The Global Innovation Fund – £30,000 to £10 million Project Grants to invest in Developing Countries

Deadline: Ongoing

Funders around the world are worried about the humanitarian problems in developing countries. Non-profit organizations, social enterprises, for-profit firms, researchers and government agencies around the world who have best approaches to solve any major development problem in low-or middle-income countries are invited to apply for the Global Innovation Fund.

The Global Innovation Fund invests in social innovations that aim to improve the lives and opportunities of millions of people in the developing world. The Fund encourages Solutions that can scale up commercially, through the public/philanthropic sector, or through a combination of both in order to achieve widespread adoption.

The Global Innovation Fund offers financing from £30,000 to £10 million, with the largest funding amounts reserved for innovations that can demonstrate evidence of success and that have potential to spread across multiple developing countries.

Application Process

• Initial Application – Send a summary business plan or project proposal, coupled with an explanation of how the innovation creates social impact. Include – organization’s mission, team, problem being addressed, solution, funding/business model, growth strategy, key risks and the planned uses of the funding requested along with an approach for tracking results and social impact.
• Notification of Selection – Promising applicants will be invited to submit full application.
• Full Application – This application requires a more detailed description of the applicant’s innovation and plan, team composition, and supporting research/evidence with quantitative estimates along with detailed budgetary projections and financial plans.
• Grant Agreement – Once an application has been conditionally approved through GIF’s review process, GIF will negotiate a funding agreement with the applicant.

Following are the points initial application should answer

1. What is the problem or global development challenge the innovation addresses.
2. How he innovation will address the problem.
3. How the approach is better than current ways of solving the problem.
4. If applicable, describe the business model that will be used to commercialize the innovation.
5. How the fund provided by GIF will be used.

What the key risks to the success of proposed innovation are and how the applicant will try to address these risks.

 

Eligibility criteria to acquire the Global Innovation Fund

Following are the criteria to acquire the Global Innovation Fund and make your proposed solution to major global problem a success:

• The innovations should benefit people living on less than the equivalent of $5 per day (PPP) in developing countries, especially the people living on less than $2 per day (PPP).
• Innovations that benefit vulnerable groups such as women and girls, the disabled, minority or indigenous groups, refugees or displaced communities, or other vulnerable populations are also eligible.
• Innovations should have potential to achieve significantly better results for lower cost than existing solutions.
• Proposal should clearly state what the problem is, how it affects poor and vulnerable groups in developing countries, and how the proposed innovation provides a solution.
• The proposed project must have an implementation approach that is well designed, and reflect a clear understanding of existing efforts to address similar problems and the barriers to success.
• Applicants must have relevant expertise and capabilities to achieve success, with clear roles, responsibilities, and time commitments needed to be successful.
• Applying teams must demonstrate the ability to identify and respond to risks and changes that are likely to arise as growth is achieved.
• Applicants must have the ability to engage effectively with partners in government, private sector, and/or community leaders.
• At the Pilot stage, applicants must provide evidence of promising ideas and capable teams.
• At the Test & Transition stage, innovations should have already demonstrated some initial evidence of success through early pilot-testing. During this stage, innovation teams should propose an appropriate strategy to track and rigorously assess social impacts, cost-effectiveness, and/or commercial viability if relevant. All teams should have clear understanding about specific partners, team member capabilities, or other requirements that will be needed to bring the innovation to larger scale, with plans for attracting other sources of financing or support from partners as needed.
• At the Scaling Up stage, innovations should have already demonstrated clear evidence of their effectiveness and potential. The innovation team should be taking clear steps to build management and operational capacity, partnerships, and financial support as needed to drive the innovation toward sustainability and scale. There should also be a commitment to continued monitoring of social outcomes and implementation costs to ensure ongoing learning and improvement.
• For innovations with scaling up pathways that require sustained long-term public or philanthropic support, rigorous evidence of social impact and cost-effectiveness relative to alternative approaches is required at this stage.
• Innovations scaling up through commercialization should be able to demonstrate that their innovation has passed a market test, meaning that revenues exceed costs and/or the innovation has attracted further growth capital from the market.

For more information, please visit Global Innovation Fund.