Beat the odds: how Scotland’s founders can unlock the right investors

When it comes to fundraising, the world is your oyster these days. You can search online for investors for your sector and stage, you can scour your dream investor’s socials for tips on what they’re looking for in a pitch, and you can hop on a plane or train and go wherever they are. This is a world of opportunity to find the investors that match your ambition and that can (genuinely) add value.

But fundraising is about building relationships; really long-term relationships if everything goes well! So how do you start to build those relationships from Scotland?

That can be tricky, particularly if your life circumstances or background mean that you don’t have extensive networks… or family or friends who can invest or make introductions… or time in and around your home responsibilities to participate in typical startup ecosystem activities.

Tech vs Power

Some groups of entrepreneurs are more severely affected by one or more of these issues. The barriers facing female founders are well documented , VC investment into female founded companies has hovered around an abysmal 2% for years.

Female founders as a group are also heavily affected by the challenges of parenting and caring, the WES research showed that 29% of women are starting up around care responsibilities (Women’s Enterprise Scotland).

But it’s not just female founders facing barriers. In 2021, The Cornerstone Report found that 75% of ‘VC eligible and VC funded’ founders came from advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. The same report found that ‘Only 11% of pre-VC and 7% of VC-funded founders did not go to university, having left education at GCSE or A-level’. International investor Antler recently hosted a ‘Tech vs Power’ debate digging into these same issues, asking ‘Is the lack of diversity in tech a pipeline issue, not enough founders from underrepresented backgrounds coming through? Or is it a power issue, the rules of the game, controlled by investors and gatekeepers, that determine who gets a shot?’

Make it make sense

These groups of founders represent the majority of the global population and are often solving for the problems these groups face. In investor terms, we’re talking about driven founders with deep customer insight, building for huge global markets. So why are investors leaving this value on the table? And what can we do about it?

Venturing Forward

It’s a lot to do with who gets invited into the room. Innovate UK recognises the potential of these founders and are backing a UK wide consortium to deliver Venture Forward, an inclusive fundraising accelerator helping ambitious founders to get in front of top investors, wherever you are in the UK, whatever your background or life circumstances.

Programmes will be run in school hours, with support available for travel and childcare, all paired with a best-in-class fundraising experience featuring top investor speakers, proven fundraising templates and specialist support. The programme concludes with London investor days, where participants can get in front of some of the most active early stage investors in the UK and start to build those relationships face-to-face.

Alongside UK consortium partners Mountside Ventures, Foundervine, GC Angels and Stronger Stories, FirstImpact will be running the Scotland accelerator through October and November 2025.

Are you fundraising in the next 3 – 9 months? Venture Forward Scotland is running from 22^nd October 2025 – applications are open now, with rolling interviews so apply soon!