Round One is Scotland’s Investment Readiness Programme for pre-seed technology startups. The programme’s founders believe Scotland’s startup ecosystem is a sleeping giant: home to world-class talent, elite universities and pioneering technological innovation, yet too few companies make it through the earliest stages of venture creation. The constraint, they argue, is not ambition; it is access to capital, support and exposure at the point it matters most.

Now in its second year, the free, eight-week programme is built around a single premise: most of the UK’s pre-seed capital sits outside Scotland, and founders rarely get direct, unfiltered access to the people who control it.

Round One closes that distance - bringing venture capital funds and experienced operators directly to Scotland’s founders to share their insights and experience and in so doing, putting some of our most exciting startups on the radar of the UK’s most prominent early stage investors.

Round One is delivered by Alex Rowe and Bruce Walker who, together, have 25+ years of experience supporting early stage founders, in partnership with Dentons, RBS NatWest Accelerator, and funded by The Ecosystem Fund. This year’s programme welcomes two new partners: PXN Ventures, the largest venture capital fund in the North of the UK with £670m assets under management and Cooper Parry, a fast-growing accountancy and advisory firm rapidly expanding its presence in Scotland.

The programme is open to Scotland-based founders with a live minimum viable product who have not yet raised equity investment and are preparing to raise within the next 12 months. Delivered primarily in person across Glasgow and Edinburgh, the curriculum covers fundraising fundamentals, investor decks, financial modelling, investor prospecting, valuation and cap tables, legal mechanics, pitching, due diligence and much more.

What sets the programme apart is the calibre and breadth of its guest speakers. Round One’s 2025 cohort heard directly VC funds collectively managing more than £250m+ including Ada Ventures, Twin Path Ventures, Sure Valley Ventures and SolidBond, alongside a number of active angel investors.

For their 2026 cohort, they are building on that approach, with investors such as Eka Ventures, Ascension and Singular already confirmed to join. The programme also brings in later-stage operators and exited founders, designed to recycle their experience of raising, scaling and exiting back into Scotland’s earliest-stage companies. Last year, this included the likes of Ember, Desana, FreeAgent and Valla.

The 2025 inaugural cohort saw 10 founders complete the programme, a number of whom have already gone on to secure equity investment. Feedback from the cohort has been unequivocal about the programme’s impact.

Dr Alicja Dzieciol, co-founder and CEO of SilviBio, a biotech startup producing sustainable horticultural products, said: “The quality of speakers they brought in was exceptional. Having founders paired with their actual investors gave us invaluable real-world insights. I don’t know of anywhere else (and I’ve been in a few programmes) where we would get that insight.” shared Alan Mathieson, Founder of Fesutibaru, a tech startup building the digital backbone of festivals.

“We were successful in securing £750k. And the support from Bruce & Alex at Round One was excellent. Certainly it helped us get our ducks in a row and be better prepared for due diligence.”

Owen McLennan, partner at Dentons, said: “For the second year running, we’re pleased to partner with Round One on its game-changing Investment Readiness Programme. We support the vision of Alex and Bruce to develop a thriving ecosystem in Scotland between entrepreneurs, investors, industry and advisers.

“Scotland has a wealth of up-and-coming talent, but it can be difficult for new founders to access capital and support. Working with Round One, we can draw on Dentons’ depth of legal expertise, local knowledge and networks from across our teams in Glasgow and Edinburgh to benefit a new generation of innovative start-ups.”

Alastair Moore, investment director at PXN Ventures, added: “Scotland is full of talented pre-seed businesses with global ambitions and compelling solutions, and our ability to nurture this talent is vital to continuing the growth we’ve seen in Scotland’s early-stage and scale-up ecosystem. 

“As an investor that writes cheques from pre-seed to Series B, we’re very excited to be partnering with Round One, which bridges the investment readiness and funding gap by providing a platform for investors to actively help pre-seed founders raise their first cheque and future rounds.”

Andrew Holloway, partner, Cooper Parry, said: “Scotland has an excellent track record of producing ambitious founders, and programmes like Round One play a vital role in helping them build scalable businesses. Getting the foundations right early matters, particularly when it comes to finance and fundraising readiness.

“Through our expertise and network, we’re excited to help founders build the confidence, credibility and financial rigour investors look for, creating a strong platform for sustainable growth. On a personal note, I’m delighted to be continuing to work with Bruce and Alex, having seen first-hand the impact they make for founders across Scotland.” 

Applications for Round One 2026 are open from 27 July until 21 August 2026. Ten places are available.