Why Founders Choose Geovation: Real Stories from Our Accelerator Alumni
Geovation has supported thousands of startups over the past 15 years, including 120 that have taken part in our award-winning Accelerator, based at one of the Financial Times’ Leading Start-Up Hubs in Europe.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Accelerator provides bespoke support to selected early-stage startups. According to our alumni, it has been instrumental in ensuring the longevity of their ventures. While there is a wealth of literature demonstrating how accelerators and incubators support the survival of pre-seed businesses, we’ve set theory aside and asked over 40 of our alumni how Geovation has impacted their growth.
What Do Our Alumni Say Made the Biggest Difference in their Startup Journey?
Founder-to-Founder Support
Geovation’s community of current and former alumni includes a diverse range of successful startups, all eager to share insights and support new and existing founders. With a decade of experience, our programme offers unparalleled access to a network that actively engages in roundtables and makes meaningful introductions. We’re committed to ensuring that the lessons learned by past founders are passed on to the next generation.
Geovation doesn’t just offer a programme – it builds long-term relationships that actively help companies grow. The access to Ordnance Survey and HM Land Registry data, mentorship, and business guidance is invaluable. We felt genuinely supported every step of the way.
Ewa Moskwiak, PlanningHub
Expert Tech Guidance
Our in-house Tech Team offers ‘on-hand’ support to startup cohorts for a full year. This guidance helps founders avoid early technical missteps, especially when in-house geospatial expertise is limited. The team provides advice on building MVPs and products—and crucially, when not to build. The earlier your stage, the greater the impact Geovation can have in helping you avoid common pitfalls. Our Tech Team has advised hundreds of startups, and nearly all alumni interviewed cited their collective experience and knowledge as invaluable.
One startup neatly summed up the benefits of Geovation’s tech support:
Geovation provided an excellent workspace and a fundamental reservoir of knowledge about geolocation and geospatial information.
Customer Connections and Market Access
Geovation’s extensive network spans multiple industries—both public and private. For startups seeking their first customers or expert insights, our introductions have proven vital in validating and achieving product-market fit. Many alumni also highlighted the influence of Geovation’s brand; simply being accepted onto the accelerator often attracts early-stage traction, opens doors to investors, and sparks fruitful conversations.
The expertise and connections provided by the Geovation team have inspired many of the ideas that led us to where we are today.
Andre Wang, Moonbility
Funding
Thirty of the alumni we spoke to identified our funding facility as the most critical support offered by Geovation. Though relatively modest compared to other funding sources, it’s no less impactful. As we primarily support pre-seed startups, this funding has been a lifeline—extending runway, enabling sustainable growth, and allowing more time to discover product-market fit. Most startups used the funding for prototype and product development. It’s distributed in five tranches over 12 months, contingent on meeting agreed objectives.
We understood better who our customers are. That, in turn, sparked further conversations on future product development and how to accommodate additional use case scenarios we hadn’t considered.
Alesja Gilvear, Safest Way
Exclusive Data Access & Strategic Advantages
Startups accepted into the Geovation Accelerator gain privileged access to location, land, and property data from Ordnance Survey (OS) and HM Land Registry (HMLR)—two of the UK’s most authoritative data providers.
An added bonus was to have access to the Geovation tech team who shared their extensive knowledge, both tech and operational, from working with start-ups in this area whilst the OS and HMLR teams offered relevant industry connections.
Susan Gregory, Agrasta
This access enables founders to build smarter solutions using high-quality geospatial and property datasets, which are often cost-prohibitive or difficult to obtain independently. Whether you’re developing tools for urban planning, environmental monitoring, or property innovation, this data can be a game-changer.
In addition to data access, startups benefit from strategic guidance from OS and HMLR experts, helping them navigate regulatory landscapes, validate use cases, and unlock new market opportunities.
Combined with Geovation’s technical support and funding, these advantages create a comprehensive launchpad for startups solving real-world problems with data-driven innovation.
We’ve benefitted enormously from the insightful workshops on the OS and HMLR data as well as on every imaginable challenge a startup will face.
Adrià Tarrida, Viability
Apply to Our Programme
Applications for our next programme are open.
To secure a place on the Geovation Accelerator, startups must submit an application. Top-scoring applicants will be invited to a value proposition and business interview with experts from Geovation, OS, and HMLR. Last year, we received over 150 applications, and six startups were selected for our most recent cohort.
If you’d like to take advantage of these resources to grow your startup, apply now to join our next Autumn cohort. Applications close 23:59 Friday 29 August 2025.
Geovation is an Ordnance Survey initiative, in association with HM Land Registry.