tech start-up
companies in Scotland. The programme had more than 1,400 members
as of 2024-25. Scotland one of the “best places
in the world” for start-ups - gov.scot
Applications for Techscaler Japan are open until 23
February. Techscaler
Japan: From Tokyo to Osaka and Back Again - Applications Open
Details of the remaining visits will be announced in due course.
Scottish
Government launches first Techscaler hub in Silicon
Valley
Based in Southwest Scotland, Tiny
Air is pioneering a transformation of surgical
decontamination with new cleaning and inspection technologies.
Tiny Air is a fully automated, chemical‑free, CE &
UKCA‑marked Class I medical device that replaces manual scrubbing
with a controlled, repeatable, two‑minute pre‑cleaning cycle. It
delivers validated performance, protects staff, enhances workflow
capacity, and dramatically reduces rewash while lowering
environmental impact.
