{"id":419,"date":"2026-06-19T16:06:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T16:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/?p=419"},"modified":"2026-06-26T10:10:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:10:01","slug":"first-ministers-start-up-challenge-opens-to-find-scotlands-next-generation-of-founders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/first-ministers-start-up-challenge-opens-to-find-scotlands-next-generation-of-founders\/","title":{"rendered":"First Minister\u2019s Start Up Challenge opens to find Scotland\u2019s next generation of founders"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Young people from disadvantaged and under\u2011represented backgrounds are being urged to apply for a new Scottish Government programme designed to help them turn ideas into high\u2011growth businesses.<\/p>\n

The First Minister\u2019s Start Up Challenge, now open for applications, will support 20 aspiring entrepreneurs aged 18\u201330 through a six\u2011month \u201caccelerated entrepreneurial apprenticeship\u201d. Delivered in partnership with The King\u2019s Trust and Scottish social enterprise Dechomai, the initiative combines grant funding with structured mentoring, workshops and hands\u2011on experience of building a business.<\/p>\n

Participants will receive a \u00a3500 \u201cTest Your Business\u201d grant to validate their idea, with those ready to launch able to apply for an additional \u00a35,000 start\u2011up grant. At the end of the programme, one overall winner will secure \u00a330,000 in funding, giving them a year\u2019s runway to focus on growing their venture.<\/p>\n

First Minister John Swinney said the challenge is about backing talent that might otherwise struggle to access capital, networks and advice. He has framed the scheme as part of a wider push to make Scotland a \u201cfast\u2011growing entrepreneurial economy\u201d, arguing that new founders will play a central role in delivering growth alongside other priorities such as tackling child poverty.<\/p>\n

The programme is a 2025\u201326 Programme for Government commitment and sits alongside a broader \u00a32.5 million funding package for young entrepreneurs announced in the Scottish Budget. It also builds on The King\u2019s Trust\u2019s long\u2011running enterprise work, which supports more than 50,000 young people across the UK every year, and Dechomai\u2019s track record of working with over 3,000 founders from under\u2011represented communities.<\/p>\n

For High Growth Scotland readers, the scheme is significant because it targets the very start of the pipeline that ultimately produces Scotland\u2019s scale\u2011ups. Today\u2019s applicants could be tomorrow\u2019s high\u2011growth employers in sectors ranging from digital and data to energy transition, life sciences, food and drink, and the creative industries. By tying grant support to intensive mentoring and peer learning, the challenge is explicitly trying to increase both the number and the quality of ventures capable of moving from idea to investor\u2011ready.<\/p>\n

Applications for the First Minister\u2019s Start Up Challenge are open now and close on 24 June 2026<\/strong>, with full details available via The King\u2019s Trust. Anyone working with young people in Scotland\u2019s business and community networks is being encouraged to share the opportunity so that promising founders do not miss out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young people from disadvantaged and under\u2011represented backgrounds are being urged to apply for a new Scottish Government programme designed to help them turn ideas into high\u2011growth businesses. The First Minister\u2019s Start Up Challenge, now open for applications, will support 20 aspiring entrepreneurs aged 18\u201330 through a six\u2011month \u201caccelerated entrepreneurial apprenticeship\u201d. Delivered in partnership with The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":422,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions\/422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sawconcepts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}