GeoAI Festival: Unleash Innovation at the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Geospatial Satellite Data
Innovate UK is pleased to launch the GeoAI Festival – a six month long initiative to support the rapid development of novel commercial solutions to real-world challenges through the use of geospatial AI and Earth Observation data.
It is estimated that by 2030, the global value of Earth Observation (EO) data could exceed $700 billion while eliminating 2 gigatonnes of GHG emissions (source). To support the rapid development of solutions in this area, Innovate UK is pleased to launch the GeoAI Festival.
This initiative will bring together innovators, businesses, academics, end users, and public bodies to explore and advance the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in geospatial applications with EO data that would create new products and services for Agri-Food Systems, spatial planning, sustainable land and ocean use, and nature-based markets.
Specifically, the GeoAI Festival will involve a variety of ways to contribute:
The GeoAI Build and Pitch Programme – October 2025 to March 2026
Teams with eligible ideas to the below three challenges set by Innovate UK and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are encouraged to utilise foundation models, Agentic AI, Geo embeddings, multimodal AI, Natural Language Processing and/or large language models (LLM):
- Harnessing GeoAI for a Resilient and Sustainable Agri-Food System > apply via the Innovation Exchange (iX) platform by 9 November 2025
- Next-Gen Spatial Planning: GeoAI Solutions for Land, Ocean, and Climate> apply via the Innovation Exchange (iX) platform by 9 November 2025
- Unlocking Nature-Based Markets with EO & AI > apply via the Innovation Exchange (iX) platform by 9 November 2025
Who can participate in this programme?
We are particularly keen to receive applications from SMEs that already have a product and want to use the 6-week programme to undertake experimental development, de-risk the testing of a new product line, explore access to new markets, develop new business models, or add new services to an existing product.
Teams from any UK registered company that either has a stake in the UK’s geospatial or AI ecosystems, or a desire to venture into these sectors may apply. In particular, the programme is open to professionals, start-ups, and innovation teams from SMEs and established organisations, universities, research groups, and end user communities with expertise in:
- EO and remote sensing
- GIS and geospatial analytics
- Machine learning and AI
- Software/App development
- Cloud computing
- UX/UI design and data visualisation.
Government participants are welcome as mentors or facilitators, but not as competing teams.
What will this programme involve?
Between January and March 2026, up to 20 teams will participate in a three-day in person sprint event at Cloth Hall Court, University of Leeds and a 6-week development period.
The Build and Pitch programme will incorporate design thinking methodologies to help teams rapidly prototype, test assumptions, and iterate based on user needs. Through a combination of technical mentorship and business support, teams will be guided to accelerate both the technical development and commercial readiness of their solutions with support from industry experts from our partner ecosystem.
This programme aims to foster innovation through:
- An in-person design thinking workshop to create novel solutions delivered by Satellite Applications Catapult.
- An agentic AI workshop with access to a diverse range data sets and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Products and Services.
- Keynote talks and panel discussions with industry experts to inspire participants for the challenges.
- Tailored mentorship in online drop-in sessions throughout the duration of the programme for prototyping discussions supported by our partner network.
- Online workshops on value proposition design, business modelling, and pitch development delivered by Growth Studio.
Participants will be challenged to combine EO data, both public and commercial, with other datasets and apply AI tools to build prototypes for innovative, commercially viable products that would solve real-world problems in agriculture, and nature markets and green finance.
GeoAI Explainable Earth Webinars – Early 2026
To spark conversation, thought leadership and knowledge sharing throughout the ecosystem, we will also be running a three-part series of online discussions that would explore thought-provoking topics around:
- The Rise of Agentic GeoAI: Autonomy, Trust, and Collaboration
- Seeing the Whole Picture: Multimodal AI for Planetary Insight
- From Silos to Systems: Reimagining GeoAI for Resilience and Trust.
These webinars will be open for the general public in addition to the programme’s cohort.
The culmination of these activities will result in participation at the GeoAI Showcase at Space Comm Expo Europe in March 2026 in London as well as tailored Commercialisation Credits for SAC’s Space Commercialisation Engine valued at up to £80k per team.
Why is the GeoAI Festival important?
The use of geospatial data in services and applications is a vital part of our economy, underpinning a vast array of applications across agriculture, disaster management, urban planning, public health, finance, and climate resilience.
AI unlocks powerful capabilities for analysing and interpreting vast quantities of earth observation information at speed, allowing for automation, faster extraction of insights and subsequent actions.
The GeoAI Festival unites geospatial and AI experts around three themes across agriculture, climate, nature, and finance:
- Risk focuses on using EO data and AI to model threats
- Resilience applies predictive analytics to our infrastructure, businesses, and communities
- Revenue emphasises scaling solutions commercially while supporting both economic and planetary needs.
Whilst promoting knowledge sharing, networking, and create an environment for the rapid development of ground-breaking / cutting-edge applications that can be developed, refined, and validated.
The GeoAI Festival Ecosystem
To deliver the activities Innovate UK is working with Defra and has the support of a consortium of partners and key industry stakeholders from across the geospatial and AI ecosystems:
Delivery Partners
With support from
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