Details of capital raised by Techscaler members: FOI release

Information requested

According to the 2023 annual report published by the Scottish Government funded body Techscaler, £52.12 million of capital was raised during the year by Techscaler members, in 45 deals. Please provide a list of these 45 deals, in each case identifying the Techscaler member company, the amount of capital raised, and the identity of the provider of the capital. If you cannot provide this level of detail, please provide a breakdown of how much of the £52.12 million of capital raised came from private sector sources and how much came from Scottish Government funded bodies.

Response

Techscaler is the Scottish Government’s national programme for creating, developing, and scaling tech start-ups, which is delivered by a publicly procured provider (CodeBase).

The Scottish Government does not hold the information you have asked for because the Techscaler Annual Report 2023 is not a Scottish Government publication, therefore we do not possess or maintain the data associated with it. We have, however, contacted CodeBase and asked them to provide us with the relevant data pertaining to your request.

Please find information related to your request in the attached document and explanatory notes – see ANNEX A.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section s.33(1)(b) Commercial Interests of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why that exemption applies are explained in ANNEX B (below) to this letter.

ANNEX B

An exemption under section s.33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested, specifically to all individual company names as they are deemed commercially confidential.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public money. However, in this instance there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which are supported by the Scottish Government contracts (in this case Techscaler), to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500446820 - Information released - Annex A

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