GSMA has announced the launch of a new Innovation Fund to build further climate resilience and adaptation.Organisations with mobile and digital solutions to increase the capacity of low-income and vulnerable communities to adapt to, anticipate and/or absorb climate-related shocks can now apply for ‘The GSMA Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience and Adaptation 2.0’.
Announced at MWC Barcelona on 27 February 2023 and supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the fund will test innovative use cases, partnerships and business models to improve the sustainability and scalability of digitally-enabled solutions which make a positive impact on low-income populations (particularly women) and populations vulnerable to current or future climate risks. The fund will also strive to support solutions that contribute to climate resilience through activities strengthening biodiversity.
Building on the GSMA Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience and Adaptation launched at COP26, this latest fund is open to applicants with projects in Africa, South and South East Asia, Pacific Islands, the Caribbean and selected countries in Latin America and Eastern Europe. The fund will award grants of between £100,000 to £250,000, with a match funding requirement, to for-profit small and growing enterprises, including start-ups, that leverage mobile and digital technology to pilot or scale solutions that build resilience towards the impact of climate change.
While selecting the final cohort, a higher priority will be given to applications focusing on nature based solutions, solutions for sustainable consumption and production, and projects that can demonstrate focus on supporting female users.
In addition to grant funding, selected organisations will receive tailored technical assistance, learning exchange and networking opportunities, facilitation of relationship with mobile operators, public sector organisations and investors as well as opportunities to increase visibility and profile to potential investors through GSMA’s events, publications, and social media.
De-risking innovation through mechanisms like the fund we are opening for applications today has the potential to identify and support early-stage digital innovations that can help communities adapt, anticipate and absorb increasingly frequent climate shocks. With this fund we want to put an even stronger focus on supporting local teams and female-led organisations, as well as relatively nascent innovations in underfunded areas such as regenerative agriculture, forestry, fisheries, coastal and wetland ecosystems, or food and waste value chains, while taking into account the need to strengthen biodiversity.
Max Cuvellier, Head of Mobile for Development, GSMA
Mobile and other digital technologies can help create a more resilient future, where communities not only survive climate shocks, but thrive in spite of them. Building on our longstanding partnership with the GSMA, FCDO is delighted to support the second phase of this fund, that will partner with start-ups and small and growing enterprises, that are seeking to use digital and mobile technologies, to ensure greater resilience and adaptation for low-income and vulnerable populations.
Professor Charlotte Watts, CMG FMedSci, Chief Scientific Advisor and Director for Research and Evidenceat from TheUK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
There isstrong evidence that mobile and digital technologies can support the resilience of people in poverty to meet the repeated shocks caused by climate change. From the first round of the GSMA Innovation Fund we have seen innovative mobile solutions that strengthens the financial capacity of farmers and help them increase the productivity, with prospects of scaling up their businesses successfully. In this second round of the Innovation Fund there is an increased emphasis on nature-based solutions and biodiversity which is crucial to strengthen climate resilience. Sida therefore finds this new round of innovation fund for climate resilience by our partner, GSMA to be very relevant.
Maria van Berlekom, Unit for Global Cooperation on Environment, Sida