Edinburgh — Week of 13 Jul 2026

Summer Connections kicks off Edinburgh's festival season with an evening of ideas, creativity and community at Venture Café Edinburgh's flagship Thursday Gathering (EFI). Lori Anderson (Director, Festivals Edinburgh) joins for a conversation on the festival ecosystem, and artist Trevor Jones for a fireside chat on the art, tech and AI behind his EXPOS3D exhibition. Alongside the talks: a summer reading book swap, photo booth, workshops and plenty of room to connect with the city's creative and innovation communities. Free.

Techstart Ventures brings its Signals programme to CodeBase for an in-person briefing on the £200k inception-stage investment it backs outlier founders with — people with a real, hard-won insight into a big problem who want to build a globally significant company but don't yet have the traction for a top-tier pre-seed round. A concise, high-signal session on what Techstart looks for and how to apply (applications close 24 July — two sentences are all it takes to earn a first call). Worth an hour for any early-stage or aspiring founder in Scotland weighing their next raise.

The Scottish Technology Club Summer Social, hosted by the EdinburghJS team. An informal evening to socialise and network with fellow developers and technologists in a relaxed setting at 56 North — everyone welcome, whatever technologies you work with, including first-timers. RSVP via the organiser's Luma link. Free.

The weekly Friday drop-in co-working morning for tech founders, run by ScotlandIS and the Bayes Centre. A dependable founder touchpoint in the Edinburgh week: focused work alongside peers in the Bayes Lounge, plus informal chat, peer support and the chance to swap notes on the real challenges of building a scalable tech business. Free; open to founders and early-team startup folk across the Scottish ecosystem.