As part of the initiative, Thorntons will be supporting and playing an active role in Foras activities, both in the UK and internationally, throughout 2024.

The year-long partnership is the first of its kind and follows the success of a previous collaboration when Thorntons provided funding for an excursion of 34 Scottish entrepreneurs to Lisbon last November.

Thorntons is home to a specialist ventures and innovation team, established to work with businesses targeting accelerated growth, and advising on corporate structures and governance; growth and exit strategies; private equity; commercial negotiation strategies; and intellectual property (IP) protection and commercialisation strategies.

Foras specialises in facilitating immersive international ​experiences for entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders. The organisation runs cohort excursions internationally focused on fostering ​peer connectivity, business partnerships, and investment ​opportunities. With Scottish and UK government backing, Foras showcases Scottish startups and scaleups to global ​tech ecosystems but also invites the world to set up their ​business and invest in Scotland.

Alistair Lang, partner and head of ventures and innovation at Thorntons, said: “It continues to strike me how much the Scottish startup ecosystem innovates and iterates to support founders in all sectors.

“Our team have experienced firsthand the free and trusting environment the Foras team creates with their cohort when we supported the Lisbon trip last year, and it was eye-opening and incredibly refreshing.

“They focus on providing wraparound support at all parts of the journey and its holistic approach aligns perfectly with how we deliver our High Growth Programme to over 70 scaling companies in the UK. We are delighted to partner with Foras in the delivery of their programme and to support their cohorts in realising opportunities across the world.”