Top tech players to showcase Scotland to New York City ecosystem

A group of leading lights from Scotland’s technology scene will travel to the United States to showcase the nation to New York’s tech community.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Following the success of excursions to Silicon Valley last April and Helsinki in November, Foras, the Scottish Government and enterprise agency Scottish Development International (SDI) are partnering to take 14 founders and start-up leaders on a funded programme to New York in April. The Big Apple’s ecosystem is ranked at number two globally, and has the second-highest absolute number of early-stage investments in the world, after Silicon Valley, with a local start-up community valued at some $147 billion (£122bn).

The NYC 2023 Foras Programme was designed by Foras co-founders Dec McLaughlin, Nick Murray and Carolina Melendez, well-known for their work in local tech start-ups and their monthly Central Belt events with Start-up Grind Scotland. Melendez said: “This trip is the result of cross-sector ecosystem collaboration and the success of previous cohort trips to Silicon Valley, Helsinki and New York Climate Week. 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 during Tartan Week, and going forward with these international programmes.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mark Logan, the Scottish Government’s chief entrepreneur, added: “The internet puts every customer in the world within reach of our companies, but brings every competitor too. To succeed, our start-ups must be as good as the world’s best start-ups. Our founders, therefore, need to be outward-looking, learning from world-class techniques and frameworks, and from those who have already built global tech companies.”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.