Coming as part of a wider Government strategy aimed at bolstering the Scottish tech sector, the Tech Ecosystem Fund – which saw the launch of its first phase last October – is designed to support businesses and activities that facilitate the community and ‘market square’ dimensions of the Scottish tech ecosystem, supporting a learning environment for technology start-ups to grow and succeed.

“The Tech Ecosystem Fund is adding to the growing sense of momentum building around our efforts to make Scotland one of Europe’s leading start-up nations, as part of our national strategy to transform the economy, scale up businesses and boost productivity,” said Economy Secretary, Kate Forbes.

She added: “In the last year, the Fund has given money to more than 30 different projects to foster a greater sense of community, at home and internationally, amongst our entrepreneurial talent.

“The second round of grants from the Tech Ecosystem Fund will build on that progress by creating valuable opportunities for key players to come together, connect and exchange ideas.”

The Tech Ecosystem Fund is a key recommendation from Mark Logan’s Scottish Tech Ecosystem Review (STER) Since it was established in October, the Ecosystem Fund has made awards to deliver meet-ups, events and other projects.

Gillian Fleming, Chief Executive Officer of Mint Ventures and a successful Phase 1 said: “Mint Ventures was delighted to receive recent support from the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Fund.

“This support allowed us to deliver an initial regional education programme to help women understand what is involved in becoming angel investor. Crucially it allowed us to collaborate within the ecosystem and develop new networks, connecting potential angel investors with socially, ethically or environmentally responsible business start-ups looking for funding.

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“Our mission is to democratise angel investing and make it more accessible to women from all walks of life. By doing this, we will not only empower women to make their own investment decisions, we will also unlock more early-stage equity investment, especially for women-led businesses which have for too long been under-represented and under-funded.”

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