From left, Nick Murray, Carolina Melendez, Rob Gelb, Victoria Ross, Michael Cockburn, Leah Hutchion and Deck McLaughlin.Photo: Courtesy
Fourteen entrepreneurs will introduce Scottish technology to an American audience after being selected to participate in a business mission to New York.
The startup founder will visit the Big Apple next month as part of a program supported by the Scottish government and the corporate body Scottish Development International (SDI).
The April 10-17 visit will include visits to global accelerators Techstars and customer relationship management (CRM) specialists Zendesk.
Leah Hutcheon of Appointedd, Rowan Armstrong of Bioliberty, Ishani Malhotra of Carcinotech, Kate Cameron of Cytochroma, Michael Cockburn of Desana, Monica Camino Moreno of Dialexy, Paul Mooney of NCTech, Dave Hughes of Novosound, Chris Downie of Pasabi, Rotimi Alabi of RAB Microfluidics, Ian Kerr of Raven Controls, Jude Cook of ShareIn, Laura Garcia-Caberol of Touchlab, and Ian Mackenzie of Trojan Energy join the first NYC program put together by Foras.
The Foras cohort program aims to connect with the US East Coast startup community, peer learning, investor engagement, and learn best practices for building world-class technology businesses.
New York’s ecosystem ranks second in the world and has the second highest amount of early-stage investment in the world after Silicon Valley, with a local startup community valued at $147 billion.
The NYC 2023 Foras program was designed by Foras founders Dec McLaughlin, Nick Murray, and Carolina Melendez. The delivery team also includes Elitsa Marinova and Victoria Ross, principals of Scottish Development International’s capital investment team, and Rob Gelb, founder and community builder.
The New York trip follows successful similar trips to Silicon Valley and Helsinki’s Slush conference last year. The program is based on Mark Logan’s 2020 Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review.
Logan recently said of the initiative: Our founders need to look outside, learning from world-class technologies and frameworks and those who have already built global tech companies. “
The cohorts visit local success stories, Techstars, Zendesk for Startups, and venture capital firm Insight Partners before pitching their business to US investors. The group will also participate in the Tartan Day Parade, an annual celebration of Scottish culture and traditions in New York.
PropTech scale-up Desana co-founder and CEO Michael Cockburn said: The ecosystem for building a business is different.
“We believe that providing this type of additional exposure to investors and those at the top of large US technology businesses is very important in raising the overall aspirations of Scottish technology businesses. I am looking forward to what this week will bring.”
Leah Hutcheon, Founder and CEO of Appointedd, the award-winning online booking and scheduling platform, said: This trip is full of value-added sessions that I am sure will create many opportunities for me as a company and as a founder.
“Appointedd has a lot of clients and partners in New York, so we want to meet as many of them as possible, but we are also excited to spend time with our cohort of amazing founders. We’ve only spent a few hours together until now, but I’m already inspired and can’t wait to see what this week brings.”
Foras co-founder Carolina Melendez said: Our delegates, chosen from different parts of this wonderful country, are a true example of the Scottish tech ecosystem. “
“We know this trip brings inspiration and professional opportunities, but the ‘Foras’ model also fosters trust, openness and camaraderie within the group.”
