Innovation & Smart Cities: February 2025 Funding Opportunities
Includes multi sector innovation opportunities, AI and Digital Technology, and smart cities.
The grants are organized into three categories:
Open Calls: Current grant and opportunities with a deadline. Grants are listed by closing date.
Rolling Applications: current grant and opportunities with rolling applications (but it’s still best to submit as early as possible).
Long term planning: Grants that have closed their current rounds, but are expected to open new windows.
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Open Calls:
Digital solutions to foster participative design, planning and management of buildings, neighborhoods and urban districts (Built4People Partnership), European Commission. *Closing soon*
Accepting proposals that address one or both of the following points: 1. Digital solutions that facilitate participative design and planning through visualization, analysis and engagement with data that is directly relevant to building users as well as citizens in the surrounding urban area (including e.g. immersive and interactive technologies, Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality, simulations and scenario modeling). 2. Digital solutions that allow to analyze and model different scenarios for to-be-renovated buildings, neighborhoods and / or districts in terms of energy use and generation; users’ health and wellbeing; impact on the energy grid; provisions for active and electric mobility, and sustainable delivery solutions; life-cycle environmental and micro-climatic impacts, and; socio-economic impacts for citizens, building users, owners and occupiers.
Geographies: Europe.
Who can apply: SME’s.
Funding amount: Total budget available: EUR € 10 million.
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Industrial leadership in key and emerging technologies that work for people, Affordable and clean energy, Circular and clean economy.
Deadline: February 4, 2025.
Fit4Future, Fondation Botnar. *Closing this month*
Seeks projects that leverage digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve the wellbeing of young people, particularly those from marginalized communities. Projects should focus on creating inclusive cities or advancing inclusive education, addressing barriers faced by youth with disabilities, those out of school, or from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Preference will be given to projects that are deeply rooted in the community and demonstrate strong local ownership.
Geographies: Romania, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, Indonesia, Vietnam, Colombia, and Ecuador.
Who can apply: Non-profits and social enterprises registered for at least two years and operating in one of the priority countries
Funding amount: Grants minimum CHF 200,000 (total funding envelope of CHF 3.19 million available for 5-6 projects in this call).
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Digital technologies, AI, youth, inclusive cities, education.
Deadline: February 10, 2025.
Open Call for Pilots, European Data Space for Smart Communities. *Last round closes this month*
Aims to advance the development and implementation of data spaces. This effort focuses on the green-digital transformation supported by secure and sovereign data infrastructure. Submitted proposals must also demonstrate actual services created based on data sharing among data space participants. The pilot consortia must create new data services from the data sharing across at least two target focus areas: 1) Predictive traffic management/sustainable mobility planning, 2) Data-services related to weather, climate and extreme weather events to facilitate risk prevention, disaster resilience as well as climate change adaptation, 3)Management of energy flows in a city/community specific context and in conjunction with other sectors, 4) Zero pollution actions (e.g., air, water, soil pollution or waste), and 5) Any other domain falling under the New European Bauhaus initiative (urban design, building management, public services, nature-based solutions, amongst others).
Geographies: Europe.
Who can apply: Eligible pilot consortia must consist of (and be led by) at least two local or regional public administrations from different EU member states (MS) and/or Digital Europe Programme (DEP) Associated countries, and can include a wide range of actors including private sector and non profits.
Funding amount: Grants range EUR €1 million - €1.5 million (total of €15.3 million available).
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Smart cities, climate, energy, urban design, public services, nature-based solutions.
Deadline: Final Round closes February 28 2025 (4+ pilots to be selected).
The GSMA Innovation Fund for Impactful AI, GSMA. *New!*
The Fund is interested in solutions that demonstrate the transformative impact of innovative AI and supporting emerging technologies (e.g. computer vision, Internet of Things (IoT), remote sensing, drones, blockchain) to tackle socio-economic and climate-related challenges. The Fund is sector-agnostic, but priority will be given to applications that focus on one or more of the following: 1. Digital solutions that leverage contextual data generated by emerging technologies for training and deploying AI-driven products and services. 2. Digital solutions that leverage predictive and generative AI innovations and show promise to scale and deliver positive socio-economic and/or climate-related impacts. 3. Digital innovations across the value chain, including: AI-driven innovations that directly reach low-income and vulnerable populations and aim to advance socio-economic development and climate action (e.g. HealthTech, AgriTech, ClimateTech, FinTech, EdTech), and AI-driven deep-tech, ecosystem-level innovations [e.g. multimodal large language models (LLMs), edge computing, machine learning, big data] that support local and regional ecosystems for lastmile innovators to deploy AI solutions.
Geographies: Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) across Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific
Who can apply: Small and growing enterprises in target regions.
Funding amount: Grant funding ranging from GBP £100,000 to £250,000 for projects lasting 15 – 18 months.
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Sector agnostic.
Deadline: March 19 2025. Registration and eligibility forms must be completed by 12 March 2025.
Rolling Applications:
EIC Accelerator, European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA).
The EIC is Europe’s flagship innovation program to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations. The accelerator supports start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (to develop and scale up to new markets or disrupt existing ones. 2025 EIC Challenges themes: 1. Acceleration of advanced materials development and upscaling along the value chain, 2. Biotechnology driven low emission food and feed production systems, 3. GenAI4EU: Creating European Champions in Generative AI, 4. Innovative in-space servicing, operations, robotics and technologies for resilient EU space infrastructure, 5. Breakthrough innovations for future mobility.
Geographies: Open to applicants from EU Member States and countries associated to the Horizon Europe programme and we as global applicants who relocate their company in order to become eligible.
Who can apply: Single start-ups and SMEs, individuals intending to launch a SME and small mid-caps.
Funding amount: EUR €500,000 - €17.5 million as well as business acceleration services. Grant component below EUR 2.5 million. Up to € 10 million of equity investments, coaching & mentoring, networking.
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Multi-sector, innovation.
Deadline: Short applications accepted on a rolling basis. Full application deadlines: March 12, 2025, October 1, 2025. Application deadlines for each challenge may vary.
Development Innovation Ventures (DIV), USAID. *May be affected with US policy changes*
Accepting proposals for innovations that address international development challenges and improve the lives of people living in poverty in developing countries around the world. DIV provides tiered funding to pilot, test, and transition to scale (i.e., grow to reach the highest number of beneficiaries possible) those innovations that demonstrate evidence of impact, cost-effectiveness, and the potential to scale.
Geographies: Global.
Who can apply: Individuals; public, private, for-profit, and nonprofit organizations; institutions of higher education; faith-based organizations; public international organizations; non-governmental organizations; U.S. and non-U.S. governmental organizations; multilateral and international donor organizations.
Funding amount: Grants ranging from USD $25,000-$15M.
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Multi-sector, innovation.
Deadline: Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
WFP Innovation Challenge, WFP Innovation Accelerator, World Food Programme.
Accepts submissions year-round in search of game-changing innovations that deliver relief, foster, resilience and end hunger. Current priorities are 1) Emergency Preparedness and Response, 2) Supply Chain and Delivery, 3) Nutrition and School Meals, 4) Food Systems and Smallholder Farmers, 5) Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods, 6) Social Protection. Selected organizations will receive a wide range of support including: access to WFP, innovation consultants, mentors.
Geographies: WFP program countries.
Who can apply: Start-Ups and Companies
Funding amount: Up to US$100,000 equity-free funding to test the venture’s scalability potential, and more.
Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Long Term Planning:
The Global Innovation Fund. *Next window TBA*
The fund seeks out innovations with the greatest potential to improve the lives of millions of people living in poverty, and accepts applications from any type of organization, working in any sector in any developing country. The fund innovations that are scalable, widely applied, and evidence-based.
Geographies: Innovation must target people living on less than the equivalent of $5 per day (PPP) in developing countries. We are especially interested in innovations that impact people living on less than $2 per day (PPP) or vulnerable groups such as women and girls, the disabled, minority or indigenous groups, refugees or displaced communities, or other vulnerable populations.
Who can apply: Any type of organization may apply. This includes social enterprises, for-profit companies, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and research institutions in any country. Individual innovators, entrepreneurs or researchers must apply through an affiliated organization.
Funding amount: Three types of funding available: pilot (up to USD $230,000), test & transition (up to USD $2.3M) and scale (up to USD $15M).
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Multi-sector, poverty, innovation.
Deadline: Next window to open Q2/Q3 2025.
UNICEF Venture Fund, UNICEF Innovation. *Next window TBA*
The UNICEF Venture Fund investes in Open Source frontier technology solutions that have the potential to create radical change for children. They support company's leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), or blockchain that are registered in one of UNICEF’s program countries that have impressive working prototypes and a commitment to Open Source licensing and practices. 
Geographies: UNICEF’s program countries.
Who can apply: Early-stage, for-profit technology start-ups.
Funding amount: Up to USD $100,000 in equity-free funding. Potential for an additional USD $400,000 in follow up Growth funding.
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Open source frontier tech, blockchain, data science and AI, drones, VR and AR, eduction,
Deadline: Previous cycle closed January 7, 2025. 2026 window TBA.
Venture Lab, Mercy Corps Ventures.
Mercy Corps Ventures is a family of early-stage impact funds focused on climate adaptation and resilience solutions for underserved communities in emerging markets. Priority focus is on 3 themes: 1. Adaptive Agriculture & Food Systems, 2. Inclusive Fintech, and 3. Climate-Smart Technologies.
Geographies: Global.
Who can apply: Startups, NGOs, and more.
Funding amount: Equity-free grants of up to $100,000.
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Agriculture, climate, food, innovation, and additional sectors for various calls (i.e. Crypto for good fund, AI for climate Resilience, Anticipatory Humanitarian Action Accelerator)
Deadline: Multiple calls announced through out the year.
All content is currently open and free as we transition to Substack. Starting mid-February 2025, access to the full list of opportunities on this page will be available to paid subscribers. This helps support the time and effort it takes to curate and organize these opportunities. Thank you for being part of the Impact Funding community!
To keep this accessible to everyone who needs it, we’re happy to offer discounted rates for nonprofits and individuals from LMICs (Low- and Middle-Income Countries). Message us below for more information.