Tech Nation opens Upscale and Future Fifty programmes to UK’s future ‘unicorns’

Tech Nation has opened applications for its Upscale and Future Fifty programmes for innovators in the technology sector.

The organisation is calling for startups and fast-growing tech companies to apply for a space on either programme and become the next ‘unicorn’ business.

Current Upscale firms include dog care platform BorrowMyDoggy, hospitality tech company Flyt, insurance startup Zego and Marylebone-based ASI Data Science.

Upscale participants are coached by some of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs and tech investors, Tech Nation said, among them Brent Hoberman, Niklas Zennstrom, Saul Klein, Wendy Tan White and Lesley Eccles.

Collectively, firms on Upscale have raised $1.3bn (c.£1bn) since joining the programme.

Alumni of the Future Fifty programme, meanwhile, include travel fare aggregator Skyscanner, food delivery giant Deliveroo, appliances e-tailer AO.com, food order platform Just East and crowdfunding website Crowdcube.

Future Fifty was launched five years ago and has already produced 129 tech companies, six of which have listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Tech Nation is a new organisation designed to accelerate the growth of the UK’s digital tech sector. It launched in April with the aim of building on the work of its predecessors, Tech City UK and Tech North.

Successful applicants will be unveiled in December.