Expression of Interest: ‘GCRF demonstrate impact in developing countries’ competition

Connected Places Catapult is looking for research innovative SMEs to partner with and apply for the GCRF demonstrate impact in developing countries competition: round two, phase one.

The Global Challenges Research Fund will invest up to £9.3 million in SME-led prototype stage projects that have the potential to help developing countries to address one of 10 UN Sustainable Development Goals. These projects must lead to the deployment of those innovations within one of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) list recipient countries in scope for this competition.

This funding is split into two phases:

• Discovery – Enabling businesses to gain insights into local market feasibility for the innovation before prototyping.
• Prototype – Test, validate, and improve a prototype of the innovation in a developing country market.

This competition is to secure funding for phase one projects. Only successful phase one applicants will be eligible to apply for the phase two funding. The maximum grant for the first phase can be no more than £60,000 and will be split among the partners.

Partner with us

Connected Places Catapult is particularly interested in working with SMEs with a prototype stage product/services that can help developing countries to address the Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make Cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

How can we add value?

Connected Places Catapult has a vast network of partners and collaborators in developing countries and experience in delivering successful Official Development Assistance (ODA) initiatives in Brazil, India, Mexico, South Africa, Kenya, to name a few.

Your SME could draw on a pool of sector experts from across Connected Places Catapult who specialise in the challenges of urbanisation and mobility in future cities. Our expertise includes data scientists, urban IoT, mobility experts, software developers, engineers, urban planners, architects, market analysts, among others.

For phase one, we can particularly add value to your project by leveraging the talent of our experienced team of user researchers and designers that can guarantee that your solution meets the needs of potential customers and end-users.

Get involved

If you’re interested in partnering with taking part in the project, you can find full details of the challenge here.

Please complete an expression of interest by 20 April 2020 by clicking below.