Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation Fund
Supporting innovative digital solutions which aid response to crisis and builds resilience against humanitarian challenges. See our current and previous innovation funds related to Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation (M4H).
The GSMA Innovation Fund for Humanitarian Replication and Scale – 2025
In March 2025, the GSMA opened a new grant to support Innovation Fund alumni in accelerating their digital humanitarian impact. This round supports GSMA Innovation Fund alumni grantees to accelerate their digital humanitarian impact by catalysing pathways to scale either in existing markets or through replication of their solution in new markets where they have existing operation. The solutions eligible included in either of the following:
- Provides people with improved access to, and use of, life enhancing mobile enabled services.
- Provides preparedness and response to natural hazards, such as food insecurity and conflict including early warning systems.
- Anticipates incidence and impacts of crises and enable earlier/ more effective responses.
- Communication with crisis-affected populations.
- Address challenges related to protracted displacement, focusing on refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDP).
- Frontier/ emerging technologies (such as AI).
An important aspect of the scaling of existing humanitarian innovations need to include targeting new unreached user groups such as forcibly displaced persons or persons with disabilities, through adaptations of the existing services. Applications closed in April 2025 and the final cohort was announced on 8 December 2025. e GSMA Innovation Fund for Humanitarian Replication and Scale is funded by UK Aid from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and is supported by the GSMA and its members.
Grantees:
The GSMA Innovation Fund for Humanitarian Challenges -2024
This round of the Fund searched for startups, SMEs and social enterprises that leverage mobile and digital technology to pilot and scale solutions that address humanitarian challenges in low- and middle-income countries. The following organisations were announced as the grantee cohort in this article on Tuesday, 26 November 2024.
Grantees:
- Company of Innovative Solutions and Networks Research Pvt Ltd (CIS)
- ConnectHear
- Drop Access Limited
- Exuus
- Helium Health (One Global Medical Technology Ltd)
- Patapia
- SmartWTI
- Chatterbox Solutions (Somleng)
- Viamo Pakistan
The GSMA Innovation Fund for Anticipatory Humanitarian Action – 2022
Launched in November 2023, this round focused on providing support to scale innovative solutions that leverage mobile digital technology to help anticipate potential humanitarian impacts and enable effective early response. By focusing on the important theme of anticipatory action the Fund will contribute towards the minimisation of humanitarian impacts and the improvement of preparedness in the face of sudden-onset crises.
Grantees:
- ActionAid Cambodia. Download the project case study here.
- Buraq Integrated Solutions. Download the project case study here.
- NAXA. Download the project case study here.
- People in Need. Download the project case study here.
- Rumsan. Download the project case study here.
- Synnefa. Download the project case study here.
- Tearfund. Download the project case study here.
- Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO). Download the project case study here.
The M4H Innovation Fund Round 3: Long-term sustainability and scalability
The third round of the M4H Fund focuses on supporting projects which provide solutions to challenges associated with forced displacement and complex humanitarian emergencies. The third round concentrates on collaborative partnerships, and solutions that demonstrate long-term sustainability and scalability beyond this grant.
Round 3 grantees:
- Altech in partnership with La Difference, Vodacom, ELAN RDC, UNHCR: Desref commercializes SHS through PayGo model to DRC-based Burundian refugees, Democratic Republic of Congo. Download the project case study.
- BBOXX in partnership with the Danish Refugee Council: Using pay-go solar to reduce protection risk for Congolese IDPs, Democratic Republic of Congo. Download the project case study.
- Geopoll in partnership with the World Food Programme: Generating more granular and timely food security data to improve the responsiveness of humanitarian programmes in the Sahel, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal.
- EarthSpark International in partnership with Enèji Pwòp, Digicel Haiti and Dunn Family Foundation: Innovating rural climate resilience with microgrid systems and services, Haiti. Download the project case study.
- The Rumie Initiative: Increasing access to digital learning resources, specifically for women and girls. Download the project case study.
- Solidarites International with technical partner Twilio: SOLIS Mobile Whatsapp Bot communication channel for refugees, Lebanon. Download the project case study.
- OmniVis in partnership with icddr,b and Code for Africa: A handheld device to rapidly detect cholera in water, Bangladesh, Haiti and Kenya. Download the project case study.
The M4H Innovation Fund Round 2: Complex emergencies and forced displacement
The second round of the M4H Fund focuses on providing support to: test new technical solutions; catalyse ideas to improve or transform institutional systems; and/or to enable solutions to empower, assist or protect individuals and communities affected by complex emergencies and forced displacement.
Round 2 grantees:
- Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in partnership with Grundfos Holding A/S: Mobile Payments for Safe and Sustainable Water in Refugee Settlements, Uganda. Download the project case study.
- American Refugee Committee (ARC) in partnership with BioLite, Mwangaza (“Light”): Improving Refugee Access to Clean Energy, Rwanda and Uganda.
- United Healthcare Distributors (UHD) in partnership with Medical Teams International, VAC Solar UK Limited, Quality Medicines for all, Aptech PV and Airtel Uganda: Empowering Women in Camps and Off-Grid Communities in West Nile, Uganda. Download the project case study.
- Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in partnership with Koe Koe Tech and Statelessness Network Asia Pacific (SNAP): Strengthening Digital Access to Needs-Based Protection Information for IDP Women, Myanmar.
- International Rescue Committee (IRC) in partnership with Mercy Corps and Glasswing International: Protecting Vulnerable Populations, El Salvador and Honduras. Download the project case study.
- Sesame Workshop in partnership with IRC: Optimising the use of mobile phones in Ahlan Simsim – A Sesame Workshop humanitarian and early childhood development program in the Middle East, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. Download the project case study.
- Naya Javeen in partnership with Sukaar Foundation, doctHERS and Telenor: My beautiful Thar: How Mobile Technology Can Reduce Forced Displacement, Pakistan. Download the project case study.
- British Red Cross in collaboration with Netherlands Red Cross and Kenya Red Cross and in partnership with Safaricom: 121 Personal Cash Aid, Kenya. Download the project case study.
- Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e. V. in partnership with Action Contre la Faim (ACF) Canada, Fight Hunger Foundation (FHF) India, Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit (BMZ) and Deutsche Telekom: Child Growth Monitor, India. Download the project case study.
The M4H Innovation Fund Round 1: Disaster response
The first round of the M4H Fund focuses on providing support to help to test or scale innovative ideas which support responses to natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies.
Round 1 grantees:
- Mercy Corps in partnership with Viamo: Communities in Haiti Access New Technologies for Early Warning/Response (CHANTER), Haiti. Download the project case study.
- Flowminder in partnership with Digicel Haiti and the World Food Programme: Rapid Mobility Estimates from CDR for Efficient Disaster Response, Haiti. Download the project case study.
- Lumkani in partnership with Hollard Insurance and Islamic Relief South Africa: Lumkani Fire Detection and Insurance, South Africa. Download the project case study.
- Nokia Saving Lives (NSL) in partnership with Smart Communications and Philippines Red Cross: Nokia Saving Lives for Philippines Red Cross, Philippines. Download the project case study.
- Refunite in partnership with Malet Labs: Mobile Data Categorisation for Instant Refugee Income, Uganda. Download the project case study.
