Ten founders are set to travel to a Helsinki startup festival to showcase the best of Scottish tech.
The lucky entrepreneurs will jet out to the acclaimed Slush festival in November through the government-sponsored ‘Foras’ programme.
Applications are open now for founders, directors or ‘c-suite’ leaders in Scottish tech startup or scaleup companies to travel to the investor-focused event, from November 17-19.
After the success of a trip to Silicon Valley in April, Startup Grind Scotland, the Scottish Government, and enterprise agency Scottish Development International (SDI), are partnering again to support growth opportunities for Scottish tech firms.
Slush is billed as ‘the world’s best startup event”, and takes place in Finland’s capital with over 4,000 startups and over 2,000 investors in attendance.
The trip will run between November 12 and 20, taking in other meetings and events aimed at learning, peer-to-peer connections, ecosystem immersion, and investor engagement.
The Foras programme was designed by Startup Grind Scotland executives Dec McLaughlin, Nick Murray and Carolina Melendez.
Nick Murray, Startup Grind Scotland co-director, said: “This trip was born out of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review and the success of our team’s previous cohort trip to Silicon Valley. The term ‘Foras’ means to go forth, to look outwards, to meet, and to create a forum for discussion, and that’s at the root of what we aim to achieve in Finland and going forward with these international programmes.”
Carolina Melendez, Startup Grind Scotland head of operations, said: “We’re excited to take some of our leading startups for what we hope will be a truly inspirational experience to one of the world’s most important tech conferences. There are incredible things going on in Scotland, but we have much to learn from other cultures and mindsets, bringing that back to our country is key to stimulating and accelerating the maturity of our tech ecosystem.”
Mark Logan, the Scottish Government’s chief entrepreneur, said: “To build world-class companies, startup founders should always be outward-looking, learning from best-practice techniques and frameworks from around the world, and connecting with the international peer start-up community and potential investment opportunities. The Startup Grind programme is a great example of how we can help Scotland’s startups to do that, while it also helps to foster a greater sense of community and connection amongst our entrepreneurial talent.”
To apply visit here.