For a long time the narrative has focused on start-ups, now more and more initiatives to help those companies scale are springing up.
One such programme, announced this month, is the partnership between tech incubator Codebase and accountancy powerhouse PwC.
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SCALE: Edinburgh – which incidentally is open to all Scottish companies, it’s just based in the capital – connects influencers and decision makers in PwC with the new kids on the block.
It lasts 10 weeks and will accept 12 cohorts, with the aim of securing them additional funding – and some new insight.
“There is no shortage of innovation programmes for startup businesses that focus on development, but once they are ready to grow to the next level, opportunities diminish,” Nigel Howlett, UK Digital Private Business leader at PwC, told me.
Clearly these scale ups have huge value to large organisations looking to innovate, so it’s worth their while helping out in terms of business development. This particular course focuses on corporate navigation, negotiation skills, channel sales, B2B sales, recruitment, procurement processes, marketing, PR and comms, investor readiness and exit.
“Engaging with established scale-ups offers corporates the opportunity to invest in a tangible product, service or cutting edge technology when time and budget are limited, whilst the scale-ups can benefit from big businesses’ experience and connections” Nigel said.
Successful applicants get access to PwC subject matter experts, industry specialists and insights into the market challenges and trends, so if you think you’d benefit from it, click here for more info.
Next time – talent is the number one barrier to growth. One headhunter tells us what’s going on in Scotland…
Kim McAllister is a Journalist & Communications Consultant and director of Impact Online
