Founder Takeaways - Kirsten Lord “Start as small as possible and get your systems and processes working really smoothly.” For this edition of Founder Takeaways, we sat down with Kirsten Lord, CodeBase Mentor and Founder & CEO of digitalMSK. Kirsten breaks down why refining your core processes early on and being critical with resource allocation are key to building a sustainable startup before seeking major investment. Watch the full video to hear Kirsten’s advice on scaling smartly and keeping the faith through the early stages 👇️

Who do we trust to build AI? That was the question Emma Logan, Deputy President of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, put to the room at ScotSoft this morning. Her answer? Trust comes down to the professionalism and accountability of the people building it. Today, 14 founders are here with Techscaler for Scotland’s annual technology and software conference, pulling in builders and leaders from across the country, and the room is packed. After a morning of deep-dive discussions, the day is only getting started. There are more talks to come, but some of the most useful moments happen between them, when founders can build connections and start conversations directly with tech leaders and investors that will carry on after today. Meet the Techscaler members who are here today and if you spot them do say Hi! Alexandre Colle - Konpanion Euan Walls - Levara Emma Loy - Shifty Maria Makarova - DogTok AI Hugh Williams - ORCA-CRM Lukasz Poplawski - Arran Logic Edoh Agbenokoudji - JYLE Marcus Kamuntu - Sendix Muzafar Ahmed - Monkbun Ola Olaleye - Faciit Matthew Miller - Podspectrix Martins Otun - Algonix AI Anki Pawar - Orbital AI Space Vinod Sharma - Sensecloud Keep an eye out on our socials for a full recap of the day! Find out more about this year’s cohort here: techscaler.co.uk/resources/m…

It’s Turing Fest day 2 🎉 This week, Techscaler is at Turing Fest in Edinburgh with 27 Scottish founders, 8 from our wider network cohort and a further 19 through Deep Tech Connected. Across two packed days, founders are getting stuck into investor conversations, panels, closed-door roundtables, and the kind of connections that move a company forward, alongside 200 founders, 50 investors and 50 speakers from across the tech ecosystem. The rooms are buzzing, and it's exciting to see our founders right in the middle of it. Swipe through to meet this year's cohorts 👉 Find out more about the cohorts here: techscaler.co.uk/resources/m…

Checking in from CodeBase Edinburgh, where founders from our upcoming Techscaler Singapore programme joined alumni from previous cohorts for a roundtable with Nik Mehta, British High Commissioner to Singapore. The big takeaway? You can’t build an APAC market remotely. It takes time on the ground, face-to-face conversations and a real commitment to localisation. But the good news? It’s working. Alumni shared how the programme has opened doors to clients and partners, helped secure agreements in principle and, in one case, contributed to 6x revenue growth in the region. Next month, our third cohort heads to Singapore to start building those relationships for themselves. Stay tuned for updates live from the ground!

Ivan Tryskyba built CaseGuru first, a marketplace for finding solicitors, and spent a year deep in the build before deciding the model needed more capital than a bootstrapped company could put behind it. He pivoted the same technology into Lexidesk.ai, an AI intake tool for law firms, and started selling it directly instead. Fifty demos in one market with slow-build traction. One demo in another, with fast conversion. The gap educated Ivan on market need and product alignment. Nikita, Lexidesk's CRO, went to New York with Techscaler's cohort to solidify their customer base face to face. A few things Ivan's learned along the way: ➡️ Find one customer and build something genuinely excellent for them before chasing scale ➡️ Treat every demo like it cost real money, then work out why it didn't land ➡️ Prioritise existing customers over new ones, since referrals convert best ➡️ Pivot quickly once a year or two shows no real traction ➡️ Let the market decide where a product belongs, rather than a fixed plan Lexidesk is now targeting fivefold revenue growth, building out market by market across the English-speaking world. Read Ivan's full story: techscaler.co.uk/resources/o…

Checking in from Turing Fest, where the energy is high The tone for the day was set by a thought-provoking panel on how AI has changed GTM strategy, leaving us with a timely question: if AI's made business functions easier than ever, why does it feel harder? A great jumping-off point to get the conversations rolling. Adding to the momentum from the Techscaler community are Jennifer Forbes Iannolo, VP of Business Acceleration at CodeBase, and Entrepreneur in Residence Allan Cannon, who wrapped two very lively roundtables on navigating burnout and why peer networks matter more than ever right now. This is what we are here for: getting enterprising founders in a room, being honest about the hard stuff, and walking away with actionable advice from experienced operators. And if you need a place to work or take a call, the Techscaler workspace is available to you at the venue both days. Watch this space for more updates on how the Techscaler community is making the best of their time here at Turing Fest 2026.

This autumn, Techscaler is bringing founders to London and Paris, opening two fully funded routes to the investors and leaders shaping their industries. 🌍 Blue Earth Summit 2026 (London, 14-16 October): Fully funded pass for up to 8 founders at one of Europe's leading gatherings for sustainability-led businesses, putting you in the room with 5,000+ attendees, 1,000+ investors and 300+ speakers shaping the future economy. Apply by 5pm, 29 September. 💻 InvestHer Summit 2026 (Paris, 28-29 October): The global action summit working to get 1 million women entrepreneurs funded by 2030. Techscaler is offering a fully funded pass for up to 6 women founders leading Scottish tech, with direct access to global investors, corporate partners and the "Buy From Her" Marketplace. Apply by 9am, 28 September. Applications are live, sign up now: techscaler.co.uk/resources/b…

Founded 8 years ago as a solo business, Andy Hodges has scaled ThinkShare into a thriving consultancy specialising in digital workplaces and AI. At Techscaler, we've watched that journey take shape. Our programmes, including what's now Catalyst, helped Andy find product market fit and unlock the productised B2B growth model that moved ThinkShare away from day rates for good. With international expansion and new AI services on the horizon, ThinkShare's next chapter looks like their biggest yet. Follow ThinkShare on LinkedIn to keep up with them as they grow!

“What makes UnStuck work is that it’s founders solving founders’ problems, not a panel of experts talking at them” UnStuck Stirling is a small, peer-led session for early and ideation stage founders, each bringing one challenge to work through with the room. With previous sessions scoring 100% CSAT, if you've got an idea or a challenge and aren't sure what to do with it, UnStuck is where to bring it. Sign up for UnStuck Stirling now: eventbrite.co.uk/e/unstuck-s…

Marc Williamson has spent 20 years building games studios, and his instinct was always to look at what was coming next. Umbra Dynamics started when he looked back instead. The classic titles he grew up on had become unplayable, and so had many of the games he'd built himself. Most of the industry treats its back catalogue as finished business. The audiences for those games never went away. That's the product-market fit: beloved IP with fans already attached, in a category the big publishers had largely left to their own catalogues, and where almost no independent studio had positioned itself. The first six months went into building credibility with rights holders, who understandably wanted to see a track record before licensing titles they'd held for decades. His takeaway is that a gap other people haven't prioritised is a gap with no competition in it, provided you've sanity-checked it yourself. Two years on, publishers are coming to him, and three or four new businesses have appeared in a space he was told wasn't there. Read how Marc found his journey, and what he'd tell anyone starting out: techscaler.co.uk/resources/b…

Curious how to turn your research into a commercial venture? Join us on Wednesday 30th September to hear from CodeBase Entrepreneur in Residence and founder of Hearing Diagnostics, Claudia Freigang, for a breakdown on what it takes to transition from academia into the startup world. Claudia is an auditory neuroscientist and Medtech founder who raised £2.5 million in investment and grant funding throughout her journey. In this session she will cover everything from practical tips on starting your own Medtech venture to the common challenges and how to approach them. Claim your spot now: eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-conver…

Moray Melhuish found Techscaler through a LinkedIn post about a UAE delegation, and it made sense straight away. ScotAi already had subscribers across the UK, Kazakhstan and Canada. Why not the UAE too? Soon he was in Abu Dhabi, where the biggest win wasn't even the deals. It was sitting with other founders who were on a similar trajectory as him, and realising nobody has to figure out the journey alone. Here's what came out of it: ➡️ Techscaler built the pathways to get him in high-value rooms and spaces ScotAi would have taken longer to access on their own ➡️ A roundtable with Scotland's Deputy First Minister and the UAE Minister of Investment delivered exposure that doesn't happen without people of that calibre in the room ➡️ One mission turned into a signed subscriber, two more businesses since, and near-daily calls with Middle East clients It's a case study in what one mission, done right, can unlock for a bootstrapped founder. Read here: techscaler.co.uk/resources/b…

Stuck on a problem only another founder would understand? Ask Me Anything is designed for exactly that. It’s a live conversation with an experienced founder, hosted exclusively in the CodeBase Community on Slack. Ask your questions live or in advance and get honest answers about what building a startup is really like. Our first two AMAs already gave founders plenty to work with. Andrew McGinley, founder of Hosel and CodeBase Entrepreneur in Residence, broke down why early B2B partners commit and how to get there faster by letting them help shape your product and offering a clear incentive for signing early. In Richard Lennox's session, the CodeBase COO explained why product-market fit is never a single defining moment. His advice was to look at whether the customer can actually pay for and use what you've built within their existing operations, not just whether they want it. Our next edition is hosted by Claudia Freigang, an auditory neuroscientist and medtech founder. She built Hearing Diagnostics from a research idea to clinical and commercial success, raising £2.5m along the way. She's now an Entrepreneur in Residence at CodeBase, supporting medtech, healthtech, and biotech founders. Join the CodeBase Slack on 22 September to ask her anything!

Techscaler and Black Professionals UK share a common goal, making sure Scotland's startup ecosystem has a real route in for talent and founders from every background. That's why we're proud to sponsor The Black Scottish Awards, and prouder still our Head of Regional Partnerships, Central Scotland, Glasgow and West, Onyinye, has been nominated for Diversity Champion of the Year. As Jennifer McInroy, VP of Partnerships says “It’s an opportunity to celebrate Black excellence, amplify achievement and, more importantly, help create the pathways that turn talent and ambition into opportunity.” We’re looking forward to seeing everyone there!

"The biggest thing I'd tell another founder is that you don't need to know everything before you start." - Victoria, Founder of Sip Seekers With 14 years of drinks industry experience, Victoria knew the market, but starting a tech company without a technical background felt daunting. Techscaler helped bridge that gap. Through expert mentorship, the Catalyst programme and crucial Scottish Enterprise grant funding, Victoria built her confidence, moving from outsourcing ideas to actively testing product assumptions and pitching for investment. Today, Sip Seekers features 60+ distilleries, offers AI-powered trip planning and is getting ready to expand internationally. Follow Sip Seekers to keep up with their journey!

"Scaling happens faster through connected networks." Through Techscaler, founders and technical leaders get access to the rooms, conversations, and peers that push their businesses forward. At the latest Closed Door Dinner, hosted by CodeBase and Dell Technologies, 20 tech leaders gathered for a canded, in-depth discussion on AI in production. Here’s what attendees had to say about the value of peer connection: 💬 "The discussion was great... people had never met each other, but they are all moved by making AI better and creating systems that are much better than what we have today." 💬 "Coming into this dinner gives you a different perspective and experiences that are going to help you do your work a little bit better." Ready to connect with peers and accelerate your growth? Read the event recap and make sure you hear about the next event: techscaler.co.uk/resources/s…

Do you want to communicate your startup idea with confidence, to anyone, anywhere, on the spot? The Visionary Pitch gets founders there. An interactive online workshop, The Visionary Pitch is for founders at ideation stage who want to turn a problem worth telling into a pitch that works on any audience. Come with a one minute verbal pitch prepared. Leave with a story you can tell to anyone. Sign up now: eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-visio…

In 2025, Chelsea Jarvie went to Silicon Valley with Techscaler while submitting her PhD thesis. The trip's raw feedback set NeonGuard on a new path. This October, she returns with cohort five, backed by local advisors, Silicon Valley investors, and a booked calendar. Her key takeaways: • Warm intros build the network early • Do the groundwork months ahead • Feedback makes the pitch stronger • Pitch the impact, not just the tech Full case study: techscaler.co.uk/resources/n…

Last week founders in Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh and Glasgow stepped away from the build to join Unfiltered. It was great to see such a brilliant turn out across the four cities with founders from all across Scotland gathering to connect, swap ideas and explore new opportunities within the broader ecosystem. If you missed this one, make sure you're there next month. 🔗 Find your nearest Unfiltered event and register for free here: eventbrite.co.uk/o/670109459…

Techscaler is going back to Singapore! Next month, a cohort of six ambitious Scottish companies will be taking on two weeks in the Southeast Asia region to expand their network, attract investment and gain a clearer sense of what it takes to operate in the APAC market. Drawn from the Medtech, Healthtech, Biotech and Life Sciences sectors, this cohort is stepping into a market where demand for their industries is booming. Across two weeks they will receive: 🔹Access to SWITCH, Singapore’s innovation week, expecting 25,000+ attendees, 400+ startups and exhibitors and participants from over 100 markets 🔹Real time on the ground in the APAC region to deepen relationships and open the door to investment and partnerships Meet the 2026 cohort: MycoVolt EKORA ION MATTERS HEALTHTECH SOLUTIONS LIMITED Mayfield Technology Ltd Radana Aethernova Together, the cohort reflects the depth of innovation coming out of Scotland right now and we can't wait to see what they achieve on the global stage. Stay tuned for updates live from the ground 👀