The GSMA has launched an innovation fund to support the creation and deployment of “climate resilience” solutions.
While everyone is affected by climate change, some populations are more vulnerable than others. The GSMA aims to support SMEs and startups that are building solutions that will help such communities anticipate, absorb, and/or adapt to climate-related shocks.
Max Cuvellier, Head of Mobile for Development at the GSMA, said:
“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.”
Interested enterprises can apply for grants of between £100,000 and £250,000 to support their vital work.
The innovation fund is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
Professor Charlotte Watts, CMG FMedSci, Chief Scientific Advisor and Director for Research and Evidence at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), commented:
“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.”
Currently, the 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.
Applicants must submit their pitches by 16th May 2023 at 23:59 UTC+1. You can apply, or nominate a startup, here.
(Photo by Alan Rodriguez on Unsplash)
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