Applications are open for GSMA Innovation Fund for Digital Urban Services 2021. The GSMA is looking for start-ups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and social enterprises in Africa, South or South East Asia. These organizations should be leveraging digital technology to deliver urban services with socio-economic, commercial and environmental impact in the following sectors:

• Plastic and Waste Management
• Water
• Energy
• Sanitation

Objectives

Grants will be utilised to test digital innovations, enable scale, and provide essential services to underserved populations across all four sectors. The grant projects must seek to answer the following questions:

• How innovative digital technology, including mobile, can support delivery of urban services to underserved populations;
• What business models and partnerships are required for innovative digital solutions to be adopted at scale;
• What are the social, commercial and environmental/climate impacts of delivering digital urban services to underserved populations; and
• What role mobile operators and other technology companies can play in these business models, and how they can make their role commercially sustainable.

Prizes

Successful projects for The GSMA Innovation Fund for Digital Urban Services will receive an equity-free grant of between £100,000 and £250,000 to scale their innovation over a 15- to 18-month period.

Eligibility

Candidates must have the following criteria for GSMA Innovation Fund for Digital Urban Services

• Have active users and commercial revenue (revenue generated from any products or services offered by the organisation) in at least one eligible low- or middle-income market.
• Commit to providing 25% to 50% matching funding depending on the total grant amount requested.
• Ensure the proposed grant project is implemented in an urban area as defined by the World Bank.
• Be an entity registered and operating in the country of project implementation (whether domestic or foreign owned or a joint venture).
• Be fully compliant with relevant business licensing, taxation, employee and other regulations in all applicable countries of grant project operation.
• Be registered and have a bank account in the country where they will receive the grant money (if not the same as the project implementation country).
• To be eligible, applicants must be an eligible entity (as set out in section 1) and will need to demonstrate that a majority of their income is derived from commercial activities.
• Only one organisation can apply for funding and become a grantee. An applicant can have downstream partners who have a role in the project as per the GSMA’s Downstream Partner Guidelines. In case government entities are grant project partners, they cannot be a sub-recipient of the grant.
• Full Information here

To find out if you’re eligible to apply for the Fund, please read the Terms and Conditions and FAQs.

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