This call seeks innovative proposals from entity/entities that can design and implement the next phase of IAP in close collaboration with Sida.
The programme shall support the gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, enabling grantees to overcome early stage uncertainty, step across the Pioneers Gap and move closer to financial sustainability and scale.
The IAP was initially launched by Sida in 2011 as a challenge fund designed specifically to “fill the Pioneers Gap” and catalyze innovative inclusive business models by providing early stage grant funding to ventures that are developing new socially beneficial products, services and business models engaging with the ‘Base of the Pyramid’ (BoP).
Inclusive businesses provide goods, services, and livelihoods on a commercially viable basis, either at scale or scalable, to people at the ‘base of the economic pyramid’, making them part of the value chain of companies’ core business as suppliers, distributors, retailers, or customers.
During 2014, Sida has evaluated the first phase of IAP and has decided to continue the programme. The launch of the next phase of the programme is bound for 2016. IAP grantees reported that Sida’s support has had an important role in helping them bridge the gap in financing for early stage entrepreneurs, but also highlighted the multitude of challenges related to pioneering inclusive business in a development context and the need for additional forms of assistance, such as business advice, promotion, market development and knowledge exchange.
The ultimate vision of the programme is to promote an inclusive economy that contributes to increased opportunities for people living in poverty to improve their own lives.
The programme shall support the gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, enabling grantees to overcome early stage uncertainty, step across the Pioneers Gap and move closer to financial sustainability and scale.
The IAP was initially launched by Sida in 2011 as a challenge fund designed specifically to “fill the Pioneers Gap” and catalyze innovative inclusive business models by providing early stage grant funding to ventures that are developing new socially beneficial products, services and business models engaging with the ‘Base of the Pyramid’ (BoP).
Inclusive businesses provide goods, services, and livelihoods on a commercially viable basis, either at scale or scalable, to people at the ‘base of the economic pyramid’, making them part of the value chain of companies’ core business as suppliers, distributors, retailers, or customers.
During 2014, Sida has evaluated the first phase of IAP and has decided to continue the programme. The launch of the next phase of the programme is bound for 2016. IAP grantees reported that Sida’s support has had an important role in helping them bridge the gap in financing for early stage entrepreneurs, but also highlighted the multitude of challenges related to pioneering inclusive business in a development context and the need for additional forms of assistance, such as business advice, promotion, market development and knowledge exchange.
The ultimate vision of the programme is to promote an inclusive economy that contributes to increased opportunities for people living in poverty to improve their own lives.
As the first phase of the programme was run as a pilot it had a global outreach with the limitation that implementation should take place in a DAC country. By narrowing the geographic scope Sida aims to better establish synergies with country results strategies and further local ownership. The continuing phase of the programme will be limited to Swedish Development Cooperation priority countries. This entails a total of 33 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. The set-up in regards to number of countries per application window is for the implementing organisation to decide.
By providing small grants of up to €20 000 and largeg rants of up to €200 000, Sida is helping inclusive businesses with critical early stage efforts such as market research, prototype development and testing, trialling new distribution networks, building strategic partnerships, and initial capital investments.
Moreinfo: http://www.sida.se/English/partners/resources-for-all-partners/Calls-and-announcements/innovation-against-poverty
