.jpg)
It's just over a year since we first spoke to Natalie Garry, founder of danceSing, about the leap from Scottish care homes to Silicon Valley. You can read that story here. Since then, danceSing has spent three more weeks in the US, this time in New York, and Natalie's come back with a sharper sense of who the company is and where it's going. We sat down with her again to find out what's changed, what New York taught her that Silicon Valley didn't, and what she'd tell a founder standing where she stood a year ago.
Getting clearer on who they are
Ask Natalie what's changed over the past year and she doesn't talk about a new feature or a funding round first. She talks about focus.
"The biggest thing that's changed is I think we've really drilled down on who we are, strengthened the team, working with great partners, and we're very clear on our mission and what we're doing about improving people's healthspan longevity." - Natalie Garry, Founder and Director, danceSing
The mission itself hasn't moved. Helping people age well, stay engaged, and enjoy a good quality of life was the idea behind danceSing from day one, back when it ran as in-person classes. What's changed is the delivery.
The company that started in community halls is now a fully digital wellbeing platform, built to a standard that's been tested and evidenced through university research with Stirling and Plymouth. That shift from in-person to digital wasn't a pivot chosen for its own sake. It's what let danceSing scale beyond a room at a time and into a product that can reach care homes and senior living operators on both sides of the Atlantic.
The go-to-market thinking has sharpened too. Natalie's been deliberate about who danceSing partners with, seeking out organisations that are already asking the right questions about ageing and health span rather than starting from scratch on the case for why it matters.
Why New York, why now
Natalie's first trip to the US, through Techscaler's Silicon Valley programme, opened the door. The follow-up, a three-week stretch in New York during Tech Week, tested something different: whether the company could perform well in a market that operated on absolutes and proof.
The two cities pulled in different and equally important directions. California had her thinking years ahead, chasing scale and the next piece of technology. While New York wanted evidence of what danceSing could do right now.
"What was fabulous was in New York, they just loved what we've got and they're like, this is awesome, you've got the evidence-based let's do it. The energy is huge, the conversations are big, it is fast-paced, and it's like, let's do it, let's make a difference and do it now." - Natalie Garry, Director and Founder, danceSing
The research behind danceSing, built over years of partnership with Scottish and English universities, turned out to be exactly what the New York conversations needed. Operators there didn't need convincing that the problem was real. They wanted the numbers, and danceSing had them ready.
What travelling as a Techscaler cohort did
Natalie and danceSing landed in New York as part of Techscaler's June 2026 New York cohort. The visit was intentionally timed to land in the middle of a16z Tech Week alongside seven other Scottish founders and senior operators. A lot of the groundwork was laid before anyone boarded a flight: pre-departure sessions with mentors, a cohort dinner on arrival, and an arrival workshop where founders practised their pitch for US audiences and mapped out which events to prioritise that week.
Natalie's candid about how much of what happened in New York came down to arriving as part of a group rather than on her own. Being introduced as part of a Techscaler cohort changed how quickly people took the conversation seriously, and a panel slot at a health and wellness event during Tech Week turned into a run of follow-up conversations she hadn't expected. New connections through Techscaler's GlobalScot network added to that momentum, opening yet more doors once she was in the city.
"The programme accelerated our growth in every sense." - Natalie Garry, Director and Founder, danceSing
She's since been progressing opportunities with senior living providers, holding ongoing conversations with a US investment bank, and lining up experienced advisers to support the next stage of danceSing's US growth. The direction is clear: conversations that started as pilots a year ago are moving towards much bigger commitments now.
Being Scottish opened doors
One thing that surprised Natalie on this trip was how much being Scottish worked in her favour.
"I think the really lovely thing that surprised me is everyone loves a Scot, and it's really cool." - Natalie Garry, Director and Founder, danceSing
She's noticed Scotland's tech sector building a reputation in the US as a place turning out companies worth taking seriously, and she credits travelling as a Techscaler cohort with reinforcing that further. Arriving as a group of Scottish founders together, rather than as individuals pitching cold, opened doors that might have stayed shut otherwise.
What she'd tell a founder heading out there
Two things stood out from this year for Natalie, and both are things crucial for any business to find their footing in the US:
The first is compliance: the US isn't one market, it's fifty, and the rules change state to state.
"Every state is different, every state has different compliance, so you need to be aware. If you can be fortunate enough to be part of a cohort with Techscaler, they're really going to guide you through and keep you right legally." - Natalie Garry, Director and Founder, danceSing
The second is presence: remote relationships only get a founder so far in the US market.
"If you are expanding in another country, you probably need some boots on the ground. So whether that's you moving out there or you being there more or having team members out there, I think that is really important. They do like to see you face to face." - Natalie Garry, Director and Founder, danceSing
Natalie also picked up on something more personal during the trip: the way American business culture rewards a directness that can feel quite new and different to a British founder. Her Techscaler mentors worked with her on pacing and tone partway through the trip, coaching her away from the instinct to undersell what danceSing had achieved, and she noticed conversations landed differently once she'd taken that on board.
What's next
The plan for the year ahead keeps both markets live: the US is firmly part of the roadmap, with several partnerships and pilots moving forward, but the UK stays central too. Natalie's clear that danceSing's UK clients and partnerships remain valued and that the company isn't choosing one market over the other.
Reflecting on the two American cities she's now spent real time in, what's stayed with Natalie most is how consistent the underlying problem is. Ageing is the same challenge everywhere, and a product built to solve it travels well, wherever it lands next.
Asked to describe danceSing to someone hearing about it for the first time, Natalie kept it simple.
"danceSing is an online platform to help you age well using music and movement, and it's all evidence-based." - Natalie Garry, Director and Founder, danceSing
It's a fitting way to sum up a year that's been less about reinvention and more about danceSing becoming more precisely itself: clearer on its mission, backed by harder evidence, and increasingly comfortable standing in front of rooms on both sides of the Atlantic.
Follow danceSing's progress on LinkedIn.
Get involved
Techscaler supports startups across Scotland through education, community and international market access programmes designed to help founders build and scale ambitious businesses. Click here to find out more about Techscaler and upcoming programmes, and read Natalie's original case study for the story of how it all began.
-52.jpg)
