The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has joined the next Geovation accelerator programme to boost innovation in land use.
Defra will be funding three startups in Geovation’s next cohort in the autumn, with the intention of encouraging innovative solutions to challenges in land use using location, property and Earth Observation data.
In particular, the search is on for startups that can help decision-makers make better land use choices through data, digital tools and spatial insights. These tools should support more efficient, resilient and multifunctional use of land across housing, infrastructure, energy, food production and nature recovery.
Each of the three startups will receive up to £20,000 equity free funding. The programme is currently open for applications to be part of the autumn cohort.
Until now, the Geovation accelerator programme has been an Ordnance Survey (OS) initiative in association with HM Land Registry (HMLR), supporting founders who are using high-quality public sector data and emerging technologies to unlock new value across the economy.
Location intelligence startups have been supported by OS, while proptech startups have been delivered in association with HMLR. By extending the collaboration to include Defra, Geovation can help more startups by providing further data and specialist support.
With Defra’s support, the three new land use startups will be provided with additional mentoring from Satellite Applications Catapult (SAC). This will enable matchmaking for pilots and readying the startups for procurement.
“We are delighted that Defra has joined the Geovation accelerator programme,” says Nick Bolton, chief executive at OS. “We help founders apply trusted location, land and environmental data to some of land’s most pressing challenges.
“This partnership will support new ideas to move from promising concepts to practical tools for land use, strengthening productivity, resilience and sustainability across the important work that Defra does.”
