For stakeholders across governments, NGOs, the climate change community, investors and sponsors, this is a unique opportunity to engage and collaborate with scale-ups across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australia to deliver real impact on climate change.

This global access has been of huge value not just to the innovators but also to our policymakers. Governments wouldn’t normally have a reason to engage with such a diverse spectrum of stakeholders. Our innovative approach was of sufficient interest that viewers from 46 countries tuned in to watch the ministerial-attended presentations by our companies and guest speakers during COP26.

This collaboration between governments, academic institutions, NGOs and pioneering tech businesses is the embodiment of the COP27 Goal of Collaboration. The Global Scale-up Programme seeks to bridge the divide between environmental policy and tangible impact on the ground through technologies that help address both the effects and the causes of this climate crisis.

And that’s why we were delighted to win Apolitical’s Global Public Service Team of the Year for Climate, and we’ve been selected as one of three teams to present live on stage at the Creative Bureaucracy festival in Berlin in June. So it’s all go for GSUP 2.0!

What is the CivTech Alliance and why is it ideally placed to deliver a programme of this global nature? The CivTech Alliance was formed in March 2020 at CivTech Scotland’s Demo Day 4,  attended by nearly 20 countries. Since then, recognising the value of a global community whose focus was to deliver better outcomes for the citizens we serve, we have run weekly video calls sharing best practice, cross promoting ecosystems and supporting each other - or in other words, therapy sessions for those trying to change government!

The programmes involved are some of the world’s leading GovTech and CivicTech programmes, including those from the United States, Brazil, Estonia, Lithuania, Scotland and Australia to name but a few. We are helping solve problems within our regions and countries - with some considerable success stories - and that’s because we lie at the intersection of government, academia, entrepreneurs and community groups. In many cases, our programmes have streamlined procurement pathways to provide access for innovative companies who would not otherwise get a platform for their technologies.

We have all been innovating - pushing boundaries to achieve better outcomes for the citizens we serve. With all this value at a regional level, how could we leverage our track records, our know-how and our networks at a global level for the benefit of people and the planet? How could we move from a knowledge network, to a collective capability? This question sowed the seeds of this Scale-up Programme in early 2021 when we designed the programme, launched and held a series of presentations and panels at COP26 in Glasgow. We wanted to demonstrate the impact that can be achieved by pulling together global talent from governments, academics, innovators and community groups.

So, who is the Global Scale-up Programme ideally aimed at? The GSUP is aimed at fast growth scale ups. We focus on scale ups for three reasons:

Firstly, impact. In order to maximise impact, our belief is that companies with slightly more mature products which are able to be rolled out faster given the right access are more likely to achieve outcomes quicker.

Second, how do you accelerate that impact? Well this is about enabling access to governments, the public sector and procuring agencies and innovation ecosystems in multiple locations as quickly as possible - and that is our Scale-up Safari. For companies who join us and collaborate with us, it is an opportunity to be in front of some of the leading innovation teams from governments around the world. This is about access to ecosystems companies wouldn’t otherwise have access to.

Thirdly - if you are going to be introduced to ten or so governments in rapid succession, you should ideally have the capacity and capability for the follow up afterwards. GSUP 1 made over 200 introductions across 102 organisations. We understand that companies at this stage of growth need business development opportunities, not workshops. In that sense, this is not an accelerator programme but an access programme - access to communities both private and public that you wouldn’t necessarily normally be able to access, along with introductions to investors and global entrepreneurs.

That’s not to say we will rule out teams with great ideas, but applicants should be aware of who this is oriented towards and the commitment involved to get the most out of this programme. But don’t take our word for it - feel free to watch any of the alumni videos where they give their perspectives and how it benefited their company. 

Who are the programme teams? Check out the videos on the Meet the Teams page and you can find out more about the teams involved. These aren’t faceless programmes. You will meet many of the Alliance members who appear in the videos, and in that sense it’s giving a face to Government.

Over the past two years - and especially through GSUP 1 - we have leaned on each other for support. Afterall, changing the way government works is not an easy task. With this consistent engagement, we have built trust, friendships and opportunities. The point is, by engaging with us, you are engaging with a community who know each other well and will help you navigate the various governments.

This is not a procurement process

So how does the Global Scale-up Programme work? Here we outline the different stages and what to expect from each stage. But before we get into the stages, we want to highlight a few elements.

The first few stages of the programme, up to the end of the Scale-up Safari, will be run virtually. Thereafter, we look forward to meeting up in person for the Demo Week. The programme will be run in English and in order to cater for the different time zones, most of the sessions will be run in the afternoon Central European time. Unlike many of our country-specific programmes, The Global Scale-up Programme does not include contractual payments. This is not a procurement process. All our programmes - whilst similar in many respects - operate under different legal frameworks and different contractual arrangements.

So in order to achieve parity across the regions, we took the decision to remove any form of payment. Interestingly, feedback from the companies last year indicated that access and exposure was of more value than payment for participation.

We also want to use this as an opportunity to follow people's journeys throughout this process. So we would like to encourage the use of video diaries which we will then compile, edit together and socialise. As well as helping with the marketing and promotion of the companies participating, we also want to understand what people’s experiences are as they go through this innovative programme.

Due to the breadth and depth of the programmes, the first few stages of the Scale-up Programme take place at a regional level. So you’ll see we’ve split our membership into their respective regions: North America, South America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Australia. We’ve done this for three reasons:

Firstly, ecosystem engagement. Each of our Programmes are plugged into innovation and investment networks, so it made sense to tap into those regional networks to both promote the Programme and source companies to participate.

Secondly, effort. All of our Programmes are currently running their business-as-usual programmes and this Global Scale-up Programme is on top of the already stretching workloads. As such, we wanted to spread some of the effort between the different teams.

Thirdly, it makes it easier for companies to engage on an ongoing basis with regional teams. Of course, we welcome applications from companies outside the programme team countries.

Stage 1 - Market Engagement

The first stage is pre-launch market engagement. These activities have been running for the past few months. This is about getting buy-in for the concept both internally and externally. So our individual Alliance members have been speaking to policymakers, potential participant companies and investors gathering feedback on the proposition. Like last year, we’ve taken feedback on board and adapted aspects of the programme and how it works.

Stage 2 - Challenge open Call

The second stage is the Open Call which is your opportunity to respond to the challenges. GSUP 2.0 will focus on two challenge areas based on consultation and advice from country policy experts, and from our two strategic partners, the World Bank and the UNDP. There is an overarching theme of how we can only rise to the challenges of the climate crisis by working together.

The challenges we will be inviting proposals on are:

Challenge 1: Adaptation and Green Growth - How can communities use data and technology to make ‘nature-smart’ choices and drive scalable green growth?

Challenge 2: Green Public Procurement  (GPP) - How can data and technology help the public sector procure greener services and reduce the environmental impact of the supply chain?

Hopefully the videos and information on the website will give you a flavour of the programme and the eligibility criteria and scorecard. Our application form is a simple word document and you can submit/resubmit at any time during the open call. If you have any questions, then this is your opportunity to ask, so feel free to join the drop-in engagement sessions that will be held throughout May.

You can read about the challenges here.

You can read about the application process here.

The third stage is the sifting and evaluation stage. This is split into two parts. 

The regional teams will be assessing the applications with a view to shortlisting up to 10 companies per region to take forward for interview. 

At the interview, we will be interested in finding out more about you, your team, your company, your ambitions, your investment journey, as well as your solution to the challenge - and of course it is your opportunity to ask any questions about the Programme. From the interviews, we then select up to five companies per region to go through to the Global Scale-up Safari. 

Once selected, there will be two further items we need for you. The first is a ‘needs analysis’ document which will be used by the host country teams to inform engagement sessions with policymakers and procurement agencies. The second is a 4-5 minute video on your solution and team. We will share both these items with the policy teams so they get a feel for who is in the room in advance of meeting you. 

The fourth stage is the Scale-up Safari. So what should you expect from it? This is where all that regional activity comes together at a global level. Here you will join a global cohort comprising up to 20 companies from the other regions. Remember, this is not an accelerator programme - you will not be receiving workshops on product, business and personal development that you might receive within an accelerator - we would expect you to be well past those requirements. We understand that for your stage of business, this is about business development, and key to that is access. 

As part of a global cohort you will be rotated virtually through all the Alliance members over a seven week period. Effectively, each Alliance team will host the cohort for a period of a few days where you will meet the appropriate policymakers within each country, and make introductions into the local innovation and investment ecosystems. To cater for the different time zones, most of the sessions will take place in the afternoon Central European Time.

We recognise that the Scale-up Safari will be quite a time commitment. However, the value from this is to gain access to policymakers and procurers, investors and the regional innovation ecosystems. Access to people you wouldn’t necessarily otherwise have access to. Last year we estimated that around sixty introductions would be made. The real figure was over two hundred in over one hundred organisations.

Take a look at some of the videos from the previous cohort who give their take on how to get the most out of the Safari.