Plenty of the founders we work with are building things that a hospital, a council, or a government agency would benefit a lot from. What they often lack is a way in. The public sector buys differently and speaks its own language, and for a small team trying to land a first substantial customer, that can feel like a closed door. Techscaler exists to open doors like that one, and our partnership with CivTech is among the most direct ways we do it.
Why this partnership matters to the ecosystem
CivTech is a Scottish Government programme that starts every Challenge with a real-world problem from a public body or a charity, then invites anyone with a credible idea to solve it alongside the organisation that owns the problem.
The logic is simple: the public sector needs fresh thinking, and founders need customers who'll work with them from day one.
Where Techscaler comes in is everything around that exchange.
We signpost our members to Challenges that fit what they're building, we host parts of the programme inside our hubs, and we sit with CivTech on funding panels so the two programmes stay joined up to create maximised value. Mark Elliott, who heads the CivTech Division, has described access to our physical hubs as a vital part of their hybrid delivery model. For a founder, the practical result is continuity. The support you get before you apply, the space you build in during the Accelerator, and the community you return to afterwards all come from the same ecosystem, and that is precisely what early-stage companies tend to run short of.
What it looks like when it works
Rethink Carbon shows the full arc. Zoë Russell had spent 16 years at NatureScot when she and co-founder Mark Caulfield saw a 2021 CivTech Challenge asking whether technology could help land managers make better decisions, and that Challenge gave them the runway to found the company. A second Challenge followed, along with a platform that cuts land use analysis from days to minutes. When the time came to look beyond the UK, Techscaler's Singapore programme put Zoë in front of a carbon market operating at a scale she hadn't seen at home, and the company returned with opportunities it's still pursuing. Their story is a strong case study of moving through both the programmes in a complementary fashion, and they're one of several.
ePass, Zimplex.Ai, Arctech Innovation and many more are all Techscaler members with CivTech ties, each with a public sector problem that became a first customer while the wider ecosystem helped them build beyond it.
Read our earlier partnership spotlight to further trace how the collaboration has grown.
“We’d always kept an eye on CivTech challenges,” Zoe explains. “Then one came up around using technology to help land managers make better land use decisions and we thought - wait a minute - that combines both of our backgrounds.”
Round 12 is the next step
All of which brings us to this week. CivTech launches its Round 12 Challenges soon. The Exploration Stage and the Accelerator will both run from January to June 2027 at CodeBase Edinburgh, so the whole build happens in the same building our Techscaler community already calls home, and our team will sit on the judging panel during the Accelerator stage.
Here's how it works for teams who make the shortlist:
- A paid three-week Exploration Stage, with £5,000 to work directly with your Challenge Sponsor and shape your proposed solution
- A 15-week Accelerator for the strongest teams, backed by £40,000 to build a working prototype and present at the Demo Day
- Full ownership of your IP throughout, with no equity taken and the possibility of further funding to commercialise beyond the programme
You don't need to be a large company, and you don't need previous experience of working with the public sector.
Start with a conversation
If a Challenge catches your eye, the best first move is to talk to the people running it. CivTech is hosting an online drop-in session on Wednesday 16 September from 1pm to 2pm, an informal hour where you can meet the team and ask whatever you need to about applying. You can register on Eventbrite here, and from tomorrow the full list of Challenges will be live on here. If you'd like a second opinion on whether one fits your business, we’re here to guide you through.
“Being able to use Techscaler's physical hubs to deliver certain aspects of the CivTech Programme is invaluable, and has become a vital part of our hybrid delivery model. This collaboration allows us to tap into established networks and infrastructure while providing our participants with continued support beyond the accelerator programme.” - Mark Elliott, Head, CivTech Division.
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