GovBridge: Connecting Government and Space
We’re thrilled to unveil our latest initiative, GovBridge. The UK Space Agency is continuing its partnership with Entrepreneurial Spark and Exotopic to establish GovBridge as part of its Unlocking Space for Government programme.
GovBridge centres around supporting entrepreneurs from within the space sector to better access government contracts and apply their innovative services and products to improve public services. Through focused and intensive workshops, the cohort of founders will refine their business offerings to suit government requirements better.
The Event
The three-month programme kickstarted on the 13th of August 2024 with a two-day Boot Camp in London. We were delighted to welcome our alumni from the UK Space Agency Accelerator onto GovBridge. Through the programme, the cohort can build connections and unwrap the complexities of government procurement.
We brought together a notable array of experts in government procurement, key stakeholders and CEO’s with bid experience, to deliver a series of seminars and workshops. These provided our cohort with a comprehensive base knowledge of government procurement which we will continue to expand across the GovBridge programme.
Day 1
Miles Collinson from the UK Space Agency began the session with his comprehensive introduction to government procurement. He was followed by Michel Murray from the North East Procurement Office who explained the priorities and challenges of local governments which influence their decisions when it comes to awarding projects. Rounding off the morning’s talks from experts, Rob Adlard, Principal Investigator for Exotopic, gave an insightful session on how to identify and engage with the right people.
The agenda for Boot Camp was carefully curated to ensure the attendees walked away with a well-rounded understanding. Furthermore, we were delighted to be joined by Sam Adlen, CEO of Space Solar and Michael Vardi, Co-founder of Valerann to share their experiences in selling their services to the government and leading a government project.
Closing out the talks of the first day, Lousie Butt from the Space South Central cluster guided the cohort on how to form robust collaborations. On behalf of Exotopic, refreshments were enjoyed at The Understudy at The National Theatre, offering a wonderful opportunity for all participants to network and cap off the day.
Day 2
Day two started with a moment to recap the learnings of the day before. Soon after, Dan Veal, Principal Investigator at Exotopic, gave insight into the differences between pitching to the government versus the private sector. Moving forward, Rob Adlard gave insight into the Social Value Act of 2012 and how the cohorts can ensure their business provides social and environmental benefits to meet this requirement. Stephanie Ayres, Head of Policy at UKspace, gave an essential talk on how to develop your business plan for government customers. She also shared her coveted business development wireframe with our cohort.
After an intensive day and a half of intensive yet eye-opening talks, the afternoon was an opportunity for the cohort to apply their learnings.
Dan Veal led a workshop activity on government spending and business development. In groups, our cohort worked together to develop projects for an example bid. After presenting, Lydia Green, Head of the Unlocking Space Programme, and our experts provided some essential feedback.
Broadening the Horizons for Small Businesses
GovBridge is essential in helping growing space businesses to think outside of the space sector. Space is already a crucial part of many public services, and the industry has the potential to continue to improve these. Therefore, our experts are helping the cohort to broaden their horizons to think outside of just what their application solution could do specifically for the space sector and are encouraged to apply their products and services to different areas, such as the Home Office, the Environment Agency or local government.
Nurturing Collaboration
Our programmes nurture collaboration amongst startups within the space sector. During Boot Camp members of the cohort had a chance to bring together their differing experiences and brainstorm approaches to government procurement. As a result, they started to get a better understanding of how to answer RFP requests for proposals and explore how to communicate space solutions in a non-technical way so that any evaluator would be able to see the benefit. This is particularly crucial for our cohort to argue how they will meet sustainability and social requirements.
Bridging the Gap Between Government and Businesses
GovBridge bridges the gap between the government and growing startups. With Lydia Green, Portia Bircher and Miles Collinson attending the Boot Camp, there was a valuable opportunity for dialogue between UK Space Agency, our cohort and the experts. Consequently, the founders gained clarity on the rationale behind government procurement and shared feedback on where the process could be improved.
Moving Forward
Boot Camp is only the beginning of the three-month programme. Moving forward, our cohort will delve deeper into the topics through comprehensive, fortnightly workshops delivered by our team of experts. Through GovBridge, our cohort is acquiring essential knowledge to craft robust bids, establish lasting connections, and position the UK government as a potential customer.
GovBridge is an expansion of the UK Space Agency Accelerator, providing a new pathway for space startups to thrive in the space sector. If you would like you to learn more about GovBridge and take part in a future cohort, register your interest below.