Defra joins the award-winning Geovation Accelerator Programme to support innovation in land use

Defra will be funding three successful 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 which 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 new announcement is a direct response to Defra’s Land Use Framework, which called for partners in government to put geospatial data in the hands of those who need it.

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 focusing on the property sector) has been delivered in association with HMLR. By extending the collaboration to include Defra, Geovation can help more startups, by providing more data and specialist support.

Support from the Accelerator Programme includes a tailored programme of targeted workshops, one-to-one mentoring, and technical support from the Geovation team. Deep-dive sessions focus on customer development, technology, business models, intellectual property, team building, and funding readiness, alongside access to Geovation’s wider partner and investor ecosystem.

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. Interested founders have been invited to a roundtable event with Defra in the Geovation hub.

OS Chief Executive Nick Bolton said: "We are delighted that Defra has joined the Geovation Accelerator Programme. 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."

More than a dozen startups showing innovative use of data in land use and management have already been supported through the Accelerator. Land App, founded by fourth-generation farmer Tim Hopkin, was successful in the inaugural programme in 2015. His solution was an essential, easy-to-use digital mapping platform that helps land managers unlock the full potential of their land. Ten years on and Land App is a trusted national platform on which 80% of England’s agricultural land is already mapped. One of the latest to join the programme is Oko Ag (oko.ag). Its founder Alexandra Simmons has one aim: to simplify agricultural funding. By combining geospatial intelligence with AI, the platform makes it quicker and easier for farms to see what public and private funding is available to them.

Overall, Geovation has supported over 180 innovators, with more than 70% progressing through the Accelerator Programme. Earlier this year, it celebrated a decade of its award-winning programme by welcoming eight early-stage startups as its 22nd cohort. Cohort 22’s startups are responding to complex decision‑making challenges spanning climate resilience, energy transition, market transparency, and infrastructure risk by combining location intelligence, and land and property data, with emerging technologies including AI, automation, and remote sensing.

The Programme is already open to applications for the autumn cohort.