Initial Application 

Instructions: Before completing this application please review the “Am I a good fit for the Global
Innovation Fund?” page on our website and carefully read the guidance provided for each question
below. Please delete the guidance text and type your answers in the text boxes below each question,
observing the word limits indicated.

1. Please describe the development problem, challenge, or opportunity your

innovation aims to address (max 200 words)

This answer should describe the context in which you are working, and the problem or opportunity to
which you are responding. Please be as precise as possible on the nature and scale of the problem as
this will help us to understand the extent to which your innovation offers a viable solution. It is
recommended that you make use of any available data or research to inform your answer.

2. What is your innovation? (max 200 words)

The description of your innovation should make clear its core characteristics and features. GIF defines
‘innovation’ as any solution that has the potential to improve the lives of the poor in developing countries
more effectively than existing approaches. An innovation could be a new business model, process, way
of working, financing mechanism, piece of technology (or novel application of existing technology) etc.
However, if your work is in an approach which is already widely used, it will not meet out innovation
criteria and will not be considered.

3. How does your approach improve upon other ways of solving the problem? (max
200 words)

GIF is looking for the best available solutions, so we want to know what other approaches or competing
solutions are available (either in the context you are working in or elsewhere). Thereafter, you should
clearly explain how your approach differs from existing approaches and the reasons you believe your
innovation offers greater potential. For example, is it cheaper, more effective, more user friendly, better
quality or more easily scaled? Where possible your answer should draw from evidence of what works,
either from your own work to date or what has been tried and tested elsewhere.

4. GIF invests in innovations which will benefit people living on less than $5 PPP a
day. Please describe your target customers or beneficiaries (max 200 words)

GIF invests in innovations which we believe can bring benefits for those living on less than $5 PPP a day
and is particularly interested in innovations which can benefit marginalised groups or those living on less
than $2 PPP a day. In this answer, you should describe the people you hope will benefit, including
demographic information and what proportion you estimate live on less than $5 PPP or $2 PPP a day.
(PPP stands for purchasing power parity, so $5 PPP is an internationally recognized poverty line which is
the equivalent to what could be purchased in the US with $5 in 2011. The World Bank provides data on
the proportion of the population which lives below this line in developing countries here).

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 5. What is your vision for how your innovation will scale? (max 200 words)

GIF invests in innovations which can scale to bring benefits to millions of people. There are a range of
ways in which scale happens – for example, a business can grow commercially, you could demonstrate
an approach you hope others will replicate, or the innovation could be taken up by a government or
multilateral agency. A good answer here gives us a sense of the scale you hope to reach, and the
pathway through which this scale will be achieved. It should also describe the market or policy conditions
which give you confidence in this pathway, and the status of any plans and partnership required for
scaling. If your long-run ambition is to scale within your local community, district, or province only, then
your application would not meet GIF scale criteria.

6. What progress have you made to date? (max 200 words)

Please describe the work done to date to design, develop and test your innovation, as well as to secure
the relationships essential for success. We are looking for innovations which have a good platform on
which to build, so for early stage ideas you should have done the preparatory work needed so that our
investment can support deployment and testing in the real-world. For innovations which have some track
record please include the number of customers and beneficiaries reached to date and any evidence
which demonstrates your innovation’s operational viability or social impacts.

7. What do you hope to achieve with GIF funding? (max 200 words)

GIF seeks innovations which may struggle to access other sources of capital and which will use our
investment to put in place more of the conditions required for an innovation to scale. A good answer to
this question will give us a clear sense of how our funding will add value to your innovation and move you
further along your scaling trajectory. This could be, for example, refining and testing operational models,
investing in growth, producing public goods, expanding to new markets, or generating rigorous evidence.

8. Please describe why your organisation and team is best placed to ensure that this
innovation succeeds? (max 200 words)

Your answer should refer to your organisation’s purpose, track record, strengths and achievements. It
should also describe the skills and experience of key team members – we are looking for teams with a
deep understanding of the problems they are trying to solve and the markets in which they work, and
which are alert to the risks and challenges associated with scaling their innovation.