The Global Innovation Fund
International
Scholarship / Financial aid: grants and equity investments ranging from GB £30,000 to £10 million
Date: 2015
Deadline: ongoing
Open to: social enterprises, government agencies and researchers around the world
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The Global Innovation Fund invests in social innovations that aim to improve the lives and opportunities of millions of people in the developing world.
Through our grants and risk capital, we support breakthrough solutions to global development challenges from social enterprises, for-profit firms, non-profit organisations, researchers, and government agencies.
GIF is open to funding a wide range of innovative organisations and projects at varying stages in their development, ranging from early start-up stages to larger scale implementation. Borrowing from the experience of venture capital, GIF uses a tiered financing model and offers three stages of funding. A stage is defined by how far an innovation is in its development and by the level of evidence that supports its potential for success. Innovators may apply for whichever stage is appropriate for their level of development, with requests for higher amounts of funding typically corresponding to later funding stages.
Pilot
PilotAt the Pilot stage, GIF provides seed capital to support the start up and field-testing of innovations. The goal of this stage is to refine the basic concept or business model and establish the viability of an innovation at a small scale through testing in real world contexts. This stage could include initial research and development, introducing an innovation to target customers, assessing user demand and willingness to pay, or documenting social outcomes and costs of spreading the innovation.
Test & Transition
TestAt the Test & Transition stage, GIF funds innovations that have already demonstrated success at a small scale. This stage is for innovators who require support for continued growth and for assessing the likelihood that the innovation can achieve social impact and/or market viability at a larger scale. During this transition period, innovators may require funding to test new business models or to make operational refinements. For solutions that will require significant public resources to transition to scale this stage typically includes rigorous testing of social impact and cost-effectiveness, often through randomised experiments. Funds can also be used to build paths to sustainability and scale.
Scaling Up
ScaleAt the Scaling Up stage, GIF supports the expansion of innovations that have already demonstrated a strong track record of social impact and effectiveness. This category of funding helps innovators transition successful approaches to a large scale, usually with the goal of eventually achieving widespread adoption throughout one or more developing countries. Activities at this stage could include addressing operational challenges for scaling up; working with partners who will help scale the project beyond GIF support (e.g. investors, existing large commercial firms, developing country governments, etc.); adapting and expanding innovations to different contexts/geographies; or assessing ways to drive cost-effectiveness as the scale continues to increase.
Types of financing
GIF offers grants, loans (including convertible debt), and equity investments ranging from GB £30,000 to £10 million. Applicants are asked to indicate their preferred capital type and amount on their application.
For-profit institutions requesting grants must give compelling rationale on why they are requesting grants rather than risk capital such as equity or debt, such as why the innovation can be considered as a public good that benefits society. For GIF's largest commercial investments, equity will only be offered on comparable terms with other investors (on a 'pari passu' basis).
How to apply
FAQ
Website: http://www.globalinnovation.fund
Email: http://www.globalinnovation.fund/contact-us
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