Applications to the equity free £250,000 GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund close on July 16, 2017 and startups, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are encouraged to apply.
The GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund is looking for innovative startups in Africa and Asia-Pacific to help achieve sustainable growth and improved socio-economic impact through partnerships with mobile operators to test innovative services and business models and take them to marginalised areas.
The GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund provides selected start-ups in Africa and Asia Pacific with equity-free funding, technical assistance, and the opportunity to partner with mobile operators in their markets to help scale their products and services into sustainable businesses with positive socio-economic impact.
Round 2 of the Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund opened on 1 June 2017 and all pitches are due by 16 July 2017 at 11.59pm GMT. For the second round, the Fund will be supporting start-ups operating in the Sharing Economy, and/or developing services for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Applicants are expected to submit and justify their requirements for the project to be funded, with clear funding amount and duration of funding. GSMA says it will match the equity free funding of between £100,000 and £250,000.
Applications are open for entrepreneurs from Nigeria, Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo Dem Rep., Congo Rep., Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland, São Tomé and Principe, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
