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Expanded international programme launched.

Some of Scotland’s leading start-up tech companies will have the chance to secure orders and build contacts in New York and New Jersey under an expansion of the Techscaler International programme.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes announced that the Programme’s first visit to the east coast of the United States will take place this year, alongside trips to Asia and California’s Silicon Valley.

Each will involve a small number of growth-stage companies which are best placed to secure contracts, investment and commercial traction.

A full calendar of events has been developed to help business founders plan their approach to international engagement. They include:

• Japan (April 2026)
• New York and New Jersey (June 2026)
• Silicon Valley (October 2026)
• Singapore (November 2026)
• Hong Kong and China (December 2026)

The Deputy First Minister announced the programme during a visit to the Edinburgh offices of Codebase, which manages the Techscaler initiative, to meet business founders who have benefitted from previous international trips.

They included Tiny Air co-founder Chris Helson, who secured orders for his company’s pioneering surgical decontamination technology following a visit to Singapore as part of the 2025 programme.

The Deputy First Minister said:

“Techscaler International is about helping open doors for the enormous business talent we have in this country.

“It is always inspiring to hear how those that have taken part in the programme have seized the opportunity to capture new business and take advantage of new international connections.

“Building on the success of the first pilot programme in Silicon Valley in 2024, the initiative has been continually refined to serve the needs of our entrepreneurs and respond to their feedback. This expanded programme reflects the value it is bringing to some of the country’s most innovative companies.”

Co-Founder of Tiny Air Chris Helson said:

“The Singapore opportunity was fantastic and has led to sales there- but the mentoring programmes from Techscaler have been almost more valuable. They have introduced us to world class advisors who know how to take a medtech company like us global.

“We were in Singapore for three weeks and I was still making key connections on the last day. I was introduced to a large hospital in the north of Singapore by an anaesthetist from Raigmore hospital in Inverness who now works in Singapore and whose wife is a Global Scot. Those kind of networks and connections are invaluable.”

Co-founder and Executive Vice Chair at CodeBase Steven Drost said:

“Techscaler supports tech founders at every stage of their journey, with an increasing focus on scaleups and providing Scotland’s most ambitious founders with a launchpad for global success, and so it’s encouraging to see the expansion of the international programmes this year.”

Background

The Scottish Government’s £42 million Techscaler programme is a national programme for creating, developing and scaling up tech start-ups delivered by Codebase to support tech start-up companies in Scotland. The programme had more than 1,400 members as of 2024-25. Scotland one of the “best places in the world” for start-ups - gov.scot

Applications for Techscaler Japan are open until 23 February. Techscaler Japan: From Tokyo to Osaka and Back Again - Applications Open

Details of the remaining visits will be announced in due course.

Scottish Government launches first Techscaler hub in Silicon Valley

Based in Southwest Scotland, Tiny Air is pioneering a transformation of surgical decontamination with new cleaning and inspection technologies. Tiny Air is a fully automated, chemical‑free, CE & UKCA‑marked Class I medical device that replaces manual scrubbing with a controlled, repeatable, two‑minute pre‑cleaning cycle. It delivers validated performance, protects staff, enhances workflow capacity, and dramatically reduces rewash while lowering environmental impact.