Silicon Valley

24 October - 14 November
San Francisco
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Objectives of the mission
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This fourth iteration of the Techscaler Silicon Valley Programme was built around a deliberately flexible structure, beginning with three days at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, followed by two weeks of founder-led time to build relationships, hold meetings, and explore the US market, alongside a small number of scheduled activities. This format was designed to give the cohort freedom to make the most of their time in the States in ways that best suited their individual goals.In this third iteration of our Silicon Valley programme, the cohort selection criteria had a SaaS (software as a service) focus to ensure maximum value for participants attending the SaaStr conference. The agenda also contained networking events, Q&A sessions with relevant VCs and Founders, and a founder showcase to raise the profile of Techscaler and the participating companies in Silicon Valley.

Pre-Departure Activity
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1-1 self-scheduled sessions:
- 15-minute call with Sally Dale (International Programme Manager, CodeBase)
- 15-minute call with Hannah Mercer (Entrepreneur in Residence, CodeBase)
- Pitch Refinement Session with Techscaler mentor, Callum Stuart
- The Ecosystem Mentorship Session with Techscaler mentor, Cameron Graham.Cohort Group Sessions:
- 20 Aug - The Fundraising Information Session with Mark Hogarth from Techstart (online)
- 3 Sept -  Cohort Mixer Session (online)
- 24 Sept - Pre-departure Workshop with Anaïs Guillemaud (CodeBase), Irené Waldman (Global Scots), & TSV alumni (online)
- 7 Oct - International Mixer Event ( In-person, CodeBase Edinburgh)


On-Location Agenda
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Founder-led structure, supplemented with a small number of additional activities:
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27 - 29 Oct: TechCrunch Disrupt Conference 
30 Oct: Cohort Welcome Workshop
30 Oct: GlobalScots Introduction with Irené Waldman and Ian Houston
31st Oct: Cohort ‘asks and offers’ workshop
3 Nov: Cohort Q&A with Tom Charman, VC partner,  x3 exited founder and angel investor
5 Nov: Metal.io demo + Fundraising Process Q&A
10 Nov: Antler SF Visit and Meet with Ryan Somerville, General Partner at Antler US and an introductory talk from a representative from the Silicon Valley Bank
11 Nov: British Consulate Department of Business and Trade (DBT) Visit and Meet with Tim Roper, Head of Trade and Investment and other representatives from the DBT and Scottish Development International

Invitation, Application and Eligibility Process

Invitation Process
As both programmes ran at the same time, we recruited for this Silicon Valley Programme in tandem with recruitment for our second iteration of the Singapore programme. Individuals could access the opportunity in one of three ways:

- Anyone could register their interest for the programmes on the programme’s landing page on the Techscaler website.
If they were a Techscaler member at that time, they were directed to the international programme application. 
If they were not a Techscaler member at that time, they were signposted to the membership application, before being directed to the international programmes application.

- Existing Techscaler members were invited to apply to one or both of the programmes by email, with the caveat that they could only be selected for one, not both. Invitations were sent to all registered Techscaler members listed on our CRM as a founder (or where this field was empty, in the interest of completeness).
- New Techscaler members in the midst of their onboarding who were likely to be eligible (Early and Growth stage) received updated onboarding communications with a link to the international programmes application form to ensure they didn’t miss the opportunity to apply. 

The workflow also incorporated an opportunity for members to update their information at the point of application, to ensure our CRM held the most up-to-date details possible. 

Eligibility and Criteria
‍Essential Criteria:
- Techscaler membership
- Being a founder / co-founder
- No permanent team or office currently in USA
- Availability for pre-departure workshop
- Availability for all trip dates
- Being a SaaS business
- Product in market and generative revenue over £1,000 a month 
- Individual was not a participant in previous Silicon Valley Cohorts

Assessment and Review 
- Applicants who match all essential criteria were reviewed by the CodeBase team and representatives from Scottish Enterprise. They were assessed based on a combination of their application answers and wider information held by Techscaler in their curation/mentorship notes.
- As with previous cohorts of TSV, affirmative action was taken to ensure cohort diversity of gender and region, with a small number of founders selected who did not meet all the essential criteria. This included assessing applications of:
- Women that have SaaS businesses AND revenue generating BUT under £1k a month revenue
- Women that have SaaS businesses BUT are not revenue generating (might be the case for some medtech/deeptech/AI businesses that are earlier stage and have a longer research and development journey)
Members highlighted by Heads of Regional Engagement as particularly relevant
- The shortlist was shared with Scottish Enterprise & Scottish Development International before final confirmation of the cohort.

Attending Businesses

- 20 Photos
- Aethernova
- Amytis Ltd
- Appio Ltd
- Cleanifiq Ltd
- Neon Guard Ltd
- NeuroBright Ltd
- NoLogo Media Ltd
- stampfree.ai
- Tyre Runner Ltd
- Valla Ltd
- VanFill Ltd

In numbers:
‍
- Participants attending: 12
- CodeBase colleagues attending: 2
- NPS +58 - based on 12 participants completing a survey within 1 week post-trip
- Average costs per flight: £890.91
- Average cost per hotel room per night: £139.19

Testimonials
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Feedback survey completed by 12 participants within 1 week-post trip

“The programme was an incredible experience and has helped me grow as an entrepreneur. I took away many learning points which will help me build a more competitive, global business and made invaluable connections. Any Scottish entrepreneur looking to build and scale a global business should get to Silicon Valley as early as possible in their startup journey.” - Chelsea Jarvie, Neon Guard

‍“The Techscaler Silicon Valley programme gave us a front-row seat to the future of business. It’s a chance to learn directly from operators who’ve actually scaled, to test your thinking, and to come home with a clearer and bolder roadmap. It's great for any Scotland-based founder who has a global ambition. This was a great trip with great people and definitely great connections were made. It opens your eyes in terms of the scale, you will definitely find inspiration.” - Nick Guy, No Logo

‍“It is difficult to convey just how different it is to experience the San Francisco tech scene in person rather than reading about it. Almost every cliché holds up, but it hits differently when you are there. The trip gave me a new level of ambition and energy, and I would strongly recommend the programme to other founders.” - Michal Gondar, Appio.so

‍“The Techscaler Silicon Valley programme was incredibly valuable. Being in San Francisco always expands my thinking, reinforces my ambition, and the programme opened some doors that would have taken a lot more time and effort to access alone. The conversations, introductions, and intensity of the ecosystem gave me a much broader sense of what’s possible - and the confidence to build for a truly global market.

I would absolutely recommend the programme to other Scotland-based founders. There is no substitute for being physically immersed in the environment - the scale, speed, and energy in Silicon Valley are difficult to grasp until you experience them firsthand, not to mention the economic strength. It’s a powerful opportunity that can accelerate both personal ambitions and the business trajectory  beyond anything that could be  achieved in the UK alone.” - Stephen Elliot, NeuroBright

‍"One thing I took from the Techscaler Silicon Valley programme is the value of combining a bold, action driven mindset with a community centered way of building. The trip showed me how much momentum comes from staying open, collaborative and focused on purpose. Experiencing the Bay Area culture - where people move fast, believe big ideas can create real change, and openly help one another - was incredibly motivating. That openness to sharing advice, making introductions and lifting others up creates real trust and progress.

The programme also reminded me how important it is to stay close to the right voices - people who believe in your vision and have the knowledge and practical experience to guide you. Hearing from the right people cuts through the noise and brings clarity.

I would absolutely recommend the programme to Scotland based founders. The mix of energy, support and meaningful connections makes it a powerful experience for anyone building something ambitious." - Aleksandra Czech-Seklecka, VanFill Ltd

‍"This has been an eye-opening opportunity, and I'm immensely grateful for that. I do think this will have immense value to our business, our funding strategy, the jobs we can bring to Scotland and hopefully a small part in expanding Scottish GDP. The mindset shift of founders like myself and key points in a company's trajectory can't be underestimated. These trips need to continue! " - Bryan MacMillan, Tyre Runner 

‍“The TechScaler Silicon Valley programme gave me the freedom to focus on exactly what I needed as the founder of 20 Photos. Being in San Francisco helped me test our technical foundations against the global best, uncover significant growth pathways, and build connections with companies and investors that couldn’t have happened from Scotland. The flexibility of the programme meant I could shape it myself which was invaluable. It also gave me an ambitious group of peers on a similar but very specific path who have become genuinely important to me and I’m sure we will continue to lift each other up. It was an exceptional opportunity that has lifted my sights and helped me see where 20 Photos sits in the global landscape.” - Jo Tennant, 20 Photos

‍“The Techscaler Silicon Valley programme has genuinely transformed my life and my business. It changed my network and my self-belief: in just 21 days I made more friends, and met more like-minded, ambitious, smart, action-driven people, than I had in the previous year. I finally felt I’d found where I belong. I would absolutely recommend this programme to other Scotland-based founders who want to expand their horizons and build a global company.”  - Aphrodite Yao, Aethernova

‍“This trip was incredible - showing up to the Valley for 3 weeks shows that we're taking the US market seriously and that immediately made a difference to our investor conversations.” - Danae Shell, Valla

‍"The Techscaler Silicon Valley programme enables Scottish Founders not just to meet prospective clients and investors, but to open their minds to Silicon Valley thinking.  The soft benefits of this are actually of as much value as the hard ones.  This is an initiative which helps Scottish Founders view the world from a fresh and better-informed perspective."  - Hugh Craigie Halkett, stampfree.ai

‍“A brilliant learning opportunity! A dive in the deep end that allowed me to better understand the American market, the Silicon Valley ecosystem, and the opportunities that are there. I made connections with potential collaborators, customers and investors alike who will help with the development and growth of Amytis.” - Eva Steele, Amytis‍

Lessons Learned‍

Pre-Departure Support

Founders consistently valued personalised sessions in advance of departure. Going forward, 1:1 support will remain a core element of pre-departure activity, with clearer expectation-setting around the purpose of these sessions and how founders can independently convert guidance and introductions into meetings.

Feedback on mixers and group sessions was mixed. Attendance across pre-departure activities was also inconsistent, limiting early cohort cohesion. We’ll look at making future group sessions more tightly structured, with clearer objectives and emphasising the importance of attending these to the cohort.

Pitch preparation was described as useful. Going forward we’ll look at future prep activities to take place with greater emphasis on conversational investor readiness alongside pitch coaching. Input from previous programme participants was repeatedly identified as the most practical and actionable preparation. Alumni shared specific tactics for securing meetings, navigating the ecosystem, and building momentum in-market. Future programmes will look at formalising alumni involvement earlier in the pre-departure process, with a stronger focus on peer-led, experience-based guidance.

‍On-Location Activity

 Founder feedback highlighted that on-location activities were most valuable where they were well-timed, clearly framed, and enabled founders to act on new connections while still in-market. Founders particularly valued sessions with external contributors who offered practical insight and tangible next steps. These sessions were described as some of the strongest elements of the programme.

Feedback consistently indicated that several high-value meetings would have been more impactful if scheduled earlier in the trip. This is something we will keep front of mind for future schedule planning. While the founder-led structure of the programme was valued for its flexibility, feedback highlighted that different founders engage with this format in different ways depending on their stage and immediate priorities. This has prompted us to reflect on how we continue to evolve the balance between structured activity and independent time in-market, ensuring future programmes are well aligned with founder readiness and objectives. In parallel, we are exploring deeper, earlier partnerships with local organisations to provide founders with clearer entry points, stronger platforms, and higher-value engagement while on location.

‍Anchor Event

‍Overall, while TechCrunch Disrupt provided useful exposure to the scale, pace, and energy of the San Francisco tech scene, this value was largely realised outside the core conference programme. Although attendance had been recommended by local partners in the previous year, this feedback has informed our decision not to attend TechCrunch Disrupt again. Instead, we are looking at focusing future international programmes on other key ecosystem events. 

10 May 2025 - 1 June 2025
San Francisco and San Mateo
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Objectives of the mission
‍
In this third iteration of our Silicon Valley programme, the cohort selection criteria had a SaaS (software as a service) focus to ensure maximum value for participants attending the SaaStr conference. The agenda also contained networking events, Q&A sessions with relevant VCs and Founders, and a founder showcase to raise the profile of Techscaler and the participating companies in Silicon Valley.

Agenda

12 May: Cohort Welcome Workshop
13 - 15 May: SaaStr AI Conference (San Mateo)
16 May: Cohort Q&A with DC Calahane, VC Partner at Sure Valley Ventures
20 May: Networking event at Mindspace with WITR 
21 May: Cohort Q&A with Gregor Dodson, Head of Product Management at YouTube Music
29 May: Cohort Q&A with Tom Charman, VC Partner, 3x exited founder and angel investor
29 May: Techscaler Scottish Founders Showcase

Invitation, Application and Eligibility Process

Invitation Process
‍- Existing Techscaler members at early stage, or growth stage were invited by email to fill out an application form. This was done based on information held in our CRM on company stage. We also shared the opportunity with Techscaler partners to promote to their networks.
- A total of 1,148 contacts were invited to apply, 74 applications were received.

Eligibility and Criteria
‍Essential Criteria:
- Techscaler membership
- Being a founder / co-founder
- No permanent team or office currently in USA
- Availability for pre-departure workshop
- Availability for all trip dates
- Being a SaaS business
- Product in market and generative revenue over £1,000 a month 
- Individual was not a participant in previous Silicon Valley Cohorts

Assessment and Review 
- Applicants who match all essential criteria were reviewed by the CodeBase team and representatives from Scottish Enterprise. They were assessed based on a combination of their application answers and wider information held by Techscaler in their curation/mentorship notes.
- As with previous cohorts of TSV, affirmative action was taken to ensure cohort diversity of gender and region, with a small number of founders selected who did not meet all the essential criteria. This included assessing applications of:
- Women that have SaaS businesses AND revenue generating BUT under £1k a month revenue
- Women that have SaaS businesses BUT are not revenue generating (might be the case for some medtech/deeptech/AI businesses that are earlier stage and have a longer research and development journey)
Members highlighted by Heads of Regional Engagement as particularly relevant
- The shortlist was shared with Scottish Enterprise & Scottish Development International before final confirmation of the cohort.

Attending Businesses

- LingoTeach (Future Perfect Languages Ltd)
- Pure Purpose Ltd
- ThermaFY Eco Solutions Ltd
- Fyne Labs (Apptrix Ltd)
- WITR Networks Ltd
- MarktoMarket Valuations Ltd
- LumiAIres Ltd
- Tethered App Ltd
- ePass Ltd
- danceSing Ltd
- Practest Ltd
- Energy Mutual Ltd
- NeuroCreate Ltd

In numbers:
‍
- Participants attending: 13
- CodeBase colleagues attending: 3
- NPS 77 - based on 13 participants completing a survey within 1 week post-trip
- Average costs per flight: £937.96
- Average cost per hotel room per night: £116.08

Testimonials
‍
Feedback survey completed by 13 participants within 1 week-post trip, with 11 providing testimonials. Further details on specific feedback will be included here in due course. 

‍“The Techscaler Silicon Valley programme gave us unparalleled access to the world’s leading tech ecosystem, in a flexible format to suit your business needs. The network effect, approach to fundraising and insights into scaling were game-changers. I’d highly recommend it to any Scotland-based founder ready to think bigger.” - James Buchan, ePass

“I would highly recommend the Silicon Valley Techscaler programme to any tech founder. The ability to cost effectively base ourselves in the epicentre of tech business for 3 weeks, meet other tech founders, funders and potential customers was hugely valuable.” - Graeme Kerr, Tethered

“If you can’t build a business in San Francisco, you might want to rethink what you’re doing”. To support this quote, the attitude towards good ideas, good business and good teams is unparalleled - everything is a “yes” until it’s a “no”, rather than the other way round like the UK. Also, everyone is willing to reach into their own networks to help you out - without hesitation. " Craig Somerville, WITR

“If you get the opportunity to take part, go for it!  It will introduce you to a fast paced, risk taking, can-do attitude, which will have a positive impact on everything you do going forward.  There are events to attend every day, with the chance to meet other founders, VCs and suppliers.  By the time you get back you will have a new network of supporters in the other cohort members.  A true team building experience.” - Alison Lang, Pure Purpose

“An incredible opportunity to connect with founders and investors with the tireless support of Techscaler.  Could not recommend it enough to other founders.” - Doug Lawson, Mark to Market

"One of the first real challenges for an early-stage founder is finding the right market. Everyone tells you to look for the burning need, but few will tell you that those needs aren’t evenly distributed across the world. For LumiAIres, building photonic silicon chips for sustainable AI, Silicon Valley is that place. What’s hard to explain in Europe, people there just get it. The validation, awareness, and connections we gained through the programme have been game-changing. I’d say this to any founder: product–market fit is about people, timing, and culture. Find the environment where your idea clicks, then build the bridge back to scale and make an international impact." - Giulia Marcucci, LumiAIres
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“The Techscaler Silicon Valley programme was genuinely transformative for us. We arrived with no US clients we now have contracts signed, a clear strategy to scale in the US, and an invaluable network of connections. The energy of being in Silicon Valley, learning from both peers and mentors, and seeing first-hand how business is done at pace was inspiring. I would absolutely recommend this to other Scotland-based founders it gives you both the focus and the tools to think bigger and move faster." - Natalie Garry, danceSing
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"Spending 3 weeks in perhaps the most inspiring tech ecosystem in the world alongside some of Scotland's most innovative and ambitious founders was an incredible experience. It's given me a new perspective on where we can take our business and the confidence to succeed. In addition to the tremendous buzz you get from being around so many start-ups and technical people, it's also a great opportunity to see the level of talent that we have in this country and learn from others in a similar position. Quite simply, if you have a technology company in Scotland, you should apply!" - Sam Gray, Energy Mutual

“I definitely recommend this programme!” - Alasdair Harris, LingoTeach
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“The Techscaler Silicon Valley programme is an opportunity of a lifetime - if you're thinking about it, stop and just get the application in! I got to broaden my horizons, dream bigger, and get a taste of the Californian lifestyle, which has made me want to setup a US entity as well.” - Shama Rahman, NeuroCreate

“I would highly recommend going to Silicon Valley to anyone who is considering entering the US market. The trip is transformational and pushes you to look beyond your own backyard giving a much more global perspective.” - Sacha Wright, Practest

Lessons Learned‍

Increased pre-trip prep unlocks impact: pre-trip workshops and meetups built a solid foundation for the cohort, but the ecosystem is still vast and complex to navigate. In future, trips can take this a step further, engaging more previous participants and ecosystem insiders to share best practice on getting the most out of events and opportunities.

Prioritise showcase events: an end-of-programme showcase cemented learnings and connections from throughout the programmes and gave the opportunity to showcase Scottish talent. Prioritising organisation of this event as early as possible would allow participants to engage industry contacts early, boosting and diversifying the audience in a competitive events landscape.

Mentors deepen meaning: 1:1 mentor sessions, and group Q&As with industry insiders enhance the trip, allowing participants to soundboard and apply learnings on the fly. Introducing more of this support will ensure all participants get flexible access to mentoring while in Silicon Valley. 

Understanding fundraising routes: having a clear fundraising roadmap maximises time, ensures best connections, and gives focus in a vast landscape. Stress-testing these roadmaps with experts who understand the US investor landscape prior to departure will enhance impact. 

Quality over quantity counts in events: curated, smaller interactions offer more value, with 1:1 mentoring sessions, Q&As with Tom Charman and DC Calahane, and informal dinners and meetups cited as where “real learning and connections happened”. Ensuring these are a key part of structured content is vital.  

Silicon Valley Summer ‘25

24 August 2024 - 14 September 2024
San Francisco and San Mateo
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Objectives of the mission
‍
In this second iteration of our Silicon Valley programme, we developed the itinerary to include attendance at the prestigious SasStr conference.

Agenda

25 August - 10 September: Cohort in San Francisco
Participants got first-hand experience living and working in San Francisco, a renowned ecosystem for tech startups. With pop-up office space, staff support and access to a host of events and opportunities to connect with local investors, incubators, partners, and founders, participants immersed in the local ecosystem - with a self-driven focus on what suits their business needs best. 

10 - 14 September: Cohort in San Mateo 
The cohort moved to the San Mateo region, in close proximity to SaaStr Conference and fringe events, continuing to immerse in Silicon Valley and further build connections and networks.

10 - 12 September: SaaStr Conference (San Mateo) 
SaaStr is the world’s #1 SaaS Gathering. Across 3 days, the conference features talks, workshops, networking - with the ambition of helping founders scale faster. Attendance allowed participants to pick up on sector trends, learn from other founders, and connect with investors.  

Invitation, Application and Eligibility Process

Invitation Process
- New and existing Techscaler members that were at a suitability stage for ‘First Steps’ (early stage) or ‘Next Steps’ (growth stage) education programmes were invited by email to apply. This was done based on information held in our CRM on company stage. We also shared the opportunity with partners to promote to their networks. Due to election time limitations, there was no social media campaign run, no live webpage on the Techscaler website, and no press release.
- 578 Techscaler members were invited; 69 applied

Eligibility and Criteria
‍Essential Criteria:
- Techscaler membership
- Being a founder / co-founder
- Software as a Service business
- Have a product in market generating revenue over £1,000 a month
- Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of no more than half a million pounds (GBP) a year
- No team or office currently in USA
- Availability for pre-departure workshop on August 14th
- Availability for full duration of the trip
- Did not participate in the Silicon Valley pilot programme

Assessment and Review
- The application panel consisted of CodeBase team members, who reviewed all applications that met essential requirements, and all applications that missed only 1 essential criteria.
- Once the initial sift was complete, in order to ensure a suitable gender and geographical spread of participants, applications that met less of the essential criteria were also reviewed and a small number of participants from this pool were selected for the final cohort.

Attending Businesses

- Neve Learning Ltd
- LiberEat Ltd
- Bypass (ionEV Ltd)
- Nirst Ltd
- Viamki (Bustinza Ltd)
- Podplistic Ltd / Songplistic Ltd
- Niovant Ltd
- Rethink Carbon Ltd
- Coursensu Ltd
- Tax Torch Ltd
- RAVEN (Corvus Dynamic Ltd)
- The Nursery Story Ltd
- Use Neuron Ltd


In numbers:
‍
- Participants attending: 13
- CodeBase colleagues attending: 6
- NPS 90 - based on 10 participants completing a survey 6-months post-trip
- Average costs per flight: £975.79
- Average cost per hotel room per night: £162.34

Testimonials
‍
Feedback survey completed by 10 participants during a 6-month post-trip review, with 6 providing testimonials. Further details on specific feedback will be included here in due course.
‍
‍“San Francisco is the home of founder energy, it's ready when you are set to grow into the US and beyond. Time it right and enjoy the catapult.” - Matt Jenner, Coursensu

"From spending solid time with fellow ambitious founders, to having my mind blown on how big the opportunities are for technology was incredible. I had a full mindset shift on the trip from expanding my thinking about market sizes, learning more about alternative options for funding and also learning the American way of doing things. Whether it's speed networking, making and sharing connections or the sheer size of every industry. Since the trip, I have quit my original start up, launched a new business and began building a new product that has a global market. I can't express in words how much this trip changed my trajectory. From local ambition to global ambition in 3 weeks. Incredible." - Nicole Christie, Alvah/Tax Torch Ltd.

"The mindset shift you experience in Silicon Valley is without comparison. The optimism, ambition and focus is something to behold.  Everyone should go, feel the place, breath the air, start conversations and let your excitement grow as possibilities and ideas pop into your brain like dominoes toppling - one idea triggers the next in a chain of unstoppable motion.” - Mark Caulfield, Rethink Carbon Limited

“The experience was absolutely life and business changing. [...] We learnt a lot about the investment landscape and what is needed if we want to raise, have changed how we work internally, started pivoting our product and offerings delivered talks on AI to local businesses, and shifted (+ increased) our ambitions; as well as understanding and recognising how to better accommodate undiagnosed neurodivergence.”  - Sam Forsberg,  Corvus Dynamic

“100% Recommend going for the trip. There is such a value speaking with like minded individuals, being immersed in the environment and draw inspiration for your own business. It is completely business altering trip.” - Inese Pritchard, Nirst Ltd.

“The program was hugely beneficial for us and directly led to us raising investment from the US, as well as being an invaluable learning experience.” - Barry Leaper, Libereat

Lessons Learned‍

Clearer recruitment processes improve access and diversity: the structured application form and aligned criteria (SaaS focus, product in market, ARR limits) produced a high-quality, balanced cohort with good gender and geographic representation. 

‍Peer support is as valuable as ecosystem exposure: founders consistently highlighted that being “on our own together” gave them courage, accountability, and solidarity when navigating the Valley’s intensity.

‍Direct founder-to-founder exchanges work best: unstructured demos, informal dinners, and group chats often created more learning and connections than formal sessions, helping founders sharpen pitches and rethink strategy.

‍Targeted ecosystem access adds credibility: highlights like Finbarr Taylor’s fireside chat and Mixpanel event provided authentic exposure to Valley growth practices and opened doors for ongoing collaboration.

‍Conferences add impact: having a shared common space builds a great foundation for participants, but more time post-conference to build on connections and explore learnings would be beneficial.

Silicon Valley Autumn ‘24

5 February - 29 February 2024
San Francisco
‍
Objectives of the mission

This was a pilot programme to test our thesis: that semi-structured extended time in market is most beneficial for tech founders. In this pilot programme, we focused on providing pop-up office space and staff support for founders; who were free to create their own agenda from personal networks and local ecosystem events. We provided accommodation and flights to remove barriers to participation, and founders were able to attend for between one - four weeks depending on the needs of their business.

‍Agenda

5 - 29 February 2024: Cohort in San Francisco
- Coworking at Mindspace San Francisco
- On the doorstep of local ecosystem events and meetups

Invitation, Application and Eligibility Process
‍
Invitation Process:
- As a pilot programme, this was delivered on an invite-only basis to enable an agile test and learn approach. 
- An outreach list of suitable participants was created, led by CodeBase, based on the high level criteria below, ensuring regional spread across Scotland and gender diversity.
- 1-1 contact was made with identified candidates to discuss the opportunity. 
- Not all initial invitees accepted; additional spaces were filled via further network outreach, following the same process as above.

Eligibility and Criteria
‍- Techscaler membership
- High level criteria agreed internally, with a focus on participants with a suitable mindset and business credibility, and availability to participate in the planned timeframe.

Assessment and Review
Assessment was undertaken prior to invitation based on the high level criteria noted above; with an outreach list created by the CodeBase team. Those who responded positively to the invitation were accepted onto the programme.

Attending Businesses
‍
- Portday (previously known as Playmaker Software Ltd)
- Unbaggaged Ltd
- Krucial (r3 Iot Ltd)
- National Support Network  CIC / Reeka
- Present Pal (Estendio Ltd)
- Notation Software Ltd
- Tavora Ltd (previously known as YourSpin Ltd)
- Valla LtdInfix Support Ltd
- Lovat Compliance Ltd
- Seeker.Jobs Ltd (previously known as RefermyJobs)
- Seeker.Jobs Ltd
- eCERTO Ltd

In numbers:
‍
- Participants attending: 12
- CodeBase colleagues attending: 2 
- Average costs per flight : £919.91
- Average cost per hotel room per night: £133.76

Testimonials
‍
‍“It was great to meet with potential investors to gauge interest, and better understand what they would be looking for and any potential blockers for investment so I could feed back to the team and enable us to get ready for later rounds of investment.” - Linda Grant, Valla

“I've always wanted to go Global with Seeker but being typically British I somewhat bottled that up as A. I didn't know how to and B. I was being modest.

When I spoke with founders in the Bay Area I realised I was actually in a far stronger position than them and the only thing missing was investment. Majority of them raised $200-$300k just by having a good idea - investors saw the potential in them and the startup so invested. Founders use that money for a salary and to build the MVP. Once built then they would raise their $1M seed round to ONBOARD their first customers. This completely blew my mind and made me see the startup journey as it is.

Equally US founders found it incredible that I had bootstrapped to MVP, tested, reiterated and at that time was starting to onboard customers. Their actual words was 'you're building a startup with both arms tied behind your back'. More UK founders need to know this." - Richie Wan, Seeker

Lessons Learned‍

‍Cohort effect is powerful: founders benefited from travelling together, holding each other accountable, and building peer networks in a loosely-structured environment; the “Scotland rolls deep” effect created momentum and visibility.

‍Local engagement matters: founders actively contributed to the San Francisco ecosystem by giving talks and networking - building credibility and connections beyond only meetings.
‍
Programme design needs balance: four weeks was intense, with signs of burnout; future trips should consider optimal length, pacing, and some structured content, alongside founder-led activity.

Selection focus is key: a curated cohort spanning stages enhanced participant experience; future trips require refined application processes with criteria that ensures diversity, ensuring openness but maximising impact.

‍Marketing and storytelling are under-leveraged: capturing founder voices (talking heads, podcasts, written stories) would help share the Silicon Valley mindset with the wider community, and strengthen recognition of the programme’s value.

Silicon Valley Winter ‘24
Pilot Programme