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The Scottish Government has announced a major investment in creating hubs to support the growth of local tech start-ups.

Tech-ecosystem support organisation Codebase has been awarded a £42m deal to deliver seven government-backed hubs around the county.  The Edinburgh-based company is currently active in 27 hubs around the UK, teaching start-ups best practices. Tech founders will be able to access advice and mentorship from industry experts at the Scottish-based hubs with the hope that this will help scale up their businesses.  

Partners of the hubs include Google for Start-ups UK, Barclays Eagle Labs, and Reforge, a San Francisco-based programme.  

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Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Scottish tech start-ups and scale-ups are already a very significant success story and the Scottish Government wants to do even more to build on the sector’s current strength. Tech start-ups right across Scotland will have access to world-class education and mentoring and opportunities for peer learning and networking through the tech scalers. For new companies at all stages of their development, Scotland will provide one of the most supportive environments in Europe.”  

Scotland’s recently appointed chief entrepreneur professor Mark Logan carried out a review of the country’s tech ecosystem in 2020. The Scottish Government accepted his recommendation for the creation of a Tech Scalers network, putting it in the Programme for Government for 2021/22.  

Logan said: “I’m delighted that this contract has now been awarded so that we can deliver Scotland’s innovative Tech Scalers network, a key recommendation in the Scottish Tech Ecosystem Review. Tech Scalers provide Scottish start-ups with a world-class start-up environment in which to learn, grow and succeed. I’m looking forward to working with the Tech Scalers team, to continue to develop Scotland’s technology capability into the future.”