Scotland’s national Techscaler network is being expanded across the nation to support more of the country’s most promising young technology companies.

A partnership with Borders organisation Hometown Hub will give entrepreneurs access to services, including free mentoring and expert advice, from locations in Jedburgh, Eyemouth, St Boswells, Lauder and Stow.

The £42 million Techscaler programme is a key element of the Scottish Government’s drive to boost innovation, develop entrepreneurial talent and transform the economy.

In the first year about 400 young businesses have been helped to scale-up by existing hubs in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness. A seventh hub in Dumfries and Galloway will open in the coming months.

Techscaler has also continued to help the Scottish tech system flourish through various partnerships aimed at public and private sector collaboration and diversity and inclusion.

Through partnering with CivTech earlier this year, Techscaler is working to drive public sector innovation and bring digital transformation to Scottish towns and authorities.

Techscaler is also the main partner of DataKrik for their Scottish Black Talent Summit taking place on 30 and 31 October, featuring top talent from the Scottish sector aiming to connect young black talents in Scotland with the wider ecosystem.

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Innovation minister Richard Lochhead said: “Growing businesses are fundamental to a thriving Scotland and the Scottish Government is committed to helping businesses unleash their enormous potential for innovation.

“We want to cultivate a world-leading entrepreneurial ecosystem and our Programme for Government 2023/24 sets out a very clear vision and tangible actions.

“Techscalers have made Scotland one of the most tech start-up friendly places in the world. The creation of this network of hubs across the South of Scotland will help break down even more barriers and ensure the entrepreneurs of today, and tomorrow, get the support they need.”

Chief executive of South of Scotland Enterprise (SoSE) Jane Morrison-Ross said: “The new Techscaler South of Scotland network complements SoSE’s existing work to develop an entrepreneurial roadmap for the region, as well as our start-up, scale-up and scale-deep approach.

“We are always excited by opportunities to collaborate, extend our services and make additional expertise available to benefit tech start-ups in the South.”

Hometown Hubs Operations Manager Craig McBeath said: “This is an exciting partnership for Hometown Hub and it ties in perfectly with our commitment to supporting local businesses, promoting growth and encouraging entrepreneurship. We can’t wait to see what interesting innovations come from our area with the support of the Techscaler programme.”