And just like that… summer is here. The first half of this year has brought us serious momentum. From new international partnerships to customer wins, we’ve been busy helping great companies start their U.S. sales.

• Putting Fintech, Insurtech, and Regtech on the map in the USA. We are partnering with Tenity, the global investor and incubator with offices in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, to bring more companies to the USA.

• Our Scottish MarketBooster cohort wrapped up with promising feedback (and orders) from U.S. customers and investors. 

• We are available to many more companies through our new partnerships across Europe and the Persian Gulf.

What We’ve Been Up To

New Partnership for Fintech, Insurtech, and Regtech: Tenity

We're teaming up with Tenity, the global innovation hub for Fintech, Insurtech, and Regtech. Together, we are creating an expressway for companies to expand to the USA from anywhere else in the world. We are powering Tenity’s presence in Silicon Valley and launching a new U.S. Market Access program. Applications are now open for the inaugural 2025 cohort, which will culminate at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. Apply now.

Scottish Scale-up Cohort Wrap-Up

5 scale-up companies. 3 months. 22000 potential U.S. customers contacted. 8000 new connections made. 71 U.S. customer interviews conducted and analyzed for data-driven go-to-market decisions. 5 U.S. go-to-market playbooks created. Pilot deals closed and investor conversations initiated.

Through our MarketBooster program with Scottish Development International (SDI), 5 companies from Scotland, from AI to cybersecurity and healthtech, joined our program, obtained feedback directly from U.S. buyers, and used it to adapt their go-to-market strategies systematically. Our structured approach enabled some of them to close deals in just four months, between kick-off and final pitching evening in San Francisco. 

One of the participating companies, Talking Medicines, shared:

“U.S. businesses move faster, embrace bold, data-driven strategies, and take more risks compared to the more cautious approach in Europe.”

The program serves as a blueprint for how public-private collaboration can unlock faster, smarter international expansion, with reduced risk and increased clarity.

Follow the continued journey of these Scots: Aveni, Cloudsoft, Lasting Asset, Lupovis, and Talking Medicines.

New regional partnerships: Europe and Saudi Arabia

Growth opportunity Saudi Arabia and Gulf Countries: Astrolabs 

Our partnership with AstroLabs opens the door for U.S. and international startups to expand into the $1.14T Saudi market -  with faster setup, local compliance support, and strategic infrastructure. 

Backed by 12+ years of experience in the Gulf countries, AstroLabs has helped over 800 companies scale across the region. If you're exploring entity setup in Saudi Arabia, you can schedule a free consultation with one of AstroLabs' expert business setup consultants. For VCs, accelerators, and ecosystem builders - feel free to share this opportunity with startups in your network that could benefit from fast-tracked entry and growth support across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries.

France, Southern Europe, and Spain: Regional Partners

We are very happy to introduce you to our regional partners. First up: Welcome, Christina, from France!

Christina Rebuffet-Broadus has a deep understanding of both the USA and France, having grown up in one and now living in the other. She knows not only how to navigate and translate between the different cultures but also how to help French companies succeed in the United States.

Welcome Serena Davis – Our New Regional Partner in Southern Europe!

We’re excited to welcome Serena Davis to the USA Launching Pad team! Based in Greece, Serena brings 18+ years of experience as a venture capitalist and commercial executive, supporting impact-driven startups across climate, health, education, and more. She’ll help us expand our reach in Southern Europe and champion innovators looking to scale in the U.S.

Expanding Role – Spain: Welcome back Mar Navarro Montes!

Our colleague, Mar Navarro Montes, returned to Spain after almost two years with us in Silicon Valley. She most recently led the Scottish MarketBooster program. Her wealth of experience is now available as a Regional Partner for European entrepreneurs: She did it all - starting as a Project Manager with us, leading Launching Pads with our clients, pushing her own life science startup to new heights at Skydeck Incubator, and completing her master's degree at the University of California, Berkeley. Welcome home, Mar! We can’t wait to see how you’ll contribute to the European tech scene.

Africa and the Middle East - the up-and-coming regions: Welcome Adetayo!

Welcome Adetayo Teluwo – Our New Regional Partner for MENA and Sub Saharan Africa!

We’re excited to welcome Adetayo Teluwo to the USA Launching Pad team! As Managing Partner of FBX Ventures and a seasoned operator-investor, Adetayo brings deep experience supporting early-stage tech startups across Africa and the diaspora. Based in Nigeria, he will lead our efforts to identify and support high-growth ventures in the Middle East and the broader African continent that are looking to explore U.S. expansion.

Grants to help finance expansions of products and markets: Inspiralia

We’re partnering with Inspiralia to de-risk soft landing and U.S. expansion for deeptech startups. This partnership supports grant applications submitted to the European Innovation Council (EIC) by offering credible U.S. market support, making startups more competitive in securing non-dilutive funding. Inspiralia can also help with U.S. based grants for expansion or R&D work in the USA. Contact us for more information.

Milestones

• 9+ scale-ups and startups supported this quarter 

• 3 new cross-border expansion partnerships launched 

• 5 startup founders secured funding or signed their first U.S. customer 

• 1 new program launching at TechCrunch 2025

Partner Spotlight: Tenity

Tenity has helped over 1,600 early-stage startups connect to funding, mentors, and global ecosystems. Together, we’re building a direct bridge from Europe to Silicon Valley—with a program designed to validate U.S. product fit and launch with impact.

🗓️ Fall 2025 cohort kicks off August 15
 🏁 Live demo during TechCrunch Disrupt, San Francisco, October 2025
  👉 Apply here

What’s included in the program:

• Outreach to 20’000+ potential U.S. customers

• Feedback directly from U.S. buyers through our proven customer discovery methodology

• Adapted U.S. go-to-market strategy using our 12-point go-to-market framework

• Sales enablement and pilot acquisition support

• Silicon Valley-based immersion and operational guidance

• Access to a trusted ecosystem of legal, financial, marketing, and investor partners

• Workspace for your team in San Francisco and tickets to TechCrunch conference

• A live demo opportunity during TechCrunch, San Francisco’s major tech industry conference, with over 10,000 investors, journalists, and corporate leaders

Customer Spotlight: Talking Medicines

Quantitative Achievements from the MarketBooster program:

• 20 interviews completed across HR, People Analytics, and Tech roles

• 28.8% LinkedIn acceptance rate (exceptionally high outreach performance)

• 2.8% meeting booking rate from outreach—on par with top-performing B2B campaigns

• Over 10 interviewees validated the concept as filling a market whitespace or being a strong alternative to existing tools

• 8.3 / 10 average product concept score

The team also refined their messaging, validated table-stakes integrations with key platforms in the target industries, and finally paused the outreach to successfully convert a prospect into a pilot customer. With a sharper go-to-market strategy and investor-ready insights, they’re now positioned to enter the U.S. with confidence.

TOPS & FLOPS: What Worked, What Didn’t?

TOPS: The Best Moves We Saw This Quarter

1. Using Data to find Market Fit

   Cloudsoft saw exceptional response rates (over 22%) by switching outreach from CEOs to a more technical peer-to-peer approach. This change doubled the resonance and meeting conversion rates, proving how our data-driven approach surfaces key insights.

2. Listening First, Pivoting Fast

   Conversations with U.S. financial advisors helped Aveni realize their real edge wasn’t compliance - it was saving time. Aveni heard financial advisors describing hours and hours spent on gathering and logging data. Aveni adapted its sales pitch from compliance to saving time by automating note-taking and creating a searchable archive. Systematic customer discovery at work. 

3. Returning Customer With a Sharper U.S. Use Case

   Zippsafe returned for another Launching Pad with a new solution: Zipp & Scan, designed to reduce hospital liability and costs associated with lost patient belongings. Over the last few months, the team has learned how this pain point is perceived, which solution features have particularly resonated, and how they need to position themselves for entry into hospital systems. 

FLOPS: What Didn’t Work & What We Learned

1. Too Niche, Too Soon = Lost Interest – One team pitched a category so unfamiliar it left U.S. listeners confused. The lesson? Don’t lead with clever, lead with clear. Anchor your product in terms your customer already knows, then explain what makes you different.

2. Too much stealth = Not enough sell – A few founders hesitated to share product visuals or roadmap details. In the U.S., if you don't show value fast, people move on.

3. Passive launch = No buzz – A great product went quiet after arriving in the U.S. — no updates, no posts, no visible traction. In a market this noisy, silence is the kiss of death.

The takeaway? Be clear. Be quick. Be visible. In the U.S., how you show up is often as important as what you’re building.

Stay Connected!

Know a startup or scale-up entering the U.S. market? We’d love to help.
Reply to this email or reach out to us directly.

Follow us on LinkedIn for founder wins, market insights, and upcoming program launches!

Thank you, and see you next time.

Gert, Matt, and the entire USA Launching Pad team 🚀