Foras

<𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴… 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘀 ‘𝟮.𝟬’> We’ve noticed we may have caused a bit of a stir on our previous post — and maybe a few raised eyebrows! Rest assured, Foras isn’t going anywhere. We simply took a much-needed week off to recharge. Thanks all for the kind comments/messages. And as ever for the support we've had this year, in particular our key partners Thorntons Law LLP and Johnston Carmichael Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers. As we often remind our alumni and wider founder network, health is ‘wealth’ and it was time to take our own advice. We’re back, refreshed, and diving headfirst into an exciting new chapter for Foras in 2025. While we can’t reveal too much just yet, here’s a hint: we’ll be announcing two significant, internationally-focused ventures at an exclusive Start-of-the-Year event in January. We believe these moves will 10x our impact for Scotland — and far beyond. Discussions will soon kick-off with key partners who are eager to be part of this vision for 2025. If we haven’t connected yet and you’re an investor, founder, or ecosystem builder who shares our values and vision for Scotland, let’s chat. Drop us a DM or reach out at hello@foras.scot. We have work to do. PS - special mention to both Garry Kane (PRXMTY) - brand, website and Michael MacLennan & the Faur team - messaging, positioning, comms for all your help with our next chapter. #ScotlandIsNow #Foras2025 #Startup #Scaleup #GlobalExpansion #International

🇪🇺 Ready to Unlock the EU? Let’s Talk Access 🔑 Since meeting the Estonia e-Residency team earlier this year, we’ve been impressed by their mission and Estonia’s cutting-edge startup ecosystem. We’re big fans of their work to simplify scaling into the EU—and we’ve got our eyes on a visit to Estonia in 2025 (stay tuned for more on that 🇪🇪). In the meantime, we’re teaming up with Ülane Vilumets to bring you THE end-of-year mixer designed for founders and ecosystem leaders serious about accessing the EU. 📍 Where: Secret Edinburgh Venue 🗓️ When: Thurs 5th Dec | 17:00 – 20:00 🍴 What: Great food, drinks, and meaningful insights 🚨 Why You Can’t Miss This: 🔒 Approval-only access: Just 40 spots for founders and ecosystem leaders serious about scaling into the EU and the leaders shaping that journey. Quality over quantity—always. 🚀 A Clearer Path to the EU: Discover how Estonia’s e-Residency cuts through the red tape, giving you seamless access to the EU’s €16 trillion market. 🚪 Connections That Open Doors: Meet fellow ambitious founders, and key players driving global expansion from Scotland to the world. We’re finalising the guest list soon, and spaces are already vanishing fast. Make sure you’re in the room. 👇 Apply to join us before it’s too late: https://lu.ma/3w5jp197 #Expansion #EU #eResidency #Estonia

Our MD, David Prentner-Smith, had an incredible time at Bits & Pretzels 2024 in Munich! The experience was great for Neve Learning’s growth journey. Want to hear all about it? Check out David’s full blog post here: https://loom.ly/B9Cfxww Thanks to The Scottish GovTech Cluster and Foras for their support! #BitsandPretzels #bits24 #EdTech #Innovation #NeveLearning #ScottishGovtechCluster

❄️ Introducing the London Venture Capital Network Winter Ball! Pleased to be official Community Partners this year as LVCN bring back one of their flagship events. Join 400+ attendees including Family Offices, VCs, Angels, Operators and more for an unforgettable evening. 📆 Thu 5th Dec ⏰ 19:30 to 00:00 👔 Black Tie 📍 The Royal Horseguards Hotel, London ➡️ RSVP: https://lnkd.in/eV_sSbKn (use code FORAS99) Whether you're seeking funding, looking for investment opportunities, or simply want to connect with like-minded individuals in the ecosystem, the VC Winter Ball is the place to be! Be ready to mingle with industry leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs this festive season. LVCN Partner Firms Include: 212 54 Collective Antler Ascension Atlas Ventures BackFuture Caucasus Ventures Earlybird Venture Capital Exceptional Ventures Impact Tank Namibia Leo Capital LightPace VC MD One Ventures ODBA Pi Labs Plus VC (+VC) Solas BioVentures Sturgeon Capital Sunny Side Venture Partners Teja Ventures Time Machine Capital² Limited UpsideDown VC London Venture Capital Network is dedicated to nurturing sustainable global investment by connecting Investors, Startups, and Limited Partners. #London #VC #LP #FoF #Startups #Investment

🇪🇪 Fantastic to see this finally announced by our friends at Ecosystem Builders Network. Highly encourage our network to apply! Our Estonian friends know how to build a successful and thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem and get things done 🚀 so many lessons we can put into practice at home. This ties in nicely with our planned trip to Latitude59 in May 2025. We love our relationship with Estonia so much, that we’re literally posting this on our way to #Tallinn on a ferry after Slush week… …and well, we got much more excited after our co-founder Caro became and e-Resident 🪪 - and we will setup our EU operations in Estonia 🤫 Get your applications in now! 🏃🏽♀️ Details below. #Scotland #Estonia #EcosystemBuilders #StartupEstonia Bruce Walker

Earlier this year, Stephen Oates and I met up to present an analysis of the past year’s EIS term sheets to a group of #founders hosted by Foras. It was a great opportunity to dive into the key term sheet trends that emerged last year, and (I’m told) super insightful for those who were currently negotiating term sheets of their own. A couple of key takeaways: 1. Founder liability for investment warranties seems to be trending downwards. 2. A new option pool was created in 52% of EIS investment rounds. 3. Founder leaver provisions (good vs bad leaver clauses) were only present in 57% of EIS rounds. 4. Some form of investor consent rights were inserted in 71% of cases. Looking forward to another Thorntons Law LLP, Johnston Carmichael Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers and Foras collab once the 2024 report comes out - watch this space! Full HSBC Innovation Banking report available here: https://shorturl.at/fNI7h #startups #entrepreneur #fundraising #EIS

🧊 A Conference so Packed it has a Day 'Zero'! The temperature wasn't much higher than Zero either as we kicked off our Slush activities. It was great to be joined by many international founders, investors and fellow ecosystem builders on Monday evening for some pre Slush drinks to 'warm-up' for an action packed week in Helsinki. Day Zero's main event was Investor Day. Great to be in the room representing 'Foras Ventures' - a key step change in our impact and plans going forwards. More details publicly on this soon... We particularly enjoyed the 'Mastering Fund Construction' session with Iain Martin of Forbes, Filip Felician Dames of Cherry Ventures, Hussein Kanji of Hoxton Ventures, and Gil Dibner of Angular Ventures. And then straight into a packed evening at the Operators Night by NVIDIA, Google Cloud, Antler, hosted by Operators & Friends. Of course this was merely a warm up before heading to The Download. Great to see (GlobalScot!) Daniel Glazer and Nancy Farestveit of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Thanks so much for having us. Great to see many of the founders in our group attending Founders Day at Helsinki's fantastic indoor beach! yes, that's right.... A BEACH! What started as a close knit WhatsApp group of founders, investors and ecosystem builders from the UK and across the globe has already grown to 40+. We've enjoyed getting to know everyone and their goals for the week. Many updates to come both from Slush and Foras Ventures... #Slush #Helsinki #VC #Founders

At Slush? Let's Break the Ice 🧊 Join us tonight @ 20:00 - 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Pre-Slush Drinks (Approval Only)🍸 Real conversations, meaningful connections, and a ‘chilled’ vibe. >>Request to Join: https://lu.ma/s2us24vi Who is This For? 💸 VCs, angels, LPs and family offices interested in investing in UK-based companies and opportunities 📈 Scale-up Founders who are interested in the UK market, specifically Scotland 🇬🇧 UK-based founders 🌍 Ecosystem builders worldwide - in particular accelerators and international hubs 🤝🏻 Service providers & corporates who would like to connect with our global community of 1,000s of founders, investors & ecosystem builders 📆 (Tonight) Mon 18th Nov ⏰ 20:00–22:30 📌 Location: Top Secret, Shown on Approval - Central Helsinki Obligatory FOMO Warning: Spaces are very limited. You know the drill - request to join now and join us for an unforgettable pre-SLUSH ‘warm-up’ event 🔥 Thanks to Foras’ long-term partners for all their support this year: Thorntons Law LLP - Where legal expertise meets entrepreneurial vision. Trusted advisor for comprehensive legal solutions for startups/scaleups and expert guidance to navigate the legal landscape in the UK. Johnston Carmichael Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers - Premier choice for expert tax and accountancy solutions to accelerate your financial growth. Slàinte Mhath! #Slush #Drinks #Global #VC #Angel #FamilyOffice #LP #Founders #EcosystemBuilders

🌍 Join our Approval-Only International Founders, Investors & Ecosystem Builders WhatsApp Group at Slush! 🧊 Nobody In Their Right Mind Would Come To Helsinki In November... Well 13,000 people from 100+ countries beg to differ... We already have some amazing founders and great people in our group from 🇬🇧, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿,🇱🇻, 🇩🇪, 🇳🇱, 🇵🇱, 🇫🇮, 🇸🇪 and more! We’re also building a mini-guide to Slush/side events which we’ll be sharing in this WhatsApp group. This is for #founders, #investors and ecosystem builders from across the globe who have a keen interest in the #UK (Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 specifically/ideally 😉). As announced a few weeks ago, we won’t be running a fully-funded programme as originally planned but we will be there to partake in some the hottest 300+ side-events and international meetups, meeting with great people that could be part of Foras 2.0 🤩 During the week our Co-Founders Caro and Dec are keen to meet: 💸 VCs, angels, and family offices interested in investing in high-growth startups 🇬🇧 Founders who are interested in the UK market, specifically Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Any fellow Scotland-based founders attending 🌍 Ecosystem builders worldwide - in particular accelerators and international hubs 🤝 Service providers & corporates who would like to connect with our global community of 1000s of founders, investors & ecosystem builders Complete the form (https://lnkd.in/e7qtHBpt) to request access to the group and if you’re in town, let’s chat. Sauna anyone? 🧖 #Slush #Slush2024 #Slush24 #Startup #Startups #Scaleup #Scaleups #VC #Helsinki #Finland #International #Conference