Funding to invest through grant, equity, and debt instruments for innovations with the potential to scale and help the world’s poorest build resilience and adaptation.
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What is the Global Innovation Fund (GIF)?
The Global Innovation Fund (GIF) is dedicated to supporting innovative and scalable solutions aimed at addressing significant development challenges. GIF provides flexible funding tailored to the needs of social enterprises, for-profit companies, non-profit organisations, researchers, and government agencies around the world.
GIF offers funding across three stages:
- Pilot: To support the initial testing of innovations.
- Test and Transition: For innovations that have demonstrated success in initial testing and need support to grow.
- Scale: To expand the reach of innovations that have proven successful and sustainable at a larger scale.
Global Innovation Fund level of support
- Pilot: Up to $230,000
- Test and Transition: Up to $2.3 million
- Scale: Up to $15 million
Global Innovation Fund important dates
- This program is ongoing
- Register your interest with GrantHelper
Global Innovation Fund rationale and thematic areas
Rationale:
- Despite the 2015 Paris Agreement, global temperatures in 2023 soared to 1.45 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, signaling an urgent need for effective climate adaptation strategies.
- Developing countries, highly dependent on natural resources and with limited adaptive capacity, face the brunt of climate impacts, making adaptation crucial for their survival and resilience.
- GIF’s core mission aligns with accelerating innovations that improve the livelihoods of the world’s poorest, who are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change.
Thematic Areas:
- Nature-based Solutions (NbS): Emphasizes the role of healthy ecosystems in providing economic stability and resilience, advocating for increased funding and evidence gathering to support NbS for climate adaptation.
- Climate and Health: Recognizes the growing health threats from climate change, including increased mortality from heat-related conditions and the spread of infectious diseases, calling for resilient health services and urgent action to mitigate these risks.
- Agriculture and Food Security: Highlights the direct link between climate variability and agricultural productivity, stressing the need for innovations that enhance food security and agricultural resilience as global demand grows.
- Urban Resilience: Focuses on the challenges urban areas face due to climate change, such as flooding and infrastructure resilience, with a call for solutions that address these critical urban challenges.
- Water Security: Underlines the escalating threat to water security posed by climate change, emphasizing the need for solutions that ensure sustainable water management and equitable access, particularly in water-scarce regions.
- Anticipatory or Early Action for Climate Shocks: Advocates for early warning systems as cost-effective measures for disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, highlighting their importance in protecting vulnerable populations before climate shocks occur.
- Social Protection: Discusses the role of social protection in climate adaptation, noting its potential to significantly reduce poverty and increase resilience among the most vulnerable populations.
- Gender Equality: Calls for gender-responsive innovations that address the unique challenges and vulnerabilities faced by women and marginalized groups due to climate change, promoting gender equity in climate adaptation strategies.
Projects and activities eligible for Global Innovation Fund support
GIF supports a wide range of projects that:
- Address key development challenges.
- Demonstrate potential for substantial social impact.
- Show promise for financial sustainability and scalability.
Ineligible activities include:
- Theoretical Research: GIF does not fund purely lab-based activities or theoretical research that is not linked to a specific real-world pilot or demonstration project.
- Country-Specific Approaches: Innovations applicable only in a single country are not funded, unless they are expected to scale significantly within one of the world’s most populous developing countries.
- Political Support: Innovations that involve supporting a political candidate or party are not eligible.
- Maladaptation Risks: Projects that may lead to maladaptation, increasing climate risks or creating new challenges, especially for marginalized communities, are excluded. GIF prioritizes solutions designed with local contexts in mind to enhance long-term resilience.
- Illegal Activities: Any product or activity deemed illegal, or subject to international phase-outs or bans (such as hazardous chemicals, ozone-depleting substances, or activities endangering protected wildlife), is not funded.
- Inappropriate or Illegal Enterprises: Innovations involving luxury goods, solicitation of prostitution, human trafficking, terrorism, prohibited drugs, gambling, or pornography are ineligible.
Standards and Compliance
- ESG Standards: GIF adheres to robust environmental, social responsibility, and corporate governance standards, evaluating every funded innovation against these criteria.
- Code of Conduct and ESG Policy: Accepted innovations must continuously adhere to GIF’s Code of Conduct and ESG Policy, including safeguarding requirements.
See the guidelines for full details of projects eligible for GIF support.
Other Global Innovation Fund important details that you will need to know
Organisations eligible for Global Innovation Fund support
Any type of organisation may apply. This includes social enterprises, for-profit companies, non-profit organisations, government agencies, international organisations, and research institutions in any country. It is recommended that individual innovators, entrepreneurs or researchers apply through an affiliated organisation.
Global Innovation Fund assessment criteria
Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Climate Adaptation and Resilience Focus: Seeking innovations that help those living on less than $5 a day adapt to and withstand climate-related hazards like extreme weather and variable rainfall. Innovations should enhance livelihoods, health, agency, and reduce vulnerability to climate hazards, prioritizing the most vulnerable populations.
- Innovation: Innovations should be novel solutions that tackle development problems more effectively than current methods. This includes new products, services, business models, or policies that are not widely practiced and offer significant improvements over existing approaches.
- Evidence and Impact: Applications must demonstrate the potential impact of the innovation on climate adaptation and provide evidence to support these claims. The required level of evidence corresponds to the amount of funding sought.
- Prospects for Scale: Innovations should have the potential to scale significantly, either through business growth or governmental uptake, to benefit millions without ongoing GIF investment.
- Team: The team behind the innovation should have a deep understanding of the problem and context, a proven track record, and the necessary skills to succeed.
- Clear Role for GIF: Innovations should fill market gaps and be ready for real-world application. Applicants must show how GIF funding will help develop, test, and scale their solution. GIF offers various types of financing and expects a clear rationale for the chosen financing type.
See the guidelines for full details of the assessment criteria.
How do I get the Global Innovation Fund?
Applicants must:
- Read and understand the guidelines.
- Ensure eligibility for the funding. Applicants that do not meet all the eligibility criteria will not be considered.
- Deliver the project as outlined in the application.
- Provide complete information requirements.
Application process:
- Understanding Criteria: Before applying, it’s crucial to read the guidelines on what GIF funds and understand the types and stages of funding available to ensure your work aligns with their criteria.
- Initial Application: If your project fits the GIF criteria, the next step is to submit a short application detailing your innovation, how it meets the criteria, and the potential achievements with GIF’s funding.
- Follow-on Call: Should GIF need further information, a member of the investment team will contact you for a follow-on call to discuss your innovation and explore how GIF can support your scaling efforts.
- Full Application and Due Diligence: If proceeding to due diligence, you’ll need to provide a full application including team details, budgets, and plans. The due diligence process involves interviews, reference checks, technical expert input, and possibly a site visit. It also includes ESG and anti-money laundering checks.
- Decision Panel: A Decision Panel consisting of GIF’s senior leadership and external experts will review your application against investment criteria to determine its suitability for funding and decide on approval or rejection.
- Funding Agreement: Upon panel approval, the final step involves completing financial and legal compliance checks and negotiating a funding agreement tailored to the type of capital provided, which includes deliverables and key performance indicators.
The most common reasons applications are rejected:
- The approach proposed is not novel or is already widely practised
- There is insufficient consideration of scale
- The innovation is not focussed on GIF’s target market of those living on $5PPP a day
- The innovation is not ready to be tested in a real-world setting
Information to prepare for the Global Innovation Fund application
Before applying, gather the following information:
- Detailed project description.
- Evidence supporting the innovation’s effectiveness.
- Financial projections and sustainability plan.
- Information about the team and organisational capacity.
See the guidelines for full details of information requirements.
Applying for the Global Innovation Fund
To apply for the GIF, visit the Global Innovation Fund page for the online application portal.
Register your interest with GrantHelper to explore your alignment with this grant and how we can assist you to increase your chances of success.
Global Innovation Fund resources
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