Pakistani startup WonderTree won a grant from the GSMA Innovation Fund for Impactful AI, making it one of eight global grantees selected from 625 applications across 40 countries. The GSMA officially announced the cohort, marking the fund’s most oversubscribed round to date. Grants offer up to £250,000 alongside 18 months of tailored venture-building support. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office funds the program through the GSMA.
WonderTree addresses a critical gap in Pakistan’s healthcare infrastructure.
Over 1.5 million children with special needs in Pakistan lack access to specialized education and therapy. Only 550 registered institutions serve the entire country, and most concentrate in major cities.
WonderTree tackles this shortage by using AI and augmented reality to turn physical therapy and special education exercises into motion-based games. These games help children with mild to moderate motor and cognitive challenges develop social, educational, and motor skills.
With the GSMA grant, WonderTree plans to launch a mobile application that makes its platform more accessible and affordable. The app will also introduce Early Childhood Development activities focused on cognitive, motor, and literacy skills.
The other seven grantees span five countries across Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Kola Market in Ghana uses AI-powered sales tools for small businesses through WhatsApp, SMS, and voice in local languages. Metaschool AI, also from Ghana, delivers curriculum-aligned tutoring that works on feature phones through USSD and SMS channels. Nepal’s Wiseyak builds multilingual conversational AI for banks, insurers, and agritech companies serving low-literacy populations. Morocco landed two grantees: DeepEcho, which uses AI-assisted ultrasound kits for prenatal care in rural areas, and ToumAI, which builds voice interfaces in local dialects for digital financial services. Indonesia’s Impactbyte will launch GURU-BOT, an offline AI tutor for rural elementary students. Kenya’s Cherehani Labs runs solar-powered veterinary diagnostic labs with AI-driven result interpretation.
Beyond funding, grantees receive strategic partnership facilitation with mobile operators and public sector organizations. The GSMA also provides peer learning sessions across the cohort and visibility at global events including Mobile World Congress. Since 2021, GSMA Innovation Fund grantees have raised a total of £71.1 million in follow-on funding, delivering a multiplier effect of £7.60 for every £1 invested.
This grant also builds on a growing partnership between the GSMA and Pakistan’s telecom sector. In March, JazzWorld signed an MoU with the GSMA Foundation to co-fund Pakistani startups selected in the fund’s 2026 rounds. That partnership adds financial support, mentorship, and ecosystem visibility on top of the GSMA grant itself.
