[OSGeo-UK] Fwd: OSGEO & EU Horizon Call - A services and business incubator for geospatial open-source developments

[Samantha Lavender]

When I was treasurer of EarSeL, they did get involved in projects, and OGC does the same – the big advantage is that it’s another revenue source. The difficulty is that you need the administrative structure in place to manage contracts and finance, including auditing.

Best Wishes, Sam

From: UK <uk-bounces at lists.osgeo.org> On Behalf Of Nick Bearman via UK
Sent: 02 March 2026 12:07
To: uk at lists.osgeo.org
Subject: [OSGeo-UK] Fwd: OSGEO & EU Horizon Call - A services and business incubator for geospatial open-source developments


Hi OSGeo:UK,

As Chair of OSGeo:UK I have been approached by Ksenia Grant, from University of Edinburgh and EDINA, to see if we know anyone who is bidding for the EU Horizon Call:  A services and business incubator for geospatial open-source developments and/or whether we are interested in collaborating with them. I have circulated this around the OSGeo Discuss and Europe lists as well.

The timescale is relatively short (mid-April submission) and they are keen to emphasise their willingness to undertake the heavy admin burden of a EU Bid.

Of note, it is bidding for up to €6m, and it is designated that a minimum of 45% and up to 60% of this will be provided as 'cascading funds' - i.e. money given to companies and organisations to do stuff, rather than used by the project partners as such.

This seems like an interesting opportunity, and any comments / advice / suggestions are welcome. We (OSGeo:UK) have not been involved with something like this before (to my knowledge) so any comments are welcome.

If you have any links, or are interested, please do reach out to Ksenia or myself.

Best wishes,
Nick.

Nick Bearman | OSGeo:UK Chair
On 25/02/2026 14:06, Ksenia Grant wrote:
Dear Nick

Tom (cc’ed) shared your email address with me.

I work for the University of Edinburgh and I have been speaking to colleagues from EDINA<https://edina.ac.uk/> about the EU Horizon call and looking for contacts at OSGeo and I was introduced to Tom who directed me to you.
More info about the call here: EU Funding & Tenders Portal<https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-CL6-2026-03-GOVERNANCE-06?isExactMatch=true&status=31094501,31094502,31094503&callIdentifier=HORIZON-CL6-2026-03&order=DESC&pageNumber=1&pageSize=50&sortBy=startDate>

As you may be aware, the call seeks to establish an incubator for geospatial open-source developments. I believe organizations such as OSGeo are key to any proposal for this call. Deadline for applications is quite soon - in mid-April. Therefore, I am wondering if OSGEO is already involved in any consortium of partners putting a proposal together and if we (EDINA) could support and offer further input into the consortium.

If you are not aware of any proposals involving OSGeo already, it would also be also useful to discuss if OSGeo would be interested in partnering with us and others across Europe on a potential proposal for this call.
UoE and other organisations I am speaking too are experienced in putting EU Horizon calls proposals together so we are looking for insights and engagement from OSGEO (rather than sharing any of the administrative burdens of putting a proposal together which I appreciate might be off-putting for a volunteer-run organisation).

If this sounds of interest and you might want to discuss further, could you please let me know when is good for a call please?

Friday this week is very flexible for me if that may work for you too. Monday next week is looking good too.

Looking forward to hearing from you and discussing further.

Best wishes

Ksenia


Ksenia Grant  MSc, MBA
Business Development Manager
Information Services
The University of Edinburgh

www.ed.ac.uk<http://www.ed.ac.uk>
Mobile: 07407 794 883

IoT Research & Innovation Service
Digital Curation Centre
EDINA


[cid:image001.png at 01DCAAF4.67BD8CD0]




The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.

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Nick Bearman

+44 (0) 7717745715

nick at nickbearman.com<mailto:nick at nickbearman.com>



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