Application Deadline: 19 March 2025
Applications are now open for the GSMA Innovation Fund for Impactful AI. The GSMA Innovation Fund for Impactful AI will provide grants and venture building support to small and growing enterprises that leverage AI and other emerging technologies, in conjunction with mobile technology, to have a positive impact on the lives of people in LMICs. The fund is interested in solutions that demonstrate the transformative impact of innovative AI and supporting emerging technologies to tackle socio-economic and climate-related challenges.
Fund FOcus
The Fund is sector-agnostic, but priority will be given to applications that focus on one or more of the following:
- Digital solutions that leverage contextual data generated by emerging technologies for training and deploying AI-driven products and services
- Digital solutions that leverage predictive and generative AI innovations and show promise to scale and deliver positive socio-economic and/or climate-related impacts
- Digital innovations across the value chain, including: • AI-driven innovations that directly reach low-income and vulnerable populations and aim to advance socio-economic development and climate action (e.g. HealthTech, AgriTech, ClimateTech, FinTech, EdTech) • AI-driven deep-tech, ecosystem-level innovations [e.g. multimodal large language models (LLMs), edge computing, machine learning, big data] that support local and regional ecosystems for lastmile innovators to deploy AI solutions
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible to apply to the Fund, applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
- Leverage digital technology, especially mobile, to deliver solutions
- Be able to demonstrate how AI and other emerging technologies (e.g. mobile big data, IoT, remote sensing, computer vision, blockchain, drones), in conjunction with mobile technology, will be leveraged to deliver the solution
Entity type - Be a for-profit private sector small and growing enterprise in a low- or middle-income country.
- Have active users and commercial revenue (users and revenue from any products or services) in at least one eligible country (see section 3.3 Geography).
- Be an existing entity registered and operating in the country of project implementation at the time of application (whether domestic or foreign-owned or a joint venture). In cases where responsibility for service delivery lies with a downstream partner (see section 4) rather than with the applicant (e.g. service delivery by a local government), it may be acceptable for the applicant to be registered in a country other than that of project implementation (see geographic restrictions in section 3.3).
- Please note that only one organisation can apply for funding and become a grantee. It must be the organisation that is in charge of delivering most of the outputs of the proposed project. 3.3 Geography — Propose a project that is implemented in a country/countries that is/are eligible to receive official development assistance [as per the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) classification] in the following regions: Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Ability to receive grant funds
- Have a bank account capable of receiving GBP payments, as all disbursements from the GSMA will be made in GBP. As a general rule, the applicant should be registered in and maintain a bank account in the country where the project will be implemented. On an exceptional basis, subject to the GSMA’s assessment of the particular case, the GSMA could send funds to the GBP account of a parent company registered in a country other than the project implementation country.
The Fund support package includes:
Grant funding: • The amount requested can be any amount between GBP 100,000 and GBP 250,000 for a grant that lasts between 15 and 18 months. Applicants are expected to justify the submitted budget amount.
• The grant awarded cannot contain any profit element and will be made on a cost-only basis.
• The Fund will not allow any indirect costs as part of the grant. In addition, a maximum of 10% grant funds can be allocated to direct overhead costs.
• The Fund will closely oversee the monetary usage of the grant and only disburse funding based on the achievement of milestones and satisfactory grant spending. Milestone-based payments will be dependent on the grantee providing proof that mutually agreed milestones/targets have been completed/achieved.
• Grantees should be prepared at times to receive reimbursement in arrears of spend occurring, especially the final milestone payment (20%), Facilitation of partnerships with MNOs (where relevant and possible). — Tailored technical assistance and venture building support to build the grantee’s capacity.
- Facilitation of connections with investors (where relevant and possible).
- Participation in bootcamps (learning exchange programmes with grantees and alumni, capacity building and connections with investors and other ecosystem stakeholders).
- Monitoring, evaluation and learning support to assess the grantee’s impact and theory of change.
- Opportunity to increase the grantee’s visibility and profile to potential partners through features in GSMA publications, on social media and participation in industry-leading events.
Application Process:
All applications to the Fund MUST be submitted in English. Stage
1 Application January–May 2025: The deadline for submitting pitches is 19 March 2025 at 23:59 UTC+1 (UK time). Please ensure registration and eligibility forms are completed by 12 March 2025
Stage 2 Project Evaluation May–July 2025
Stage 3 Recommendation Panel July 2025 Applicants must be available to pitch virtually
Stage 4 Project Appraisal August–September 2025 Applicants must be available for an in-person visit from the GSMA Stage 5 Selection Panel October 2025
Stage 6 Contracting October–November 2025
Stage 7 Implementation November 2025–up to April 2027
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the GSMA Innovation Fund for Impactful AI
