Back our founders with the right conditions for growth
We need to build new partnerships that cut across institutions to help start-ups and scale-ups thrive, says Robert Begbie
Scotland has never been short of talent, ambition or innovative ideas. The challenge is not invention, but scale: turning good ideas into businesses that can win early customers, hire locally and grow with confidence – not just in Scotland, but competitively across the UK and globally.
Too many high-potential firms stall not because the ideas fall short, but because the right conditions for growth are not yet in place. Money matters, but it is rarely the only barrier. More often, the difference is access to the right expertise, the right networks and the confidence to take the next step.
Founders need wraparound support: advice grounded in experience, introductions that open doors, and networks that help them move faster and unlock barriers. That is what the Royal Bank Accelerator community is designed to provide, and it is why the programme is free, designed to be the first step of a package of longer-term support the bank can offer.
There are also cultural factors worth acknowledging. Scotland has a strong tradition of modesty and quiet achievement – qualities that are admirable but can sometimes hold founders back in a competitive global market. Through the Accelerator, we work to address this directly, giving founders the confidence, platforms and peer support to articulate their ambition clearly and champion their ideas without losing authenticity.
Yet we want to go further and faster in expanding our support for Scotland’s innovators. That is why we are broadening our backing for our boldest entrepreneurs – not just financially but also through deploying more of our bank-wide expertise to help them grow.
Just last week, we announced the launch of our new partnership with the University of Edinburgh to support some of our nations’ most exciting spinouts. Together, we have created a dedicated Accelerator presence on site to coordinate workshops, events, mentoring, coaching and expert-led sessions. This means student entrepreneurs, researchers, staff, alumni and the wider founder community can access hands-on help to turn promising concepts into commercial reality.
Through this new alliance with the University of Edinburgh, we are bringing together Scotland’s biggest bank for business with one of its largest universities to help founders navigate the full journey from ideas to scale and eventually exit.
Last Friday, we also officially opened our new Edinburgh Accelerator Hub on Princes Street. This Hub doubles the space available to founders, allowing us to physically support more entrepreneurs in the heart of Scotland’s capital, giving them room to grow their businesses.
We are also creating more opportunities for founders to be recognised and rewarded. Last week, we held our first ever Royal Bank Accelerator Pitch competition, giving entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their ideas and access support for their next stage of growth. Further, our £1 million investment in continued support for the Scottish EDGE Awards, will see Scotland’s largest competition for startups continue to go from strength to strength.
Taken together these actions will continue to broaden and deepen our Royal Bank support for Scotland’s innovation economy. We have set an ambitious target for supporting 5,000 Scottish startups in this year alone, a ten-fold increase on our activity in the previous year.
If we are serious about better supporting our innovators, we need to build new partnerships that cut across institutions. Banks, universities, accelerators, big business and government all have a role in collaborating to share our reach and expertise to help Scottish start-ups and scale-ups thrive.
Because when we back innovators, we back Scotland’s future and help ensure our country keeps more of the value it creates.
If you’re a founder considering joining our Accelerator community, you can find information here.
Robert Begbie, CEO, Commercial & Institutional at Royal Bank of Scotland
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