A Scottish Government, SDI, and Startup Grind Scotland-backed programme will take 10 tech founders to Slush conference in Helsinki in November.

A group of business leaders from Scotland’s tech scene have launched a new initiative to showcase Scotland to the European ecosystem.

Startup Grind Scotland, the Scottish Government, and enterprise agency Scottish Development International (SDI), will partner to take 10 founders on a funded programme to the Slush tech conference in Helsinki in November.

Billed as “The World’s Best Startup Event”, Slush takes place between 17th-18th November in Finland’s capital, with over 4,000 startups and over 2,000 investors in attendance.

The Slush 2022 Foras Programme was designed by Startup Grind Scotland executives Dec McLaughlin, Nick Murray and Carolina Melendez.

Startup Grind Scotland Co-Director Murray commented: “This trip was born out of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review and the success of our team’s previous cohort trip to Silicon Valley.

“The term ‘Foras’ means to go forth, to look outwards, to meet, and to create a forum for discussion, and that’s at the root of what we aim to achieve in Finland and going forward with these international programmes.”

Melendez, Startup Grind Scotland Head of Operations, said: “We’re excited to take some of our leading startups for what we hope will be a truly inspirational experience to one of the world’s most important tech conferences.

“There are incredible things going on in Scotland, but we have much to learn from other cultures and mindsets, bringing that back to our country is key to stimulating and accelerating the maturity of our tech ecosystem.”

The trip will run between 12th-20th November, taking in other meetings and events aimed at learning, peer-to-peer connections, ecosystem immersion, and investor engagement.

Mark Logan, the Scottish Government’s Chief Entrepreneur, added: “To build world-class companies, startup founders should always be outward-looking, learning from best-practice techniques and frameworks from around the world, and connecting with the international peer start-up community and potential investment opportunities.

“The Startup Grind programme is a great example of how we can help Scotland’s start-ups to do that, while it also helps to foster a greater sense of community and connection amongst our entrepreneurial talent.”

Applications are now open for this Helsinki trip via this link.