# The GSMA Innovation Fund

> The GSMA Innovation Fund is a VC fund backing Information Technology. See 30 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Total investments: 30
- Last investment: Nov 2025
- Lead investor: 87%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gsma
- Website: https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/the-gsma-innovation-fund/

The GSMA Innovation Fund is a VC fund in London focused on Information Technology and Farming. The GSMA Innovation Fund supports innovative digital solutions in emerging markets. The GSMA Innovation Fund believes digital solutions have the power to reduce inequalities within our world by connecting everyone and everything to a better future.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for The GSMA Innovation Fund. Shizune tracks 2 team members at The GSMA Innovation Fund. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/the-gsma-innovation-fund?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Grant | $150k–$407k |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Information Technology | 7 | 23% |
| Farming | 6 | 20% |
| Agriculture | 6 | 20% |
| AgTech | 5 | 17% |
| Education | 5 | 17% |

61 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grant | 28 | 93% |
| Non-equity Assistance | 1 | 3% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Nigeria | 5 | 17% |
| Pakistan | 3 | 10% |
| United States | 3 | 10% |
| Ghana | 2 | 7% |
| Kenya | 2 | 7% |

19 countries tracked in total.

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| John Hoffman | CEO | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/john-hoffman-68b2 |
| Jose Maria Álvarez-Pallete Lopez | Chairman & CEO | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jos-mara-lvarez-pallete-lpez |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Kola Market | Kola Market offers SMEs results as a service (Guaranteed Sales) via innovative inventory management, marketing, and sales solutions powered by AI. |  | Grant | Nov 26, 2025 |  |
| Metaschool AI | Metaschool AI is an innovative educational app that creates interactive, AI-powered lessons for foundational learning. |  | Grant | Nov 26, 2025 |  |
| Wiseyak | Wiseyak specializes in artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques and offers solutions to the healthcare industry. |  | Grant | Nov 26, 2025 |  |
| WonderTree | The WonderGames engage special children through the newly embraced technology of Augmented Reality. |  | Grant | Nov 26, 2025 |  |
| Somleng | Somleng is an open-source cloud communications platform, similar to Twilio. It's made up of several open source applications which, when used together, provide the necessary functionality and APIs to build powerful voice and SMS applications. The goal of Somleng is to break down the economic and accessibility barriers to building telephonyapplications. | $201.2K | Grant | Nov 26, 2024 |  |
| HydroNeo | HydroNeo believe that it is time to bring the futur to shrimp farmers worldwide. hydroneo comprehensive Smart Farm Management System will change the way shrimp farming has been done in the past and will tackle some of the biggest challenges the industry is facing.hydroneo see ourselves as the trusted partner of shrimp farmers by providing state ofthe art technology and offering one-stop solutions while creating value for customers and the environment. |  | Grant | Oct 29, 2024 |  |
| Synnefa | Synnefa provides an ecosystem of Smart Greenhouses and Solar Dryers equipped with FarmShield™ IoT sensors connected to our FarmCloud™ software enabling farmers to double incomes on less land, use less water, reduce post harvest losses and access premium markets. | $210.8K | Non-equity Assistance | Nov 14, 2023 |  |
| CoAmana | CoAmana identifies business cases and creates commercially viable, market-enabling digital technologies to bridge Africa's major economic gaps. |  | Grant | Nov 14, 2022 |  |
| J-Palm Liberia | J-Palm Liberia offers a range of products, including soaps like banana kiwi, chocolate mint, and baobab facial sets, as well as cooking oils, hair and skin care items, mixed sets, oils, lotions, and butters. |  | Grant | Nov 14, 2022 |  |
| Lersha | Lersha provides digital services to enable small holder farmers to access farm inputs, hire mechanization services, and get agro advice. |  | Grant | Nov 14, 2022 |  |

10 of 30 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Asian Development Bank](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/asian-development-bank) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Meta](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/facebook) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Grand Challenges Canada](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/grand-challenges-canada) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Islamic Development Bank](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/islamic-development-bank) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [LegalZoom](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/legalzoom-com) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [National Institutes of Health](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/national-institutes-of-health) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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## FAQ

### What does The GSMA Innovation Fund invest in?

The GSMA Innovation Fund invests primarily in Information Technology, Farming and Agriculture startups, most often at Grant and Non-equity Assistance stage. Most of the 30 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Nigeria. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is The GSMA Innovation Fund's check size?

The GSMA Innovation Fund typically joins rounds of $150k–$407k at Grant. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds The GSMA Innovation Fund participates in.

### How do I contact The GSMA Innovation Fund?

Public channels for The GSMA Innovation Fund include LinkedIn and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at The GSMA Innovation Fund?

The team at The GSMA Innovation Fund includes John Hoffman (CEO) and Jose Maria Álvarez-Pallete Lopez (Chairman & CEO). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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