CodeBase

Samuel Weatherstone relocated to Edinburgh, co-founded esk with no external funding, and grew the company from £250k to just under £4 million in four years. He then ran a year-long private equity process, approached 50 firms, and closed a round with Maven Capital Partners. His story isn't short on lessons. A few that stood out: ▶️ Getting the finance function in place early is the foundation everything else is built on, not an admin task to defer ▶️ A co-founder relationship works when it's built on trust first and complementary skills second ▶️ A closed door, including a six-month negotiation that went nowhere, often forces the outreach you should have made sooner ▶️ Cash generation is the signal that tells you whether to push forward or pivot, and cutting through the noise to see it clearly is harder than it sounds ESK now operates across 34 countries, five continents, and 150 cities. North America is next. None of these realisations happened in isolation. Having the right scaffolding around you matters, and for Samuel, that in part came from Callum Stuart at Techscaler, a mentor who knew the Scottish funding landscape, a community of founders navigating the same questions, and a network built from the ground up in a city where he was starting from scratch. Read the full case study: https://lnkd.in/ez4D4dwt

We’re at Dublin Tech Summit! 🚀 Over the next two days, founders, investors, and operators from across global markets are in one place, sharing ideas and shaping what comes next. Earlier today, our COO Richard Lennox took to the Accelerate Stage for a panel on what it really takes to build startups that last, alongside DC Cahalane of SVV (Sure Valley Ventures) Ventures, ⚡️Ted C. of Duku AI and Yola Jones of Seluna. The panel covered ground on the fundamentals that actually move the needle beyond the programme stage, from customer insight over technology to the value of surrounding yourself with advisors who actually understand your context. One line from Richard that stuck: "Generic advisors will give you generic advice." A good reminder that being in the right room changes everything. For more from the summit, keep an eye on the Techscaler socials. 🔔

What does it really take to get into Y Combinator? 👇 Our Entrepreneur in Residence, Hannah Mercer, recently hosted an intimate dinner with Barclays Eagle Labs, bringing together ambitious startups looking to take the YC leap. The room was buzzing with honest conversations, tactical advice, and real stories from YC alumni Naz Malik and Tom Walkinshaw, who shared exactly what it takes. At its core, supporting startups means putting the right people in the right room at the right time. This night was exactly that. ✨ Missed out? Don't worry, keep an eye on our socials for updates on the next YC Dinner 🔔 #YCombinator #Startups #FounderLife #Entrepreneurship #TechStartups

International expansion is an exciting yet complex milestone for any scaling tech company. Celtic Link is here to make that step easier for founders. We are thrilled to be partnering with the Republic of Work, Cork's internationally recognised innovation hub, to launch the Celtic Link, a cross-border programme designed to lower the barriers for startups and SMEs looking to expand internationally. Through this pilot programme, Scottish founders and Techscaler members gain a supported landing pad in the heart of Cork, unlocking direct access to Ireland’s thriving ecosystem and a gateway into the wider EU single market. What this means for founders: ▶️ Low-Risk EU Market Entry: Explore relationships in the Irish market without the upfront complexity of international expansion. ▶️ Physical Workspace Access: Complimentary or discounted desk access at Republic of Work ▶️ Ecosystem Integration: Connect with Irish investors, founders, and mentors Likewise, we are excited to welcome Irish startups into the Techscaler network, connecting them with our hubs, mentors, and scaling programmes across Scotland. To mark the launch, we'll be hosting joint events in both Edinburgh and Cork. Watch this space for details on how to get involved. Read all about the partnership via the link in the comments. Helen Tate | Richard Lennox | Frank Brennan

Zoë Russell spent 16 years as an ecologist before co-founding a climate tech company. Sixteen years at NatureScot, a PhD spent counting grouse in the Scottish Highlands, and a very unexpected pivot into software project management later, she co-founded Rethink Carbon. The company now builds digital infrastructure for the UK voluntary carbon market, supporting woodland planting and peatland restoration projects through a platform that takes what used to take days and does it in minutes. Through Techscaler's International programme, delivered by CodeBase, Zoë spent time in Singapore meeting experts across the Southeast Asian carbon sector. What she found there changed her sense of scale entirely. Three things that stood out from her journey: ▶️ Demand validation is its own discipline. Knowing who actually has the problem, not just who commissioned the solution ▶️ Preparation is what makes international visits pay off. Arriving informed means leaving with something useful ▶️ Complementary co-founders aren't a nice-to-have. For Rethink Carbon, they were the whole model Read the full case study for a front row seat to Zoë's journey so far. Link in the comments!

Behind every research breakthrough is a founder who needs the right support to take it further. Through Techscaler, CodeBase backs programmes like VBI that turn deep tech and data-driven ideas into real companies, giving aspiring founders and researchers like Dr Nazia Gillani the tools and confidence to make it happen. If you're sitting on a breakthrough idea, the next cohort is open. Apply now 👉: https://lnkd.in/ekme2cXd 

The most valuable conversations in the tech industry don't make it onto a stage. They happen when experienced operators are in a room together, off the record, and free to think out loud. The Closed Door Dinner Series is built for exactly that. Senior technical leaders are invited to one table. No pitches, no panels. What that produces is hard to replicate: pattern recognition you can't get from a report, candour you won't find on a stage, clarity that only comes from people who've actually done the thing, comparing notes in real time. For senior leaders, that's the difference between information and intelligence. Know more about Closed Door Dinners: https://lnkd.in/eWh64FF5 Mairi McCallum

Cutting-edge microscopy has often come at a price most labs can't afford, until now. Co-founded by Peter William Tinning PhD and Ralf Bauer, Northern Light Microscopy is building microscopy systems that are reshaping how bioscience discoveries are made, by offering imaging at a price point every researcher can access. Spun out of the University of Strathclyde, they've since secured backing from UK Research and Innovation and Scottish EDGE and recently closed a £1m pre-seed round. Their flagship product AMIS has already outperformed established systems costing significantly more, with international expansion on the horizon.   NLM are one of the most notable deep-tech companies we've featured in this year's Ones to Watch report. Find out more in the full report at the link in comments. Fundraise source: DSW Ventures.

Scotland has never been short of ideas, talent, or founders willing to back themselves. What's been harder to access is the infrastructure, the capital, and the kind of expert counsel that usually only comes after years of being in the right rooms. CoreWeave saw what's being built here and showed up accordingly. On the CodeBase and CoreWeave partnership, David Gerard Campbell, co-founder of LumiAIres Ltd, said it best: "It is a huge vote of confidence for Scotland and those who want to scale and make a global impact. It demonstrates the founders are here. The ideas are here. The entrepreneurial spirit is here." On 5th May, that conviction met practice - Scotland's most ambitious AI founders spent the day with senior CoreWeave leadership, working through what global market access, venture backing, and frontier infrastructure actually look like for companies at their stage. They left with follow-on interest, real next steps, and entry points to a network that normally takes years to access. Those who were in the room tell it best. Watch to hear it directly from them. Full recap in the comments. Mairi McCallum | Nagu Gopalakrishnan | David Gerard Campbell | Mohamed Zamzam | Allan Cannon | Hannah Mercer | James Trotman

Collaborating with the NHS as a founder can be challenging. What if you could help change that? If you're a healthtech or medtech founder in Scotland working out how to engage the NHS as a client or partner, your insights could directly shape a new model designed to make that process clearer and more effective. Join Techscaler and NHS Forth Valley for an interactive focus group about the challenges and opportunities of NHS collaboration with NHS colleagues and fellow founders. 📅 Tuesday 19 May, 10am–12pm 📍 Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Larbert Register via the link in comments. Onyinye Igbokwe (PMP)® | Jennifer Zielinski