Scaleup programmes

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Programme

Upscale

Impact for scaleups

259

Companies Supported

1,323

Business leaders supported

11,250

New roles created

950

Peer connections made

£2.1bn

Raised by companies

Key sectors

Impact ventures / Social Impact Life Sciences & Biotech Building & Construction Manufacturing / Advanced Manufacturing Creative, digital, film, games & media Professional services Defence & security Technology & Communications Engineering / Advanced Engineering Transport & Logistics Environmental Science & Technology Farming, fisheries & forestry Finance Food & drink Healthcare

Each year 30 of the fastest-growth tech companies join a select cohort for a six-month Upscale programme curated by Tech Nation. The programme combines one-to-many learning with a peer networking element and has been delivered to seven cohorts so far. An eighth commenced in October 2022. 

Upscale offers 60 hours of support led by scale coaches through a hybrid delivery model that includes a blend of online learning and in-person events to achieve maximum impact.

Learning sessions such as ‘Becoming Net Zero’ help scaleups achieve a more sustainable future and a partnership with TechTree provides access to a diverse pool of engineering talent to support hiring challenges and diversify technical teams.

The programme includes one to one CEO coaching sessions with a global leadership coach to help participants improve their own leadership skills and develop frameworks to coach their senior teams. Launched in 2022, the Growth Platform allows participants to access learnings on a wide range of challenges to growth including insights from Upscale and the wider ecosystem as well as facilitate access to Tech Nations other support services.. 

Upscale supported 338 founders and leaders this year to build knowledge, confidence and ambition and to establish new peer networks. More than half had operations outside of the UK. Since its inception, Upscale has supported 1,323 business leaders across 259 companies.

“I think of Tech Nation as being an amazing set of resources. They gave us a bunch of different learningopportunities with different mentors. We got to understand different parts of our business and also have members of our team participate, whether it was marketing or operations or technology. It got us really thinking about how we learn from the lessons of the best UK companies and hopefully follow in their footsteps a little bit faster.” Asher Ismail – Uncapped

“The team really enjoyed inspiring presentations and getting to network with peers, which helped build confidence and ambition.” Ian Stevenson – Cyacomb

Upscale website