The CivTech Alliance

What The CivTech Alliance does

The CivTech Alliance is a global intergovernmental network of 20+ GovTech, civic-tech, and academic innovation programmes, established in March 2020 and operated by Scottish Ministers from Victoria Quay, Edinburgh. With members spanning 17 countries across the Americas, Europe, Africa/Middle East, and Australasia, the Alliance coordinates cross-border collaboration among public-sector innovation teams through weekly peer-learning calls, bilateral challenge partnerships, and its flagship Global Scale-Up Programme (GSUP). The Alliance does not sell a product or charge scale-ups for participation; it is funded by member governments and strategic partners including the Scottish Government (£6m grant in 2022), the World Bank, UNDP, and other multilateral and national innovation agencies.

The Alliance's core offering is the GSUP, a structured access programme (not a traditional accelerator) that sources mature climate tech scale-ups through challenge-based open calls and routes them through a 7-week virtual Scale-up Safari rotating across member ecosystems, culminating in Demo Week showcases at global events such as COP26 (Glasgow, 2021) and COP27 (Sharm El Sheikh, 2022). GSUP 1.0 (2021) selected 18 companies from 9 countries across environmental resilience, food waste, and decarbonising transport challenges; GSUP 2.0 (2022) engaged 15 companies under adaptation/green growth and green public procurement themes. Participating companies have secured material outcomes: Brazil Mata Viva ($2m–$5m Brazilian State contract), The Routing Company ($15m Series A from Climate Impact Fund), Val.AI ($1m AUD seed and COP27 partnership), and Scipopulis (Lithuanian municipal contract). CivTech Scotland's five prior accelerator cycles generated 187 jobs and £50.3m of investment by participating companies.

The Alliance is positioned as a curated distribution and credibility layer for climate tech scale-ups seeking cross-border public-sector access, recognised by OECD OPSI as a unique cross-border innovation model, by Apolitical as 2021 Global Public Service Team of the Year (Climate Heroes), and on the main stage of the 2022 Creative Bureaucracy Festival. Its business model is non-commercial: revenue is grant-funded rather than transaction- or subscription-based, customer segmentation distinguishes member innovation programmes, scale-up participants, NGOs, investors, and sponsors, and the 6-month post-programme field-testing phase operates as a facilitated pathway rather than a guaranteed procurement contract.

Name

The CivTech Alliance

Legal name

The CivTech Alliance

Website

https://civtechalliance.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The CivTech Alliance is a Scottish Government-operated network of 20+ government and academic innovation programmes across 17 countries, delivering the Global Scale-Up Programme (GSUP) to give climate tech scale-ups access to policymakers, procurers, and investors across multiple jurisdictions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Sector Innovation Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Technical Committees, Working Groups & Expert Panels (BPADANAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

United Nations System & Specialized Agencies (BPADAAAA)

Keywords

• Government innovation network
• Public sector acceleration
• Climate tech programme
• Civic technology coordination
• Cross-border innovation

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership and Programme Services: The CivTech Alliance operates as a government- and academia-backed network. Revenue is not generated through product or service sales. The Alliance coordinates member innovation programmes (CivTech Scotland, GovTech Lab Lithuania, etc.) which are funded by their respective governments. The GSUP programme does not charge scale-up participants; it is funded by member government programmes and strategic partners including the World Bank and UNDP. Some member programmes (e.g., CivTech Scotland) are supported by the Scottish Government's £6m CivTech investment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The CivTech Alliance operates a global cross-border innovation network and access programme connecting climate tech scale-ups with government policymakers, public sector procurers, and investors across 17 countries. Its flagship offering is the Global Scale-Up Programme (GSUP), structured as a 7-week Scale-up Safari culminating in Demo Week events at international summits such as COP26 and COP27. The Alliance is operated by Scottish Ministers rather than functioning as a commercial product company.

Product overview

The CivTech Alliance is a global network of GovTech, Civic Tech, and Academia programmes spanning 17 countries, focused on delivering systemic global impact through public sector innovation. The organisation's primary offering is the Global Scale-Up Programme (GSUP), an award-winning cross-border access programme that sources, surfaces, and scales climate tech solutions for global public sector applications. The GSUP operates as a structured programme combining virtual Scale-up Safaris (rotating through regional innovation ecosystems) with in-person Demo Weeks at COP conferences. Member organisations—including BrazilLAB, GovTech Lab Lithuania, GovTech Polska, DTU Compute, 10x GSA, Go2Gov, and others across Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australasia—collaborate through weekly catch-up calls and bilateral challenge partnerships to share best practice and build intergovernmental delivery capabilities. The alliance was founded in March 2020 and has delivered two major GSUP cohorts (2021 and 2022) culminating in showcase events at COP26 Glasgow and COP27 Sharm El Sheikh.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GSUP 1.0: First iteration of the Global Scale-Up Programme in 2021, running up to COP26 in Glasgow
• GSUP 2.0
• Scale-up Safari

Products and services

• Global Scale-Up Programme (GSUP) Flagship cross-border innovation programme that sources, surfaces, and scales climate tech solutions for global public sector applications. Connects fast-growth companies with policymakers, procurers, and investors across regional innovation ecosystems through a structured Scale-up Safari and demo events at COP conferences.
• Weekly Catch-up Calls Informal weekly video calls where innovation programme teams share updates and best practice, providing peer learning and global connection among CivTech Alliance members across 17 countries.
• Bilateral Challenges Intergovernmental delivery partnerships where CivTech Alliance members collaborate on cross-border innovation challenges, enabling effective collaboration between countries and providing a structured mechanism for companies to engage with multiple governments simultaneously.
• GSUP 2.0 Scale-up Safari Eight-week virtual programme (September-October 2022) with 12 innovation teams across 9 countries, providing climate tech companies with engagement sessions and introductions to policymakers, procurers, and investors, culminating in demo presentations at COP27.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 200 introductions across 102 organisations made during the 7-week GSUP 1.0 Scale-up Safari (2021)
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers33 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Civic Software FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022A US-based non-profit founded in 2013 with the mission of creating and supporting technology and practices for next-generation collaborative technology systems. Civic Software Foundation contributes ethical data use and societal impact principles to the Alliance, including through the Context-Aware Systems framework referenced in the CivTech Alliance's Vision document.
• GRNET (Greece)supportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022National Infrastructures for Research and Technology (GRNET) provides networking and cloud computing services to academic and research institutions, educational bodies, and public sector agencies in Greece. GRNET advises the Ministry of Digital Governance on advanced information systems design.
• The World BankcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022The World Bank is a GSUP 2.0 strategic partner that helped shape the programme. The Alliance references World Bank reports and publications as foundational documents for the programme's challenge frameworks (e.g., the 2022 Global Procurement Partnership for Sustainable Development report).
• Nordic Council of MinisterssupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022Nordic Council of Ministers co-hosted the COP26 Global Scale-Up Programme reception at the Nordic Pavilion, providing the opportunity for the CivTech Alliance to host a panel and reception on creating conditions for innovation and climate tech to scale across borders.
• We Don't Have TimesupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022Climate tech social media platform that live-streamed the CivTech Alliance's COP26 panel session alongside the Nordic Council of Ministers reception, providing global digital amplification.
• Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), EgyptcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022MCIT partnered with the CivTech Alliance for COP27, enabling the Alliance's GSUP 2.0 cohort to present in the GreenZone Dome and host sessions at the MCIT Applied Innovation Center pavilion. Egyptian tech companies joined sessions alongside GSUP companies.
• Connected Places CatapultsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Connected Places Catapult partnered with the GSUP 2.0 programme and subsequently selected Gentian (UK) and WeDRT (UK) as part of a UK-LATAM Net Zero Resilience partnership following COP27 presentations.
• NASA Open Innovation TeamsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022NASA's open innovation team was among the 102 organisations engaged during GSUP 1.0, providing scale-ups with introductions to US government innovation and technology transfer networks.
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), US GovernmentsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022FEMA was among the US government organisations engaged during GSUP 1.0, connecting climate tech companies with emergency management and resilience-focused public sector stakeholders.
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021UNDP is a GSUP strategic partner, helping shape the programme and add to the overall proposition for scale-ups and policy-maker participants. UNDP collaborated on GSUP 1.0 alongside the World Resources Institute and Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc.
• World Resources Institute (WRI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021WRI collaborated on GSUP 1.0 (2021) alongside UNDP and Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc, contributing expertise in climate, environment, and sustainable development to the programme challenges around environmental resilience, food waste, and decarbonisation.
• Michelin Scotland Innovation ParcsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc partnered on GSUP 1.0, providing innovation infrastructure and ecosystem support for the programme's climate tech companies.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI): OECD's dedicated unit for studying and supporting public sector innovation across member countries. Directly comparable as a cross-border government innovation network; OPSI has already profiled CivTech Alliance as a case study, validating the peer relationship.
• Nesta: UK-based innovation foundation running challenge prizes, accelerator programmes, and government innovation missions. Comparable as a mission-driven innovation intermediary, though Nesta operates more as a grant-making foundation vs. the Alliance's network model.
• World Bank Innovation Labs: World Bank's public-sector innovation and procurement units operate globally, supporting government innovation and are an explicit strategic partner of the GSUP. Comparable as a global intergovernmental innovation intermediary and partner channel.
• Minderoo Foundation: Australian philanthropic foundation funding large-scale climate, oceans, and innovation programmes. Comparable as a mission-driven, multi-country funder; has sponsored COPs that the CivTech Alliance participates in.

Direct peers

• European Innovation Council (EIC): EU-level public body funding and accelerating deep-tech and innovative procurement. Comparable as a government-backed cross-border innovation funding and acceleration mechanism; StartOff Norway (a CivTech member) has already won the EIC Innovative Procurement Leadership Award.
• Climate-KIC: EU-backed knowledge and innovation community focused specifically on climate innovation, running accelerators across European member states. Direct peer on the climate-tech cross-border accelerator dimension of the CivTech Alliance's GSUP.
• UNDP Accelerator Labs: UNDP's global network of 91+ country-based accelerator labs supporting innovation in developing country governments. Direct peer as a UN-agency-backed global innovation network; UNDP is already a CivTech Alliance GSUP strategic partner.
• GovTech Summit (The Hague): Annual convening organised around government technology and innovation held in The Hague. Comparable as a global GovTech community/conference umbrella where the CivTech Alliance regularly hosts sessions and juries awards.

Emerging players

• Startup Genome (GSG): Global startup ecosystem research and accelerator network operating across 100+ ecosystems. Comparable as a network-driven global innovation intermediary, though focused on private-sector startup mapping rather than government procurement access.

Regional players

• Creative Bureaucracy Festival: Berlin-based annual festival celebrating public sector innovation. Comparable as a global convening and recognition body where the CivTech Alliance has presented; less directly comparable in operational model but adjacent in ecosystem role.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CivTechGlobal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-civtech-alliance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The CivTech Alliance