Scottish tech stars head to Silicon Valley with FutureX

For previous cohorts, which have included companies such as Current (formerly Snap40), TickX and Sustainably, the SVA programme has provided a valuable boost towards unlocking overseas investment and expansion. Combined, attendees of the programme have raised over $40 million in investment.

The newest cohort will include Andrew Parfery, co-founder of award-winning health tech company, Care Sourcer.

In 2018, Care Sourcer closed an £8.5 million Series A funding round, recognised as the largest of its kind for Scottish digital tech companies.

Other founders confirmed for the 2019 programme, which is supported by Scottish Enterprise, include Florin Mandache, revolutionising dining and restaurant experiences with Time2Dine, Biswajit Roy, transforming the car rental marketplace with Nuvven, Stephen Elliot, developing AR technologies for the education sector with LearnBright, and Scott Weir, whose online platform, Pillow Property Partners, delivers a streamlined, comprehensive service for holiday lets.

In the past, the SVA cohort have met with leaders from brands such as Facebook, Airbnb, Rocketspace and DFJ Ventures.

This year, the group is already lined up to meet representatives from Rocketspace, Google and Silicon Valley Bank.

They will also be invited to an exclusive pre-trip dinner with Dan Glazer, a partner from WSGR who specialises in helping companies expand from the UK to the US.

Andrew Parfery, Co-founder and CCO at Care Sourcer said: “To truly act on realising the vision of a global company, you first have to see what it looks like, learn from others, and realise how tangible it could be. That’s why we are delighted to be going to Silicon Valley with FutureX. It’s about shattering the glass ceiling of what is possible and raising our game.”

Dan Glazer, Partner at WSGR, said:“We’re excited to again be working with the FutureX team on the Silicon Valley Accelerate programme. From hosting speaker dinners in the UK to facilitating roundtable discussions in Silicon Valley, SVA gives us the opportunity to support some of the UK’s most dynamic early-stage founders.”

Zoi Kantounatou, Co-founder of FutureX, said: “As a business, we exist to support and educate entrepreneurs on how to grow impactful, scalable companies. The SVA programme is designed to provide the necessary tools from both a personal development and a business growth perspective. I’m really looking forward to spending time with this year’s cohort, and seeing what the programme will lead to for them.”