Start-ups to receive funding, business support and more

Seven start-ups using location, land and property data in their products and services have been accepted onto the Geovation Accelerator Programme. Over the next twelve months the seven start-ups will receive a range of resources, including access to experienced software developers, geospatial expertise from Ordnance Survey (OS), property expertise from HMLR, and mentorship on business proposals and investor relationships. They will also receive up to £20,000 in funding.

GeoTech track:

• Digital-Field provides digital solutions for better land management to improve soil health, food production and reduce environmental impacts.
• The Future Fox creates software for communities to transform their neighbourhood, and for planners to create better places, faster, with AI.
• Watchkeeper International uses the latest geospatial technology, IoT systems and secure cloud services to provide clients with real-time monitoring and alerts for security incidents, natural disasters and supply chain disruptions.
• PropTech track:
• DronePrep uses location data to open up new low-level airspace access possibilities by connecting drone pilots to landowners to share and agree flight information.
• Winston is the digital concierge supporting the home of the future.
• Property-Markets the people's property investment market place.
• RenKap is an online marketplace working to alleviate the housing crisis by scaling the delivery of affordable homes.

Over the past twelve months PropTech company Hipla has been a member of Geovation’s Accelerator Programme. The company has been receiving assistance to develop a Home Buyer Passport, which aims to improve transparency in the home buying process. This launches soon.

Hipla Co-founder Adam Phillips said: “Receiving the backing, guidance and help from HM Land Registry, Geovation, and Ordnance Survey has helped our early stage start-up gain a much steadier footing than it otherwise would have done. Their help with early stage funding, office space, data and market insights has been invaluable. Their support has meant we are now in a much better position to deliver on our objectives of improving the home buying process.”

Pae Natwilai, founder of drone software company Trik, was accepted onto the Programme last year. Her company automatically turns drone photo feeds into interactive 3D models for the structural inspections of buildings.

She said: “Through Geovation we have grown our team significantly and managed to secure pre-seed investment from two amazing investors, Alex Chesterman the founder of Zoopla and Simon Franks, founder of Lovefilm. Next for us is scaling up the system and marketing it globally. We are currently finalising a deal with a couple of large engineering enterprises both in the UK and internationally.”

The Geovation Accelerator Programme is delivered and funded jointly by Ordnance Survey and HM Land Registry. It has been designed to provide start-ups with specialist help in the aim of helping unlock the hidden value in the nation’s data.

Alex Wrottesley, Head of Geovation, says: “We offer a founder-friendly environment, great mentors, high-quality workshop content and, almost uniquely, a dedicated software development team in house, who work hand in hand with our companies to build and release their first products. This is something very few accelerators can offer, and it means the businesses joining us can move faster and further than they otherwise would have been able to. We’re very much future focused and are looking forward to meeting and working with next group of Programme Members, and being a part of their story and them ours. We can’t wait to begin working with them.”