PRESS RELEASE
Newbury based social Enterprise Strat Up gains a place on one of the UK’s leading Accelerator Programmes
Newbury based business, BioCap Limited has won a place on Ordnance Surveys prestigious Geovation Accelerator Programme. BioCap will be in the Autumn 2020 cohort and will get 6 months of support from the OS team, access to OS software developers, a programme of business workshops and £10,000. The Geovation Accelerator programme was set up in 2009 and has helped 117 businesses who have collectively raised over £75m in finance.
Ed Cooper founder and CEO of BioCap says
“This award gives BioCap a fantastic start and the expertise at Ordnance Survey will be of immense help as we work with our partners to develop our West Berkshire Opportunity Map and create software tools that help visualize and plan how to capture carbon and enhance Biodiversity in our local countryside. We can then get on with work of making things happen in our local environment ”
About BioCap
We are experiencing Climate Change and Biodiversity crises. The UK is entering a time of huge change for our farmers and landowners and our Government and other agencies have ambitious plans to use nature, such as tree establishment, to capture carbon and try to reverse our wildlife losses.
As a community, we in West Berkshire need to have a vision and a plan of what we want from our countryside. With a plan we could then all help by; offsetting our carbon emissions, establishing trees, and supporting farmers and landowners to manage the land for the benefit of the environment.
Ed Cooper set up BioCap Ltd in April 2020 to develop a not for profit business and now a registered charity, that will engage the community of West Berkshire; individuals, businesses, landowners, farmers, and agencies in Local Action to mitigate climate change and Biodiversity Loss.
BioCap will use data and software to develop an “Opportunity Map” for West Berkshire that will provide a vision detailing how we can use Nature in our local countryside to start to combat climate change and also benefit our wildlife.
Ed has assembled a partnership that provides the technology expertise and knowledge needed to produce and develop sophisticated mapping tools and ecologists and landowners to practically work out what is best for our countryside;
IMGeospatial – data, AI mapping expertise
Englefield and Wasing Estates – landownership and agricultural expertise
Thales/Soarizon – drone imaging and data
Ecologists – Sue Everett, Jonathan Spencer MBE, Robin Buxton
Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre – Data and mapping expertise
GeoCento – Satellite data
Now joined by Geovation and Ordnance Survey
BioCap is also working with others to run events that help people to understand climate change and Biodiversity. The West Berkshire Natural Environment Meetup has an online event on the evening of 19th November where we will hear about a development of a wildlife Woodmeadow near York.
Do register with the Meetup group and attend the event - https://www.meetup.com/West-Berkshires-Natural-Environment-Meetup-Group/
About Geovation
Geovation is an open innovation initiative. We believe that the greatest opportunities arise from collaboration, where risks and rewards are shared equitably. We’re always looking for like-minded organisations to build new partnerships that support our community of startups and entrepreneurs.
The Geovation Accelerator Programme - https://geovation.uk/accelerator/ is ran by Ordnance Survey and HM Land Registry to support innovative mapping and geographical businesses. The Accelerator programme is set up to help launch and grow innovative solutions to social, environmental and economic challenges that harness the power of data and technology. Location is at the heart of many successful digital products and services, and together, land and property make the foundation of our national economy. Working with startups helps OS and HMLR develop new models to make it easier for businesses to use our data and deliver ground breaking innovations that will deliver our industrial strategy.
For more detail contact Ed Cooper – 07899794794, ed.cooper@cykay.co.uk