The GSMA Mobile for Development (M4D) Utilities programme Innovation Fund, supported by UK Aid, is now open for applications. The M4D objective is to build and share evidence on the role of mobile in improving or increasing access to energy, clean water or sanitation for underserved consumers and the potential benefits for the mobile industry.

We will award GBP 3.3 million in grant funds to 15 – 17 organisations to trial or scale commercially sustainable mobile-enabled utility services. Grant sizes vary from GBP 150,000 to 300,000.

To date, we have awarded GBP 6 million to 34 organisations across four continents which have impacted nearly 2.3 million beneficiaries. Between 2013 and 2016, several of these grantees have leveraged their grants to raise over $174 million in investment in total.   

We are calling on the following types of organisations to submit their applications for innovative products or services that leverage mobile technology as a significant element of their utility delivery model for projects:

• Mobile operators
• Energy, water, or sanitation services providers, including
  • Decentralised service providers
  • Urban and peri-urban utilities and
  • NGOs trialling business model approaches
• Technology solutions providers.

Applicants must be working in Sub-Saharan Africa or South and Southeast Asia.

Interested organisations should review the grant terms on the website and submit their concept notes by April 16^th.

E-mail utilities_grants@gsma.com with any questions.