Techscaler Programme 2022-2024: early evaluation - main report

Appendix I: Post 2024 changes to delivery

Introduction

This appendix provides some information on changes made to the Techscaler Programme post 2024. While these changes are not in scope of the early evaluation they do provide useful context. This is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to be a comprehensive list.

Education programmes

In Year 3 of the programme, Startup Basics has been pivoted by CodeBase into Techscaler Discovery. The main changes to Startup Basics that have been put in place to create Techscaler Discovery fall into three main areas:

• who it is for: Startup Basics used to be for anyone that wanted to know about startups. Techscaler Discovery is really focused on members at ideation stage (that is, people who have an idea that they are at the beginning of exploring).
• what it covers: all content that was in Startup Basics, plus new information on mindset, solution discovery, prototype building, value proposition, AI, fundraising and IP.
• where it is: Startup Basics used to be on Mighty Networks but this was making it increasingly difficult for CodeBase to provide a good user experience, so Techscaler Discovery is now on Notion.

The Startup First Steps and Startup Next Steps education programmes have since been condensed by CodeBase into a single hybrid early–stage 10-week long accelerator course — Techscaler Catalyst — offering guided progression aligned to founder stage, pace, and ambition. Similar to Next Steps, Catalyst utilises hybrid delivery with some sessions in-person and others online. Key elements of Techscaler Catalyst include:

• from learning to doing — introduces a hackathon alongside hybrid workshop delivery, ensuring founders apply learning each week to build tangible outcomes — prototypes, traction, and funding strategy. Pre-work materials prepare founders in advance, creating more space for activity and discussion during sessions.
• embedded mentor and ecosystem access — integrates visiting entrepreneurs and partner drop-ins to provide tailored advice and connections across legal, funding, and technical domains — embedding Scotland’s wider ecosystem directly into the founder journey.
• adaptive, iterative framework — enables founders to pivot between tracks or re-enter at later stages, supporting the non-linear realities of early-stage startup building and ensuring continued alignment with founder needs.

The Spring 2025 cohort commenced on 3^rd April 2025 and the course offered two tracks, comprising:

• Iteration track — for founders pursuing sustainable growth, or those unsure of their preferred pathway.
• Sprint track — for founders focused on pressurised growth.

Based on learning, the second Catalyst cohort which commenced on 2^nd October 2025 has three tracks to better reflect founder intent, including:

• Raise (former Sprint track) — for founders looking to raise significant investment capital (venture capital/ high-growth route).
• Grow (former Iteration track) — for founders making progress and looking at sustainable/ organic growth.
• Refine (new track) — for those founders who are still very early stage and may have dropped out before (early-validation/ pivot stage).

Other changes made for the second cohort include:

• stronger visiting entrepreneur integration — visiting entrepreneurs now host one-to-one onboarding sessions to tailor content and provide ongoing account management and scouting for standout startups.
• broadened funder engagement — Raise track includes Investing Women Angels, Ventures Lab, and Scottish Enterprise, alongside venture capitalists one-to-one sessions, giving high-potential startups a richer view of funding routes and wider ecosystem connections.

Post 2024 CodeBase renegotiated its contract with Reforge to allow 'seat swaps' throughout the year, widening access to the platform without increasing spend. CodeBase brought the playbooks to businesses at growth and growth-potential stage, enabling them to embed expert ways of working earlier in their journeys, to power their teams, and free their attention from 'training' during the most crucial stages of accelerated growth. CodeBase report that this change saw a three-fold increase in Techscaler member activity on the Reforge platform one-month post-pivot.

The Techscaler Programme has specifically partnered with University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow on a pilot programme called AI Discovery (which CodeBase delivered). AI Discovery is a nine-week programme designed to help postgraduate researchers in Scotland become startup founders. Backed by the two universities and NHS Scotland, the programme connects participants with the tools, mentors, and networks they need to turn research into real-world impact.

CodeBase has worked with the University of Edinburgh on the Venture Builder Incubator (which University of Edinburgh is delivering). The Venture Builder Incubator aims to empower aspiring entrepreneurs from Scotland’s universities to start or grow their tech business. Bridging the gap between research and entrepreneurship, Venture Builder Incubator provides the tools, skills, and support to transform a Deep tech or data-driven idea into a thriving startup. The Venture Builder Incubator predates the Techscaler Programme — CodeBase report that this partnership has enabled rollout to other universities.

As well as introducing partnership offerings specific to AI and Deep tech. Further, CodeBase report that more flexible learning experiences will be provided on key problem areas through micro–cohorts activities, asynchronous content, and as a core pillar of events activity making it easier for founders to access this content while managing their business.

An internal mid-term review of the Funding Accelerator pilot undertaken by CodeBase (June 2025) identified lessons learned which have been used by CodeBase to inform follow-on support. Based on learning and experience of the pilot, CodeBase has now launched the Venture Network which will allow growth and scaling companies to join for specific sessions that meet their requirements, rather than running this as a cohort programme. In practice this may mean having different cohort requirements based on identifying founders at different stages/requirements (for example, Deep tech or medtech cohort, raising 7 figures versus 6 figures, angel funding-only). It has been highlighted that a cohort-based approach enables the founder-to-founder support and comradery that builds stronger outcomes and learning, but that a long programme at fixed time points through the year does not always enable founders to access the support at the time or stage that they most need it.

Mentorship

In 2025 CodeBase has:

• introduced new systems and automations, including a stage‑relevant credit system to standardise support, and automations to streamline booking.
• separated mentorship entry from onboarding, and shifted focus toward more one-to-one support for growth and scale‑stage businesses while replacing some early‑stage one-to-one capacity with one-to-many group mentorship to increase reach and efficiency.
• been exploring ways to increase the diversity of the mentor pool.

Hubs

As at November 2025, there are now eight physical hubs (with the addition of Dumfries) across seven regions and eight pop-up hubs.

Investor connectivity and internationalisation

CodeBase is continuing to expand the Techscaler international programme. Techscaler Japan took place in April 2025, Silicon Valley took place in October 2025, and Singapore in November 2025. CodeBase is also looking at potential new locations for international programmes.

Other developments

Other ways the support is evolving includes for example:

• entrepreneurs in residence support — dedicated support to help tech companies scale faster through personalised mentoring, strategic guidance, and ecosystem connections, etc.
• launch of Venture Network programme.
• a new hub strategy.
• a new stakeholder engagement strategy.