Geovation Scotland - turning net zero ambition into action
Amandeep Singh Kalra, GreenFlip
Geovation Scotland is the only support organisation specifically created for startups innovating in land, property and location technology in Scotland. A collaboration between Registers of Scotland and Ordnance Survey, the organisation leverages property and geospatial data to support innovation across Scotland.In the face of mounting climate pressures and a rapidly evolving built environment, Geovation Scotland is supporting innovation from early stage to scaling, through building a vibrant community, facilitating connections and running an annual accelerator programme.
BE-ST’s 2026 theme of Driving Delivery focuses on the practical steps needed to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon built environment. While significant progress is being made here, there are still clear barriers, including how to scale proven, innovative solutions. Geovation Scotland’s model recognises that data can be a powerful enabler of climate action as Scotland’s journey to net zero requires innovation, data-driven decision making and a new generation of businesses capable of helping organisations, land and property owners reduce emissions, improve resilience and make better use of resources. Geovation Scotland supports this through building a collaborative community of founders who can support each other and access key insights to identify opportunity. Geovation Scotland also hosts a bespoke accelerator programme, where early-stage startups receive support to validate, develop and scale over the course of 12 months. Many of the alumni from this programme have solutions that address decarbonisation and net-zero, including those directly working in the build environment space. By helping these companies go the market faster and scale their solutions sustainably, Geovation Scotland is helping to translate net zero ambitions into practical, measurable outcomes.
One example of this is PropEco, a PropTech company that helps organisations understand how climate change and environmental risks could affect homes and buildings. Their platform uses a wide range of datasets, including energy performance, flooding, planning history and climate information, to assess climate resilience, energy efficiency and sustainability performance. By making this information more accessible, PropEco enables better investment decisions and encourages property improvements that can reduce emissions and strengthen resilience to future climate impacts. Through participating in the accelerator programme, Geovation Scotland were able to provide not only business support, but also access to specialist property and location datasets and expertise to aid in refining the model PropEco use to support their clients make better environmental decisions.
Another business demonstrating the power of innovation in the transition to net zero is Rethink Carbon. The company helps organisations understand and manage carbon-related risks and opportunities through data, mapping and decision-support tools. While not focused solely on the built environment, Rethink Carbon enables better decisions around land use, natural capital and carbon sequestration, supporting organisations to realise the climate value of their land and support their transition to net zero. By combining geospatial data, intuitive visualisation and robust analysis, Rethink Carbon helps organisations navigate an increasingly complex policy and regulatory landscape while identifying opportunities for carbon storage and ecosystem restoration. Geovation Scotland supported Rethink Carbon with access to data, introductions across the innovation ecosystem, and signposting to other opportunities. The company is currently delivering a CivTech challenge to transform the management of Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code projects; the platform is expected to launch in late 2026.
Geovation Scotland’s support of net zero innovation is also evident through its work with GreenFlip, a startup focused on tackling residential retrofit. With millions of homes remaining energy inefficient, GreenFlip has developed an AI-powered platform that identifies properties with the greatest retrofit potential and packages them into investable opportunities for housing providers, property funds and institutional investors. By combining geospatial data with property intelligence, the company helps accelerate investment in energy efficiency improvements, reducing carbon emissions while improving living conditions and lowering energy costs for residents. As a member of Geovation Scotland’s accelerator programme, GreenFlip was able to unlock access to expertise, networks and data to scale a solution that aims to significantly increase the pace of housing decarbonisation in support of national net zero targets.
As Scotland continues its transition to a lower-carbon economy, the contribution of innovation ecosystems will become increasingly important. By supporting companies such as PropEco, Rethink Carbon, and GreenFlip, Geovation Scotland is helping create the tools, insights and services needed to accelerate decarbonisation. In doing so, it is not only supporting startup growth which is critical for the Scottish economy but also making a meaningful contribution to the practical delivery of Scotland’s net zero ambitions through home-grown innovation and talented, ambitious founders.