Locate International

What Locate International does

Locate International CIO is a UK-registered charitable incorporated organisation (Charity Number: 1197991) founded in 2019 by Dave Grimstead and Neil Smith, headquartered in Taunton, Somerset. The charity is the only UK organisation assisting policing in England and Wales with missing person investigations, providing expert case reviews, mobilising skilled volunteers, and conducting innovative investigations into long-term missing and unidentified person cases. It serves families of missing persons, law enforcement agencies, and families of unidentified persons. The organisation runs entirely on volunteers with no paid staff and offers its services free of charge, funded exclusively through public donations and author proceeds from the co-founder's Penguin-published book.

The charity's core technology asset is the Quest platform, a pioneering analytical and investigative system powered by Altia Intelligence that consolidates and interlinks data on UK long-term missing and unidentified individuals through collate, analyse, and investigate modules. The Virtual Interview System was co-developed with Goldsmiths University and Altia Intelligence, providing a secure, audited, access-controlled digital database. Locate International also leverages TadaWeb's donated OSINT platform for structured open-source intelligence research, enabling pattern identification across large datasets. Active investigations are supported by the International Cold Case Analysis Project (ICCAP), which has engaged 170+ students from universities across the UK, Germany, Australia, Croatia, and Ireland.

Locate International's go-to-market relies on direct case intake via its website, law enforcement referrals, and recurring media appeals through BBC, Channel 5's Vanished, Metro UK, and the podcast 'The Missing' hosted by Pandora Sykes. Strategic partnerships span law enforcement (Police Expert Network on Missing Persons, AMBER Alert Europe, ARPD in France), academic institutions, forensic experts (Hew Morrison), and family-support organisations (Avane). The organisation's volunteer base comprises several hundred trained investigators drawn from former police officers, students, and specialists, with Professor Dame Sue Black (Baroness Black of Strome) serving as patron. The charity has no disclosed revenue, no external equity or debt funding, and operates under founder-led governance.

Name

Locate International

Legal name

Locate International CIO

Website

https://locate.international

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Locate International is a UK-registered charity that investigates long-term missing and unidentified person cases in England and Wales using its Quest platform, volunteer investigators, and university partnerships, serving families of missing persons and law enforcement agencies entirely free of charge.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Taunton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Donations: Relies entirely on donations from the public to continue work. Receives no government funding. Donation amounts suggested at £1, £2.50, £5, £10, £15, £20, £50 with specific impacts defined (e.g., £10 provides month of access to historic newspaper archive, £15 covers birth/marriage/death certificate).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Locate International is a UK charity providing expert case reviews, mobilizing trained volunteers, and conducting innovative investigations to solve long-term missing and unidentified person cases in England and Wales. Services are delivered free of charge through the proprietary Quest analytical platform, family support programs, and active field investigations conducted in collaboration with police forces and university partners. The charity is entirely volunteer-powered and funded by public donations.

Product overview

Locate International operates as a unified charity offering a portfolio of investigation and support services for missing and unidentified persons cases. The core offering centers on Locate International itself as the primary charitable service, supported by the Quest analytical platform for case management and investigation workflows. Active Search represents the operational investigation arm, while Quest Family Support provides dedicated assistance to affected families. The organization also produces educational publications such as the 'Someone Must Know' book and runs campaigns like Final Journeys to raise awareness and funds for its work.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Quest: A pioneering analytical and investigative system designed to address challenges faced by families with missing loved ones. Quest consolidates and interlinks data on UK long-term missing and unidentified individuals, powered by Altia Intelligence, and enables a global volunteer network to conduct in-depth investigations.

Products and services

• Locate International Charitable Investigations Core charitable service providing expert case reviews, mobilization of trained volunteer investigators, and innovative investigations to solve long-term missing and unidentified person cases in England and Wales. Delivered free of charge to families of missing persons and in collaboration with UK police forces.
• Quest Platform Pioneering analytical and investigative platform that consolidates and interlinks data on UK long-term missing and unidentified individuals, enabling specialist volunteers to conduct in-depth case investigations through collate, analyze, and investigate workflows. Provides a secure, audited, access-controlled digital database used by Locate International investigators.
• Quest Family Support Dedicated family support service delivering emotional support, guidance through legal and investigative processes, and practical assistance for families navigating the complexities of a missing person's case. Provided free of charge as part of the Quest offering.
• Someone Must Know (Book) Published book by co-founder Dave Grimstead documenting the search for missing people and lost identities, sold commercially via Penguin with all author proceeds donated to Locate International.

Quantifiable outcome

• Has helped bring closure to families through solved cold cases
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

28 partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Avane (Association Avane)coreOthers · 8 June 2025Partnership with Avane strengthens support network for families through compassionate, expert-led assistance. Avane provides informed guidance to families dealing with complex cases, helps navigate legal considerations and procedural challenges, and complements investigative work with specialist legal expertise.
• ARPDcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025International collaboration with French organization ARPD enables coordinated work on cases spanning the UK and France. Teams share intelligence securely across borders, coordinate investigative activity with French authorities, and identify leads that might otherwise go unnoticed due to jurisdictional boundaries.
• TadawebcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2025Tadaweb donated platform licenses providing cutting-edge investigative technology used by law enforcement worldwide. Their OSINT technology allows teams to analyse complex datasets, conduct structured open-source intelligence research, identify connections and patterns, and work at greater scale and efficiency.
• Altia IntelligencecoreTechnology or IntegrationAltia powers the Quest platform - a pioneering analytical and investigative system for missing persons cases. The platform consolidates and interlinks data concerning long-term missing and unidentified individuals in the UK.
• Goldsmiths UniversitysecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated in developing the Quest virtual interview system. Specialists at Locate International CIO, Goldsmiths University and Altia Intelligence developed the system for collating case information.
• Police Expert Network on Missing Persons (PEN-MP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational network connecting educational organisations working on cold cases across national borders. Facilitates collaborative analysis and investigation of missing persons cases.
• AMBER Alert EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean alert system organization collaborating on international cold case analysis and missing persons investigations.
• Police Academy of Lower Saxony (Germany)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman police academy where cold case analyses have been taking place since 2014. Participates in the International Cold Case Analysis Project (ICCAP).
• University of South WalescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK university partner in ICCAP. Criminology students participate in real-world cold case analysis projects.
• Leeds Beckett UniversitysecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK university partner in ICCAP for cold case analysis projects.
• Staffordshire UniversitysecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK university partner in ICCAP for cold case analysis projects.
• University of WinchestersecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK university partner in ICCAP for cold case analysis projects.
• University of Central LancashiresecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK university partner in ICCAP for cold case analysis projects.
• Murdoch University (Australia)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustralian university partner in ICCAP for international cold case analysis collaboration.
• University of Newcastle (Australia)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustralian university partner in ICCAP for international cold case analysis collaboration.
• Plymouth Marjon UniversitysecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK university partner in ICCAP for cold case analysis projects.
• University of BathsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK university partner in ICCAP for cold case analysis projects.
• Canterbury Christ Church UniversitysecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK university partner in ICCAP for cold case analysis projects, participating for the first time in 2021.
• Police College Zagreb (Croatia)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCroatian police college participating in ICCAP for international cold case collaboration.
• Human Remains Service IrelandsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerIrish organization participating in ICCAP for international cold case collaboration.
• University of LancashirecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided specialist forensic geoscience and archaeology staff and Master's students for ground penetrating radar search in Isabella Skelton case. Provided expertise in search strategy, landscape analysis, evidence recovery, and archaeological investigation.
• Keele UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided specialist forensic geoscience and archaeology staff and Master's students for ground penetrating radar search in Isabella Skelton case. Provided expertise in search strategy, landscape analysis, evidence recovery, and archaeological investigation.
• Hew Morrison (Forensic Artist)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRenowned forensic artist who creates living depictions and artist impressions of unidentified persons. Created first forensic rendering of Lady in the Thames, Vauxhall Bridge Woman, and other cases.
• Missing People UKsecondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNational charity for missing people. Locate International collaborates with them on cases and refers families to their services.
• Charlie Hedges MBEsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK's foremost expert on missing persons, particularly children and those abducted and trafficked. Created the Missing Persons Information Hub (MPIH). Provides advisory and training expertise.
• Missing Persons Information Hub (MPIH)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerWebsite launched to help families and professionals navigate complexities of missing persons. Signposts users to relevant organisations and information.
• University of Portsmouth (Centre for the Study of Missing Persons)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Karen Shalev Greene's Centre transferred their research archive into the MPIH library. Provides academic research support for missing persons studies.
• Dr. Chung PhamsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerVolunteer since 2019, part of operational advisory board. Provides specialist advice on cases of missing Vietnamese people. PhD in Philosophy, works with police forces on safeguarding vulnerable populations.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Trace Labs: Canadian nonprofit crowdsourcing open-source intelligence to generate new leads on missing persons cases — directly comparable in leveraging volunteer OSINT/tech capability, which mirrors Locate's Tadaweb-powered volunteer investigations.

Direct peers

• Missing People UK: UK charity specifically supporting missing people and their families, offering helplines and family support — directly comparable in mission and geography and already listed as a Locate referral partner.
• Lucie Blackman Trust: UK charity that supports families of Britons who disappear overseas, including investigations and family liaison — overlaps with Locate on family-facing missing-person casework, especially on cross-border cases.
• Black and Missing Foundation: US nonprofit dedicated to finding missing persons of colour through media-driven public awareness campaigns — closely analogous to Locate International's earned-media strategy and family-support model.
• International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP): International intergovernmental organization focused on locating persons missing as a result of conflicts and human rights abuses — directly comparable in missing-persons casework at scale and with forensic/identification capability.

Broad incumbents

• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC): Large US-based nonprofit covering missing children and exploitation, with operational case-work and a national resource centre — a broader incumbent in the same investigative support domain.

Others

• AMBER Alert Europe: European-wide missing-children alert nonprofit and an existing Locate International partner — adjacent ecosystem participant with overlapping law-enforcement network and child-mission overlap.

Regional players

• Find me Group (Australia): Australia-based missing-persons family support and advocacy organization, comparable in mission — regional peer reflecting Locate's interest in Australian collaboration through Murdoch and Newcastle universities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/locateinternational

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Locate International