IMPACT

REPORT
2020

GIF invests in entrepreneurs and

innovators with the potential to
improve the lives of millions of
the world’s poorest people.
 Front cover: Breakthrough
This page: LivelyMinds

2 GIF Impact Report 2020

 Contents
Greetings from the Chair 4
Message from the CEO 5
Year in review 6
Measuring impact 7
Creating impact through education 12
Comparing the effectiveness of catalytic investing 14
Achieved impact 15
GIF’s investments and people reached to date 17
GIF’s young portfolio shows emerging impact 22
Making investments and quantifying impact for gender equality 25
Innovation in pandemic response 28
Water innovation 33
Creating impact by exiting investments 35
Open innovation 37
GIF’s 2020 board members 38
Breakthrough Our partners 39

Impact Report 2020 GIF 3

 Greetings from the Chair

It gives me GIF is a non-profit investment vehicle that backs take this opportunity on behalf of everyone at GIF to
innovations that improve the lives of low-income thank our departing board members including Jack
great pride to people around the world. GIF takes an evidence-based Hawkins, former senior advisor from USAID, for his
present this venture capital approach – not to maximise its own wise guidance and Elizabeth Peak, from the Australian
profits, but to maximise the social benefits it creates. Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade, or DFAT.
summary report GIF does this by investing in early-stage innovations Elizabeth’s insight and expertise enabled us to deepen
of the Global that are risky but which, if successful, offer prospects and develop our focus on the Indo-Pacific region as we
of large benefits to millions of people. Through grants, move towards the launch of our Singapore office, and
Innovation loans and equity investments ranging from $50,000 we look forward to working with her successor, Robert
Fund’s impact in to $15 million, GIF investments have the potential Christie, to continue to advance GIF and DFAT’s joint
2020, a year of for social impact at a large scale, whether they are commitment to investing for social impact.
new technologies, business models, policy practices,
unprecedented or behavioural insights. As our portfolio grows and I must also acknowledge the tremendous contribution
economic and matures, we are beginning to see some exciting results, of my predecessor as Board Chair, and one of
and these are featured in this year’s report. the original founders of GIF, Sal Giambanco, who
societal hardship across the completed his term as Chair and retired from the Board
world. In addition to impact, the The support of our funding partners, including their at the end of 2020. It is due in large part to his passion
report details GIF’s commitment advocacy for the innovators and entrepreneurs we back and guidance that GIF has delivered on its mandate to
within the development community, is critical to our accelerate innovation for development impact.
to generating and measuring success. Among many examples of this, under USAID’s
evidence, responding to leadership of the Million Lives Club, which celebrates
innovations that have benefitted 1,000,000 people or
COVID-19, and placing gender at more, GIF’s partners BRAC, Simprints, Educate! and
the heart of its investing. One Acre Fund have been recognised as examples of James R. Clark
taking innovation in international development to scale. Chair, Board of Directors
We are especially pleased that this scale comes with
rigorous evidence of impact alongside randomised
controlled trials backed by GIF in several cases.

I am delighted to have joined the GIF Board and

to welcome two exceptional colleagues – James
Habyarimana, the Provost Distinguished Associate
Professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt
School of Public Policy, and Kathryn Kaufman,
former Chief Strategy Officer for the US International
Development Finance Corporation. I also want to

4 GIF Impact Report 2020

Message from the CEO

As I look back The impact of COVID-19 has been, and continues to pharmacies have about the virus, and to track infections
be, profound. The health and economic effects of and outbreaks in novel ways in low-income settings, to
on the past 12 the pandemic have been felt throughout the world, give a few examples.
months, I feel with no country spared, but it is clear that the worst
consequences have been borne by the poorest and the Alongside our pandemic response work, I am also hugely
a great sense most vulnerable. As we look towards driving recovery proud of the progress we have made in advancing
of pride for the and improving livelihoods in the months and years ahead, our commitment to gender equality including our
the importance of evidence-backed innovation has never progress in integrating gender into our Practical Impact
way in which the been greater. methodology for measuring impact, which you can read
GIF team has about in this report. I want to take this opportunity to
responded to one We worked to protect our portfolio as part of our thank Global Affairs Canada, whose partnership through
strategic pandemic response. Innovators across the the Innovating for Gender Equality Fund, which invests in
of the most unique GIF portfolio have been hit hard by COVID-19, whether scalable innovations that empower women and girls by
and challenging through more or less demand for their products and targeting social norms and structural underpinnings of
services, the health and wellbeing of their staff and gender inequality, has inspired us to challenge ourselves
crises in modern their customers, or in some case broader economic or to ensure that a commitment to gender equality runs
history. regulatory factors. It is with this in mind that we focused through all that we do.
in 2020 on working closely with the organisations
in our portfolio to support them as they navigate Looking towards 2021 and beyond, we know that
these unprecedented challenges. We have carried out the challenges ahead are as great, and perhaps even
this work based on the needs of individual portfolio greater, than those that we have overcome. With our
organisations rather than through a ‘one size fits all’ flexible model, sector agnosticism, and appetite for
approach – in some cases we’ve provided more venture experimentation and smart risk, GIF will continue to
support or technical assistance, and in other cases it has play its part in the worldwide response to the pandemic.
been funding, depending on the specific needs of the Our underpinning philosophy, improving the lives of the
innovators. We have also changed our grant timelines to world’s poorest people by accelerating innovations and
ensure that our grantees can pivot and respond directly measuring impact, remains the same.
to the pandemic through specific COVID-19 activity in the
countries in which they are operating.

We leveraged the GIF model to respond to the pandemic.

We redirected our energy and resources towards
investing in innovation that explicitly responds to the Alix Peterson Zwane PhD
worst effects of the pandemic, working with partners Chief Executive Officer
to combine behavioural nudges with stay-at-home
messaging, to improve the quality of information that

Impact Report 2020 GIF 5

Year in review
51 innovations 4 percent 7 companies
delivering impact expected annual have raised $ from
improvement in livelihood strategic/commercial
of beneficiaries investors

$100 million $4.40 >400 million

committed to additional capital social value generated
investments mobilised per $1 of GIF in $ by five GIF
for-profit investment investments alone

130 million 1.7x ~200x greater

people expected to average exit multiple on projected catalytic
benefit from GIF first two exits (19% IRR) impact of GIF portfolio
innovations by 2030 vs. cash transfers

6 GIF Impact Report 2020

Measuring impact
Innovations by region Value of GIF commitment by region Funding stage and instrument
20
Western Africa 10 Western Africa

15 16 16
Southern Asia 15 Southern Asia

Southeastern Asia 5 Southeastern Asia 10 11

Eastern Africa 13 Eastern Africa

5
5
2
Other 8 Other 1
0
0 5 10 15 20 Total: $100,864,102 Pilot Test and transition Scale
Number of innovations
Grant Risk capital
Innovations by sector Value of GIF commitment by sector

Social protection 9 Social protection

Health, nutrition Health, nutrition

and water 16 and water

Energy 4 Energy

Education 5 Education

Agriculture 6 Agriculture

Other 11 Other
Total: $100,864,102
0 5 10 15 20
Number of innovations

Impact Report 2020 GIF 7

Investing in innovations
to catalyse long-term
impact
GIF supports early stage innovations that
have the potential to make a difference in
the lives of millions of people. Today, our
investees are focused on testing and proving
their innovations, but always with an eye to
scale and far reaching impact. Reflecting our
catalytic role, GIF uses disciplined, evidence-
informed methods to project an innovation’s
impact ten years after investment. The
forecast impact is updated over time as the
trajectory of the innovation becomes clearer.

Test and
Cumulative adopters or beneficiaries

Pilot Scale
transition

With a view
towards this
impact

GIF
invests
here ideas42

Years since introduction

8 GIF Impact Report 2020

GIF’s Practical Impact methodology helps it focus on long-term impact
To select and manage investments,
GIF’s Practical Impact methodology
uses a single yardstick to forecast
Practical Impact = low-income people impacted at year 10 x depth of impact x
the long-term, risk-adjusted impact probability of success
of innovations across all outcomes,
including health, education, and

x x
livelihoods, drawing on prior evidence.
Investments generate new evidence,
which is used to update the forecasts
and to report on achieved impact.

The Practical Impact methodology Breadth of impact Depth of impact Probability of success
helps GIF catalyse large-scale impact by
The number of low-income people Benefit per person The likelihood that the innovation
allowing it to track impact at the portfolio
level, allowing GIF to choose investments who will benefit at year 10 relative to annual income will be successful in 10 years
which, though individually risky, have high
expected returns and then diversify the
portfolio for maximum social benefit. Breadth is then adjusted by expected
depth of impact measuring the One Person-Year of Income =
In assessing a prospective investment, average predicted improvement in
GIF starts with a theory of change each beneficiary’s well-being. This One person gets an additional 100
focused on who will be impacted improvement could be represented by percent of income (consumption)
through what mechanisms, and how the a boost in income, an enhancement for one year, or
innovation will be scaled up or replicated. in health, an improvement in women’s
GIF then reviews the evidence supporting agency, or even an avoided death. The Ten people get an additional ten
the theory of change and quantifies last step is to adjust the calculated percent of income for one year, or
the magnitude of impacts, starting with impact by the probability the innovation
breadth of impact: the number of people will successfully reach scale and in this 100 people get an additional one
expected to benefit, ten years after way, GIF is able to calculate a unit of percent of income for one year.
investment, if the innovation successfully measure called Persons Year of Income
scales. (PYI). See box:

Impact Report 2020 GIF 9

How to calculate Practical Impact: A case study
Breakthrough, an Indian non-profit Breadth of impact is calculated by
GIF backed in 2020, addresses gender taking the total number who receive the
inequality and violence against women TKT programme in government schools
through its innovative Taaron ki Toli between grades 6-8 and project a range
curriculum, shown to drive positive of breadth over the innovation’s next
changes in adolescents’ gender attitudes 10 years then estimate a scale up of the
and behaviours. Changing gender programme between two to five states in
attitudes can have long term impact on India, with breadth ranging from four to
girls’ own sense of agency and decision 12 million children enrolled in 2030.
making and also help girls navigate
critical decisions. Probability of impact that the
programme indeed scales over ten years
Practical impact places a value on is assessed and, in this case, although the
improved women’s and girls’ agency as programme is well-demonstrated and
not just a means to better education, Breakthrough is a well-run organisation,
health, and income, but an end in itself. there are risks that must be overcome to
reach the ambitious breadth projection
A randomised controlled trial showed including whether adequate funding will
that the TKT programme is successful be available and if teacher training and
in changing attitudes for boys and girls. supervision can assure fidelity of the
Gender attitudes remain positive even programme’s execution as it expands.
after three years and the impact for boys
is high compared to girls. We can project benefits, therefore, of
380,000 to one million PYI/year by 2030
Depth of impact represents the average if scaling is successful. After adjusting
benefit per programme participant. for scaling risk that shrinks to 56,000
We convert the measured change in to 164,000 PYI/year. However, there is
gender attitudes to our PYI units, using a substantial upside potential and as the
conversion factor that places high value projections are adjusted overtime, we
on women’s agency. expect to see impacts on improved social
norms, delayed age at marriage, longer
school attendance, and reduced violence
against women and girls. Breakthrough

10 GIF Impact Report 2020

GIF’s projected long term impact
Innovations are inherently risky; some of $58 million, are more advanced and GIF is on track to achieve a risk-adjusted
will most certainly fail, and forecasting focus on establishing impact and cost- 3.5 to 7.0 million PYI each year by 2030,
the future is, of course, imperfect. effectiveness. Their collective impact is improving the living standards of 130
GIF invests in innovations because higher, but the forecast range of impact, million people by about four percent each
the rewards justify the risks. A few from 500,000 to two million PYI per year.
flourishing innovations can outweigh year, still reflects a discount for the risk
those that fizzle. By taking a portfolio they will fail. Finally, the six innovations This impact estimate represents the
view, GIF remains fixed on maximising that are in Scale stage, representing annual flow of benefits, ten years after
total impact. a total funding of $40 million, have our investment. In most cases we expect
been substantially de-risked and have a impact to continue to expand.
The bar graph opposite shows different predicted impact of about two to four
breakdowns of the total expected impact. million PYI per year.
Each bar shows the low to high range of
risk-adjusted impact for a different sub-
portfolio.1
The second breakdown is by sector.
16 innovations are in public health,
Expected impact of innovations (low to high range)
nutrition and water and five in education
The first breakdown is by GIF’s show, on average, the largest expected Pilot Stage
funding window. GIF’s staged funding impact, but there are a wide range of Scale Sector
approach offers funding levels tied to possible outcomes. Third, the regional T&T Region
the innovation’s level of development breakdown shows that innovations in Social protection Funding
and supporting evidence. Pilot stage South and Southeast Asia, which account
Agriculture Portfolio
investments are still testing the viability for about a quarter of the portfolio by
Education
of the innovation. Because these pilots funding, represent the largest regional
Health, nutrition
are few, only 13, small, with total funding contributor to impact. and water
of $3.3 million, and very risky because Other sectors*
unproven, their risk-adjusted impact is Finally, the breakdown by financial Western Africa
low. The left side of the bar shows the instrument. Grant-funded innovations
Eastern Africa
possibility they all fail to achieve traction, account for more of the total forecast
Soth/SE Asia
with the result that the group’s impact impact than those funded through debt
will be zero. These investments are a low- and equity. However, as noted elsewhere Other regions*

cost way of identifying viable candidates in this report, the debt and equity Debt/equity
investments
for scale with the potential that the investments can be highly cost-effective
Grants
social benefits of those that graduate because, unlike grant funding, these
Portfolio PYI
will more than compensate for the cost funds are returnable and can be recycled
of pilots that stall. The 32 Test and for more impact. 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000 7500

Transition investments, with total funding Expected PYI (risk-adjusted annual PYI range generated in year 10) (in K)

1 The uncertainty range on each of these breakdowns is large, relative to the uncertainty range for the * Other sectors include energy, financial services, government effectiveness and tramsport. Other regions
portfolio as a whole, because uncertainties are averaged out over larger, more diverse portfolios. include Northern Africa, South Africa and Central America.
Impact Report 2020 GIF 11
Creating
impact through
education
We know there is a
‘learning crisis’ in Lively Minds

low-income countries
as more children than Educate!
ever are enrolling and Educate! tackles youth unemployment in Africa by reached indirectly. Participants improved their soft

attending school, but

partnering with stakeholders to help students attain skills relative to non-Educate! graduates and were more
further education, overcome gender inequities, start likely to complete high school, virtually closing the high
businesses, get jobs, and drive development in their school graduation gender gap. Women and girls were
for too many children, communities. In 2016, GIF invested $300,000 in 25 percent more likely to enroll in tertiary education. We
Educate! for implementation in 800 school and to have seen positive social spillovers from the programme
school attendance conduct a randomised controlled trial. GIF funding also with shifts in social norms around women’s role outside
helped advise the Ugandan government on improving of home and reduced acceptability of intimate partner
does not translate to the national curriculum and teacher training. To date, violence.
Educate! has reached a total of 46,000 scholars across
meaningful learning Uganda and Rwanda, with an additional 431,000 youth

12 GIF Impact Report 2020

Educational Initiatives – Lively Minds SmartStart
Mindspark Lively Minds works at the nexus of two of the In 2020, GIF added to its education portfolio with
most important pillars of effective early childhood SmartStart, a non-profit company creating social
Educational Initiatives is seeking to address the learning
development: involving parents in early years education franchises aimed at scaling up quality early childhood
crisis in developing countries through its software
and using play to promote cognitive development and education across South Africa. SmartStart currently
known as Mindspark, a computer-based learning
prepare children for school. GIF’s grant, awarded in reaches roughly 35,000 children a year through 3,500
method that adjusts to each child’s needs and pace.
2016, has enabled Lively Minds to support over 250 practitioners in all nine of South Africa’s provinces, and
The software showed a two-fold increase in math
play schemes in Ghana, reaching 50,000 children and is targeting 10,000 practitioners with the aim of reaching
learning and 2.5 times increase in math and language
training over 11,000 mothers and 600 teachers and 100,000 children a year in its 2020-2022 phase. GIF’s
abilities compared to the control group. The relative
was also used to conduct a randomised controlled $1.46 million grant will be used to design and build a
impact of the programme was much greater for low-
trial, which demonstrated the Lively Minds programme mobile-enabled practitioner management and support
achieving students. In 2017, GIF made a $2.3 million
provided a low-cost way to improve the school readiness platform that GIF expects to eventually allow the
grant to Educational Initiatives to explore how Mindspark
of children driven by significant improvements in early government of South Africa to incorporate data from
could be used effectively in government schools and
understanding of numeracy, better memory, focus to inform its broader health and education information
is enabling the roll-out of Mindspark in 40 government
and fine-motor skills. Lively Minds has shown to be management systems.
schools in Rajasthan with the goal of improving the
particularly successful in raising cognitive abilities for
learning outcomes of 5,000 children. The grant also
children coming from poorer households, with children
supports the company’s development of public goods
from the bottom socio-economic quintile seeing more
intended to accelerate the adoption of other personal
than twice the increase in cognitive development.
learning software providers. Educational Initiatives has
There was also a decrease in acute malnutrition for
reached over 100 schools in Rajasthan and 200 schools
children and, for parents, improved general knowledge
in eight other states reaching a total of over 60,000
about child development. Lively Minds developed and
children. GIF has contributed to procurement policy
tested an operational model which could be scaled up
changes that have resulted in an additional 1,000 schools
through government systems, and the RCT findings
reaching over 200,000 children across India taking up
were instrumental in securing the government’s support
the personal learning software procurement.
for this expansion across 4,000 schools in 60 districts
reaching close to 500,000 children each year. In 2020,
GIF awarded a $2.7 million grant to Lively Minds to
support Ghana’s efforts to scale up the Lively Minds
programme in 1,600 kindergartens in eight of the
country’s poorest regions and pivot to adapt to the
threat posed by the COVID-19 virus. By the end of
2020, Lively Minds supported hundreds of hours of
radio content in 16 languages, reaching an estimated
listenership of two million people.

Impact Report 2020 GIF 13

Comparing the
effectiveness of
catalytic investing
The catalysing effect of innovations can
produce enormous impact. To assess
This important comparison is why
GIF seeks to support innovations at a The catalytic
differences in cost-effectiveness among
investments and ensure investments are
relatively early stage. While a successful
innovation will eventually require many impact of GIF’s
on track to achieve meaningful value for
money at the portfolio level GIF uses
years and attract many funders in
achieving its full scale, GIF’s strategy is to portfolio is ~200
a natural benchmark that comes from
times greater than
help the innovation get it off the ground
our unit of impact, the person-year of and on that trajectory.
income equivalent, or PYI.
To compute value for money in an the cash transfer
Because one PYI can be interpreted as investment, GIF starts with the total
the benefit a person living on less than $5 long-term impact expected to be benchmark
a day would experience if given an extra catalysed – adjusted for risk – and divide
100 percent of their total consumption for credit for this impact between GIF and
one year, GIF compares how the overall any co-funders in proportion to funding.
catalytic impact per dollar compares to Then divide GIF’s share of impact by the
the benefit that same recipient would cost of GIF’s funding to determine the
have if given cash instead. catalytic impact per dollar. ideas42

14 GIF Impact Report 2020

Achieved impact
While GIF’s long-horizon During the three years leading up to 2018,
GIF made investments in 38 innovations,
funding that went to these five innovations,
but also the funding of GIF’s other 33 early

strategy means that most of committing nearly $80 million to companies

operating throughout Africa and Asia and
investments, many of which are still on their
path to scale.

its impact is still to come, its across a diverse set of sectors such as
agriculture, health, education, and energy. Between 2015 and 2020, these five early

early investments are already

investments have generated more than $400
22 of these innovations were financed through million in social benefits. We calculate that $84
grants, 12 were risk capital investments using million in social benefits is directly attributable
yielding tangible benefits at equity and/or debt, and four were a hybrid to GIF’s investment. The cost of GIF’s early
of both. With five years of implementation 38 investments totaled $109 million, which
scale and are further evidence experience now yielding on-the-ground results, means that just five of GIF’s investments have
GIF is able to calculate the social return on already returned social benefits equivalent
that investing in innovation investment – that is, the ratio of achieved social to three-quarters of the portfolio costs. Of
benefits (in dollar terms) to investment costs. course, these figures are dynamic and change
for development pays off. as the economics becomes clearer, and we
A lower bound for the social rate of return to are committed to updating our website with
With modest assumptions, GIF’s investment can be established from just the latest figures as the portfolio matures and
five maturing investments: SafeBoda, One we are able to make better assumptions and
projecting out five years, five Acre Fund, Paga, Educational Initiatives, and projections.
Development Media International. The strategy
GIF investments will have to get this lower bound social rate of return The table that starts of page 17 lists each
for GIF’s investments involves allocating to GIF innovation in GIF’s portfolio and the number of
generated $209 million in a share of the total social benefits from these people benefiting or reached to date. To date,
five innovations based on GIF’s share of their six investments have reached over one million
social value. This corresponds overall funding. When calculating the cost side people and 10 investments have reached
of GIF’s contributions, we include not just the between 100,000 and one million people.
to a social rate of return on GIF
of 34 percent
Impact Report 2020 GIF 15
Social Rate of Return
Case Study

One Acre Fund, or 1AF, has developed an innovative

system for testing, evaluating and scaling critical farm
technologies and practices to increase productivity and
incomes of rural smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan
Africa by driving significant improvements throughout
the entire agriculture ecosystem and working through
national governments’ extension services to drive
countrywide adoption of their farmer training. This hybrid
pathway to scale in both the public and private sectors, is
nearly sustainable, covering between 70 and 75 percent
of its programme costs through earned revenue.

GIF invested to fund key areas of 1AF’s work that are

both uniquely aligned to GIF’s mission and also areas
least likely to be supported by most donors. $7.8
million of GIF’s grant funded the testing and scale up By end of 2019, 1AF provided direct services to over of GIF’s investment, can be estimated as $174 million in
of new farming innovations through 1AF’s extensive one million farmers and indirect services to another discounted net social benefits and, accounting for the
farmer network across Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, 1,376,000 farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, fact other investors also invested in 1AF, we can estimate
Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi. $4.3 million of GIF’s Uganda, Malawi and Zambia with another 670,000 that $24.5 million in discounted net social benefits was
grant funded 1AF’s model innovation team focusing farmers estimated to have benefited from learning generated by GIF’s investment of $15 million. The 2015
on improving the efficiency of 1AF’s model as it drives spill overs. Results from the GIF funded RCT and 1AF’s discounted value of GIF’s investment is $11.5 million,
toward full sustainability. $1.7 million of GIF’s grant internal monitoring and evaluation found that 1AF which means GIF’s investment in 1AF returned over $2.12
supported ecosystem adoption and improvements farmers increased their capacity to withstand shocks to date in net social benefits per dollar invested.
through either government partnerships and/or private and stressors and earned on average $96 more per
sector agribusinesses and the final $750,000 funded a year than comparable farmers. Results also showed that
randomised controlled trial, or RCT, in Kenya on 1AF’s non-participating, neighbouring farmers were learning
maize and bean operations, in addition to strengthening from 1AF farmers and earned $17 more income. Social
its internal evaluation capabilities. benefits generated by 1AF from 2016 to 2019, the period

16 GIF Impact Report 2020

GIF’s investments
and people reached
to date
Innovation Investment Description People reached directly Country/region GIF Investment
year (by 2020) investment type
Total people benefiting (USD)
(by 2020)
Development 2015 Provides a mass radio campaign to promote adoption of 3.7 million people reached Burkina Faso 2,093,265 Grant
Media modern contraception and rigorously assess its impact. by radio; 225,000
International adopting modern
contraception
Educate! 2015 Provides leadership, entrepreneurship, and workforce 160,000 students Uganda 609,674 Grant
readiness skills training and mentorship for secondary
school students and rigorously assess its impact.
Valid Nutrition 2015 Provides ready to use, fortified therapeutic foods to 853 children Malawi 169,408 Grant
combat malnutrition. WHO approval pending before new
generation product is rolled out to scale. Impact data
reflects funded RCT.
Born Project 2015 Developed low-cost pulse oximeter for newborns with Not applicable China, Philippines 224,600 Grant
the potential to detect sepsis, pneumonia and congenital
heart defects earlier than standard practice.
Segovia 2015 Provides software that improves the efficiency of 310,000 recipients Kenya, Uganda, Pakistan 749,999 Equity
cross-border payments making aid programmes and
remittances faster, cheaper and more secure.

Pilot Test and transition Scale

Impact Report 2020 GIF 17

 Innovation Investment Description People reached Country/region GIF Investment
year directly (by 2020) investment type
Total people (USD)
benefiting (by 2020)
PoaPower 2015 Making off-grid, affordable clean energy technology 100 households Kenya 238,053 Equity
affordable for even the lowest-income households using a
‘pay-as-you-go energy as a utility’ model.
One Acre Fund 2016 Provides smallholder farmers a package of credit, farming 1.1 million farmers Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, 15,000,000 Grant
inputs, training, and market linkages and rigorously assess 5.5 million people Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda
its impact.
SafeBoda 2016 A ride-hailing app, which provides boda (motorbike) 2 million riders per Uganda 230,000 Debt
drivers with a reflector jacket, two helmets and road month
safety training. 360 injuries and
deaths averted
mClinica 2016 Provides pharmacists access to information and training, 170,000 pharmacy Cambodia, Indonesia, 3,120,000 Hybrid
cheaper and faster access to drug distributors, and professionals Philippines, Thailand,
facilitates patient referrals. 150 million patients Vietnam, Malaysia
Behavioural 2016 Helping governments use behavioural science to (re) More than 11 million Guatemala, Bangladesh, 3,850,000 Grant
Insights Team design public services to improve their performance and people Indonesia,
(BIT) support citizens to make better choices.
SparkMeter 2016 Provides smart metering technology to central grid 100,000 meters Africa, South Asia, Latin 657,688 Equity/Debt
utilities and micro-grids for real-time monitoring and 400,000 people America
pay-as-you-go electricity and outage prevention.
Aquaculture Prize 2016 Designs a Challenge Prize to address market failures and Not applicable India, Bangladesh 315,566 Grant
Design (Nesta) accelerate innovation in aquaculture, currently awaiting
funders.
PayGo Energy 2016 Provides pay-as-you-go smart meters LPG cylinders, Commercially Kenya 616,705 Equity/Debt
coupled with a distribution model adjusted to the needs sensitive
of low-income households.
Afrimarket 2016 A low-cost, eCommerce cash-to-goods service for 18,000 Customers Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, 3,125,233 Equity
sending remittances and locally sourcing food, sanitation, Benin, Togo, Cameroon
and construction materials in West Africa.
MyAgro 2016 A scratch card system for smallholder farmers to save 30,000 farmers Mali, Senegal 225,000 Grant
and finance activities by purchasing farm inputs (seeds, 150,000 people
fertiliser, and training) using mobile phones.
Simpa 2016 Installs solar electric systems in homes or business and 72,000 households India 2,300,000 Equity
allows customers to purchase ‘energy days’ using prepaid 374,000 People
or pay-as-you-go mobile payments.

Pilot Test and transition Scale

18 GIF Impact Report 2020

Innovation Investment Description People reached Country/region GIF Investment
year directly (by 2020) investment type
Total people (USD)
benefiting (by 2020)
Young1ove 2016 Pilot program seeing to empower young women to reduce 50,000 young adults Botswana 362,426 Grant
their risks of HIV infection and unintended pregnancies by
offering dynamic awareness classes in schools.
CCT for 2016 Provides small incentives to parents and vaccinators 11,197 children Pakistan 856,215 Grant
immunisations to encourage uptake and completion rates of child
(IRD) immunisation as part of a rigorous impact evaluation.
Lively Minds 2016 and 2020 Equips education services to engage parents in 1.1 million children Ghana 4,785,000 Grant
educational play-schemes in government run by radio; 50,000 in
kindergartens and rigorously assesses impact. person, and 11,000
volunteer mothers
Simprints 2016 and 2020 Delivers mobile biometric hardware and software to 380,000 users Bangladesh, Nepal, 2,790,192 Line of
address the challenges faced by the two billion people Uganda, Kenya, Zambia credit
lacking formal identity.
Educational 2017 Delivers Mindspark personalised adaptive learning (PAL) 200,000 students India 2,307,658 Hybrid
Initiatives software to students in government schools.
Talent Beyond 2017 Matching highly skilled refugees with job vacancies in 22,000 refugees Jordan, Lebanon, 229,332 Grant
Boundaries countries with occupational skills shortages. Canada, Australia
Labelled 2017 Enables migrants to label the remittances that they 4,000 remittance Philippines 1,700,000 Grant
remittances (IPA) send home for a specific purpose, such as education or recipients
business activities as part of a rigorous impact evaluation.
EM3 2017 and 2020 A platform for smallholder farmers to access end-to-end 24,000 farmers India 8,780,000 Equity
farming services including machinery to which they would 96,000 people
typically not have access.
TAG Africa 2017 Provides market linkage innovation in Africa for water Not applicable Africa 178,015 Grant
utilities, technology providers and regulators to convene.
WhereIsMy 2017 A transport technology company focusing on mapping 300,000 people Africa, S Asia, SE Asia, 1,140,000 Equity
Transport informal transport routes that allow for the integration of Latin America
formal and informal transit data.
Med Biotech 2017 Pilot programme exploring how to malaria-proof 1,670 households Uganda 230,000 Grant
Laboratories traditional Ugandan huts by incorporating insecticide into
the walls and surfaces and assess impact.
No Lean Season 2017 Offers subsidies to low-income agricultural workers as 130,369 travel Bangladesh, Indonesia 2,461,901 Grant
an incentive to migrate to urban areas during the famine subsidies provided
season, where higher wages can be earned.

Pilot Test and transition Scale

Impact Report 2020 GIF 19

 Innovation Investment Description People reached Country/region GIF Investment
year directly (by 2020) investment type
Total people (USD)
benefiting (by 2020)
Reducing Anemia 2017 Distributes fortified rice via the already existing Paused due to Covid India 1,303,611 Grant
Public Distribution System that delivers free rice to all
households and rigorously assesses impact.
Babban Gona 2017 Comprehensive agriculture franchise model to sustainably 38,000 Farmers Nigeria 2,978,919 Debt/Grant
improve the lives of smallholder farmers through the 190,000 people
provision of end-to-end farming services.
Improving 2017 and 2020 Behavioural additions to cash transfer programmes, 1,800 recipients Kenya, Tanzania and 4,622,730 Grant
Cash Transfers aiming to optimise the design features to improve 9,000 people others
(Ideas42) outcomes for beneficiaries.
Paga 2018 A mobile platform that delivers person to person money 14 million unique users Nigeria 6,000,000 Equity
transfers, transfers to bank accounts, bill payments,
airtime purchases and remittances.
No Means No 2018 and 2020 Provides rape prevention training curriculum called 38,415 adolescents Uganda, South Africa 2,105,399 Grant
Worldwide IMpower, aimed at boys and girls aged 10-20 to teach 1,900,000
mental, verbal and physical self-defence skills.
IDinsight 2018 Producing cheaper, faster and user-friendly information Approximately 25,000 Zambia 230,000 Grant
for local officials on issues directly relevant to citizens, people
such as health, education or agriculture.
Stanford Remote 2018 Design and test strategies to use satellite images to Not applicable Kenya, Mali, Uganda, 461,846 Grant
Sensing for measure farm productivity for very small plots and in Tanzania, Malawi, India
Smallholders near-real time.
Online Pajak 2018 A software platform that provides free tax compliance and 1 million registered Indonesia 1,750,000 Equity
filing technology for SMEs to encourage them to formalise clients
their businesses.
CityTaps 2018 Allows residents to prepay for running water in the home 4,200 households Niger, Kenya, Ecuador 500,000 Convertible
with a mobile phone, at any time, and for any amount. 33,000 people debt
City Nudges 2018 Works with cities to use pay for performance mechanisms Not applicable various 300,000 Grant
(ideas42) when applying behavioural nudges to increase tax
revenues or save energy and water. Implementation
pending.
Mr. Green Africa 2019 A tech-enabled plastics recycling company offering an 640 sourcing agents Kenya 1,000,000 Equity/Debt
end-to-end process for recycling by purchasing plastics
from waste pickers at a higher price.
StrongMinds 2019 Addresses depression among low-income women by More than 71,000 Uganda, Zambia 1,600,000 Grant
delivering facilitator and peer-led 12-week courses of patients
group interpersonal therapy.

Pilot Test and transition Scale

20 GIF Impact Report 2020

Innovation Investment Description People reached Country/region GIF Investment
year directly (by 2020) investment type
Total people (USD)
benefiting (by 2020)
Balloon Ventures 2019 Provides entrepreneurs with intensive, tailored support 25 businesses Kenya, Uganda 230,000 Grant
on management best practices alongside flexible loans,
driving growth and creating jobs.
Drinkwell 2019 A combination of purification tech, filtration and pay- 156,000 households Bangladesh, India 500,000 Debt
as-you-go cards in an easy-to-operate turnkey solution 624,000 people
delivering safe and affordable water.
GiveDirectly 2019 Provides unrestricted cash transfers to people living 4,840 households Uganda 2,100,000 Grant
in refugee settlements via a mobile money payments 30,864 people
platform as part of a rigorous impact evaluation.
CrimeRadar 2019 A decision-support and crime-forecasting tool by the Paused due to Covid South Africa 1,408,359 Grant
Igarapé Institute to help police and civilians.
PATH 2020 Building evidence for using environmental surveillance of Not applicable Nepal, Myanmar, 868,000 Grant
wastewater to detect presence of the COVID-19 virus in Indonesia, Malawi
low-income settings.
Kamatan 2020 Works with farmer produce organisations to source 25,000 farmers India 2,291,815 Equity
produce for direct supply to agricultural enterprises, 100,000 people
processors and retailers.
DGMT-SmartStart 2020 Creates social franchises aimed at scaling quality early 78,000 children South Africa 1,460,000 Grant
childhood education provision across South Africa.
International Care 2020 Leveraging a network of pastors to deliver training and 200,000 families Philippines, Uganda 5,400,000 Grant
Ministries mentoring services without a large asset transfer or basic 1,000,000 people
income support to last-mile locations.
Chrysalis (EZ 2020 An activity-based learning program suited for supporting 289,000 students India 1,600,000 Equity
Vidya) the development of young minds. Chrysalis also assists
and builds the capacity of teachers, parents, and school
administration through its learning transformation team.
J-PAL Health 2020 An innovative approach to enhance state capacity to use Not applicable India 700,000 Grant
Insurance Project administrative data to make better decisions – focusing on
health insurance – that will ultimately benefit the poorest
segments of the Indian population.
Taaron Ki Toli 2020 A gender equality curriculum in government schools 188,000 adolescents India 890,000 Grant
(Breakthrough) designed to shift discrimination against women and girls in schools, 500,000
by empowering adolescents. people benefitting.

Pilot Test and transition Scale

Impact Report 2020 GIF 21

GIF’s portfolio
shows emerging
Impact Paga

GIF achieves impact by finding challenges such as bringing financial

and funding evidence-backed services to the poor, contributing
innovations with the potential to to domestic resource mobilisation,
transform the lives of millions of the improving livelihoods, and using
world’s poorest people. A number biometric technology to improve
of exciting innovations across GIF’s access to critical services, are
young investment portfolio, focused beginning to show emerging impact
on addressing major development

22 GIF Impact Report 2020

Paga OnlinePajak Talent Beyond Boundaries
Paga, a Nigerian mobile money platform, delivers a OnlinePajak’s suite of free and fee-based products allows Talent Beyond Boundaries, or TBB, works to connect
number of financial services such as person-to-person companies and individuals to better comply with their the hidden refugee talent pool to fill the global skills
money transfers, transfers to bank accounts, bill tax responsibilities in Indonesia. GIF’s $1.75 million in gap that will cost the global economy $8.452 trillion in
payments, airtime purchases and remittances, all from funding was used toward sales, marketing and product lost revenue by 2030. GIF’s $230,000 in funding helped
a customer’s linked eWallet or, for customers without and business development. To date, OnlinePajak has TBB expand its labour mobility solution by securing
a bank account, through a neighborhood Paga agent. registered 1,062,994 users, both individual and corporate, skilled employment and work permits in Canada and
Transaction costs, including fees and cost of travel, are and has, through July 2020, processed a total of $13.9 Australia for refugees living in Jordan and Lebanon and
a significant barrier to the use of traditional banking billion in tax declarations and $86.1 billion in invoice and also enabled TBB to map processes to demonstrate the
institutions and Paga’s agent network provides a cheaper, sales transactions. In Indonesia, the average time taken viability of improving access to labour mobility. TBB’s
more effective means of reaching poor and remote for a company to prepare, pay and file taxes is estimated Talent Catalog now has more than 22,000 profiles of
customers. GIF’s investment in Paga was designed to at 15.9 hours per month but OnlinePajak’s services refugees living in Jordan and Lebanon accessible to
grow its user base, promote the Paga agent network can reduce that to less than 30 minutes. The company over 100 employers. By June 2020, 39 TBB candidates
and invest in product innovation. GIF’s investment in estimates that a larger firm using their services can save have received job offers and, when accounting for
Paga has returned over $1.13 in net social benefits to $60,000 a year through productivity gains, $11,000 a family members, 143 people have achieved a migration
date for each dollar invested. Accounting for the fact year by reducing late payment fees and $260,000 a year solution from TBB’s programming to date. With GIF’s
that other investors also invested in Paga, GIF estimates by reducing the costs of working capital financing via support, TBB was able to develop relationships with the
that $5 million in discounted net social benefits was faster invoicing. governments of Australia and Canada and implement
generated by its investment alone. successful pilot programmes resulting in commitments
to scale up these programmes in both countries. A
survey conducted with 15 TBB candidates relocated to
Canada, UK, and Australia found that the average annual
salary was $40,000 with 60 percent of the relocated
candidates sending remittances to their families in
Jordan, Lebanon, Syria or elsewhere.

Impact Report 2020 GIF 23

International Care Ministries Simprints
People living in ultra-poverty are often left out of In 2016, GIF provided $196,960 of grant funding to
government assistance programmes or market Simprints to fund the development and implementation
interventions while faith-based organisations often have of a sustainable delivery model of Simprints’ biometric
extensive community networks and are in a favourable identity hardware and software products in Bangladesh
position to reach the poorest of the poor. To reach these and Nepal. Identification has become increasingly
populations effectively an intervention must include essential for people to access basic services and exercise
consumption support and social protection, as well as their rights. A lack of formal identity perpetuates
livelihood support through an income-generating asset, poverty by restricting access to welfare-improving social
financial inclusion, and coaching on life and business programmes and economic opportunities, and these
skills. Provision of all these services in synergy is effective challenges disproportionately affect those who live in
but expensive. Extensive human engagement is an the world’s poorest countries where 36 percent of adults
additional barrier to scale. In the Philippines, International do not have any identification. Since that pilot grant,
Care Ministries’s Transform leverages an existing network Simprints has deployed its technology in 12 countries in
of 12,000 pastors in 85 provinces with last-mile reach to partnership with BRAC, Mercy Corps, UNICEF and the
deliver a programme focusing on training and mentoring Ethiopian Ministry of Health, reaching more than 380,000
services with a small asset transfer component. ICM beneficiaries worldwide and achieving profitability.
believes leveraging this distribution network of pastors Building on this success, in 2020, GIF provided Simprints
with deep community connections helps cultivate hope, with a $2,593,230 revolving line of credit to support
optimism and social capital as integral pathways out the company as it transitions from pilot projects to
of poverty. ICM has worked with more than one million working on scale-up projects in other countries such as
ultra-poor families and GIF has provided a five-year $5.4 Bangladesh and Ethiopia.
million grant to optimise and scale its programme within
the Philippines and other countries through effective use
of technology.

24 GIF Impact Report 2020

Making
Everyone should
be the protagonist
of their own

investments
story. Women
and girls are
disproportionately

and quantifying affected by

discrimination and
underlying barriers

impact for that prevent them

from having a voice
or having control

gender equality over assets and

even their own
bodies

Impact Report 2020 GIF 25

Gender equality interventions and impact measures Innovating for Gender
Equality Fund
Areas of intervention to promote gender equality Impact measures
GIF has partnered with Global Affairs Canada to pilot the
Innovating for Gender Equality Fund, specifically focused
Agency across domains on finding and funding scalable innovations to transform
unequal gender relations and increase the agency of the
• Control of body/sexual and
world’s poorest women and girls.
reproductive health and choice
Voice • Household decision-making Increasing agency, the ability to identify goals or make
Enhancing voice, • Social and political choices and then act upon them, is the central goal
participation sphere of the innovations GIF backs, supporting people of all
and decision-making genders to make empowered and informed decisions,
and to have control over their own voices, bodies, and
Reduction in violence against income and assets. This means backing innovations that
women and girls ensure freedom from violence for women and girls, which
Including but not limited to: is of critical importance as COVID-19 has exacerbated
Body Assets • Intimate partner violence
the shadow pandemic of gender-based violence. It also
means investing in innovations centered on changing
Increasing Providing • Non-partner violence social norms and opportunities around gender equality,
control over access,control
body, health and ownership • Child sexual assault including increasing women’s earning potential and
economic empowerment in industries with growth
and freedom of assets
potential.
from violence
Wellbeing outcomes
• Income or consumption Investing for gender equality required GIF to expand its
Practical Impact framework to appropriately account for
• Health
women’s agency – not just as a means to an end, but as a
• Education status valuable end in itself. The figure opposite shows how the
areas of intervention in GIF’s gender equality framework
are quantified by using three measures of impact.

In 2020, GIF worked to quantify the gender equality outcomes of its investments and to promote learning about In addition to its growing portfolio of gender equality-
measuring for gender impact within the wider development community. focused innovations, GIF now applies a gender analysis
to all investments and in 2020 successfully incorporated
gender considerations into every step of its process
including the way all investments are sourced, due
diligence, structured and measured for impact.

26 GIF Impact Report 2020

 Ending the Global Rape Epidemic

No Means No Worldwide StrongMinds

A $1.9 million Test & Transition grant that followed a In 2020, GIF announced a $1.6 million grant to
successful GIF Pilot grant supports the expansion of its StrongMinds, a social enterprise that treats depression
successful IMpower curriculum taught in schools and in women in Africa with less than $2 per day to spend
clubs to both girls and boys aged 10-20 years. IMpower on their families. StrongMinds will use the GIF funding
creates a system of knowledge, strategies and skills to refine their therapy techniques by testing and rating
to end the cycle of sexual violence by teaching girls its effectiveness in treating and reducing depression,
how to set boundaries and defend themselves while and improvement on wellbeing. GIF investment will
simultaneously shifting male attitudes and behaviors. also go towards advancing plans to gain traction with
The curriculum is designed to reduce violence against governments and exploring the relationship between
women and girls, empower girls to stand up for their mental health and gender equality. The StrongMinds
rights and increase their agency. NMNW will strengthen approach is a low-cost, proven methodology that has
its partnership model, expand to new countries in reduced depression symptoms for over 80 percent of the
Sub-Saharan Africa, build an Innovation Hub in South women treated in Uganda. Mental health has been given
Africa, and work towards longer term sustainability. It explicit focus in two Sustainable Development Goals
will also leverage learning from a remote delivery pilot targets and even though there are often not enough
necessitated by COVID-19. mental health professionals to treat everyone who needs
it, the StrongMinds approach to use volunteers running
group therapy sessions can have remarkable results.

Impact Report 2020 GIF 27

Innovation in
pandemic response
Throughout 2020, GIF devoted
much of its resources to
COVID-19-related grantmaking,
accelerating innovation and
learning about mitigating the
health and economic costs of
the pandemic in developing
countries, as well as working to
protect the social value of its
existing portfolio of innovations
mClinica

28 GIF Impact Report 2020

mClinica PATH
By digitally connecting thousands of pharmacy of more than 500 pharmacists, with the information In 2020, GIF approved a $868,000 grant to support
professionals, mClinica is improving the access, gleaned being made available to public health officials PATH as they lead a series of research pilots to monitor
affordability, and availability of medicines and and running COVID-19 awareness campaigns which the presence of COVID-19 in Malawi, Pakistan, Nepal, and
enhancing the skills of the pharmacists who dispense received more than 400,000 impressions. When the Myanmar using fecal sludge and wastewater samples to
them. SwipeRx is mClinica’s mobile app that connects pandemic hit, mClinica rapidly mobilised its network of detect pathogens. The public health community is still
over 170,000 pharmacy professionals from 40,000 pharmacy professionals to rapid education on COVID-19. learning how best to apply environmental surveillance
pharmacies across seven countries. mClinica was able Already an equity holder in the company, in 2020, GIF in low-income country contexts where inadequate or
to use their network to fight the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly approved a $140,000 grant to support mClinica’s non-existent sewerage infrastructure complicates sample
and worked with international partners to exchange efforts to increase COVID-19 awareness and disseminate collection and analysis. In partnership with Michigan
information to and from pharmacies about the virus reliable information in Southeast Asia. State University, PATH will also establish a data centre
throughout Southeast Asia by conducting digital polls as a platform to analyse and share data and methods
with the wider research community and public health
authorities worldwide with the goal of supporting
the integration of this monitoring into their long-term
Using innovation to test what works COVID-19 management plans. Importantly, PATH will
be evaluating the cost-effectiveness of conducting
the monitoring and produce data GIF expects to help
When measuring impact during the pandemic, we example, can encourage the innovators to monitor
drive future uptake of this innovation by public health
must recognise what we don’t know about key success rates in tracing and isolating contacts and
authorities worldwide.
parameters, both epidemiological and economic, use this information for adaptive management,
and use interventions to test assumptions, reduce establishing benchmarks on what is possible under
uncertainty, and guide future efforts and policies. different conditions and testing the efficacy of
novel approaches to case identification and staff
While GIF gathers the information needed to make deployment. Supporting public health messaging can
forecasts, it is supporting innovators to learn what track whether messages change knowledge, attitudes
is working, and why, in fighting the pandemic. and practice.
Supporting contact-tracing innovations, for

Impact Report 2020 GIF 29

 SOUTH ASIA AT IFMR

BIT BRAC J-PAL

Human behaviour is at the heart of many public policy As part of its effort to respond to the global COVID-19 With widespread digitisation of data systems, there are
challenges, including the fight against COVID-19. A pandemic, GIF provided BRAC, a leading international large volumes of administrative data with untapped
growing body of evidence show that humans use NGO with expertise in large scale programming in potential for use in policy decision making. J-PAL’s South
cognitive biases, such as following social norms by seeing health, with $1.05 million in grant funding to focus on Asia’s IDEA Lab is addressing this by developing a ‘health
what people around them are doing, to navigate the Sierra Leone and Uganda’s efforts to fight the virus. insurance data use case’ across three states in India to
world and insights from studying these behaviours help Leveraging the experience earned during the 2014-2016 demonstrate the potential of using administrative data
us design more effective policies and interventions. BIT Ebola Crisis, BRAC Sierra Leone and BRAC Uganda are for decision making. J-PAL will use GIF funding to test
is working with the government in West Java, Indonesia, working closely with the respective country governments and refine their government partnership, seeking to
to help make their COVID-19 communications more in their COVID-19 responses. Whereas the focus of BRAC institutionalise effective data use. This investment will
evidence-based and thereby more effective. One of West Sierra Leone’s effort is emergency response work, in the generate insights into both state capacity building and
Java’s main concerns during the pandemic is ensuring form of behavioural change messaging reinforced by in- improving the lives of India’s poor through the health
compliance with social distancing advice, specifically person support from community health workers, BRAC insurance programme improvements. The momentum
during Ramadan and in relation to people moving from Uganda’s work focuses on health system strengthening. from governments building up for optimising data use
the city to their home villages where they might bring In addition to the urgent need to disseminate valuable has been accelerated by COVID-19. The pandemic has
the virus to poorer and more vulnerable segments information to stem the spread of COVID-19 in Sierra shown the importance of real-time and reliable data
of the population. In response to the pandemic, GIF Leone and Uganda, BRAC and others are adapting their to plan and deploy response efforts and this crisis
reprogrammed funding to enable BIT to shift focuses tools for data collection and integration into the existing has spurred governments to use data creatively for
in West Java toward the COVID-19 rapid response. BIT health system network and therefore not only saving lives planning and resource allocation with many sub-national
is also working in partnership with the government of during this pandemic but also on an on-going basis. governments developing track and trace apps. Against
Bangladesh to apply behavioural science to tackle stigma this backdrop, the J-PAL innovation will contribute to
associated with COVID-19 which may reduce health- improving COVID-19 response in the medium to long
seeking behaviour. term in India and build resilience in the health sector.

30 GIF Impact Report 2020

Innovator Spotlight
Chrysalis
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to school closures in
nearly every country in the world, putting approximately
1.5 billion children and youth out of school. School
closures due to COVID-19 are expected to have a bigger
impact on the economically disadvantaged students
than their peers, making the attainment gap even wider.
Chitra Ravi, Founder and CEO:
In 2020, GIF made a $1.6 million equity investment in
“Improving educational standards is very personal to “Alongside learning to walk, basic literacy is the first
Chrysalis, an early childhood education organisation
me as a mother. When my children left kindergarten step in liberating a child. Chrysalis’ pedagogy is focused
reaching low-income children in India. Chrysalis has
and entered formal schooling, even though they came on ensuring that children don’t just learn to read the
adopted an activity-based learning programme keeping
from one of the best schools in the city, I still found that words, but realise context. As well as quantitative
children and their development outcomes at the core of
there was something missing in the whole experience. success, we also measure success in terms of the
its work. Its programme assists and builds the capacity
In particular, I noticed that while knowledge is gathered, engagement we see from the child: are they asking
of teachers, parents and school administration and uses
curiosity is subdued: that spark of creativity that we see questions? Do they seem confident? There are many
blended technology tools, which have proven critical to
in toddlers ends up being dulled down as children pass organisations in India which talk about moving away
ensure continuity in children’s learning and development,
through school. I am a believer in the idea that when from rote to activity-based learning, but Chrysalis is
particularly in the affordable education space and with
someone sees a problem that needs to be solved, they unique in the richness of its method, and in the way
an explicit focus on emotional support during this period
have a duty to get to work trying to fix it. This is what that teachers are inspired to help students to think
of uncertainty and school shutdown.
I decided to do when I set up Chrysalis, and I have not about how they approach life. Seeing children move
looked back since. past grade five and say how much they will miss our
In the last eight years, Chrysalis has reached over
teaching is a source of immense pride for me.
300,000 students and 6,000 teachers across 800+
“India has for many years had two channels of work
schools in India. Chrysalis’ growth over the GIF
when it comes to education: one is increasing and “Eight years into our journey we are seeing some
investment period forecasts that, by 2024, Chrysalis will
improving access, and the other is improving quality. really exciting results, both in terms of the number
reach close to 700,000 children (across 2,555 schools)
Chrysalis is focused on the latter. How do we move past of students and teachers reached, and in terms of
and at Year 10, an expected 1.6 million children will be
rote learning methods and actually deepen conceptual the transformative impact we are seeing in the lives
reached.
understanding? Why shouldn’t quality education, of individual children. I am so excited about our
which encourages thinking and creativity, be available partnership with GIF and bringing together our shared
for everyone? Chrysalis is working to bring these passion for achieving educational impact.”
approaches to mainstream schools: not just learning
to read and write, but to solve problems, become
independent thinkers, and seize opportunities, focusing
on children in their formative years.

Impact Report 2020 GIF 31

Innovator Spotlight
Kamatan Pravesh Sharma, Founder and CEO:
In 2019, GIF announced a £1.6 million equity investment in “I was a civil servant in the Indian Administrative The idea was that it doesn’t matter how much land
Kamatan, an agriculture-technology start-up leveraging Service for three-and-a-half decades where I spent a farmer owns: each of them has an equal vote, and
supply chain technology to ensure better pricing for the first decade or so carrying out a wide range of through this platform they can collaborate on issues of
farmers and reduce waste. Based in India, Kamatan jobs in sectors such as development, regulation, law mutual benefit such as production and diversification.
works with cooperatives known as farmer produce enforcement, and land management, before deciding
organisations (FPOs) to source produce for direct supply to specialise in agriculture. During this time, I became “When GIF came on board, we were dealing with
to agricultural enterprises, processors and retailers. aware of the fact that, despite the enormous numbers around 20 FPOs at the pilot stage. In the time since,
Kamatan helps these FPOs in procuring, storing, quality of farmers throughout India – the largest number of we have touched around 150 FPOs, whether to access
control and logistics and increases farmers’ incomes farming households in the world, agriculture accounted credits, access markets, or some other service. We have
by offering higher crop prices, lowering logistic costs, at the time for only around 17 percent of national now reached the point at which numbers alone don’t
reducing waste, and improving productivity and quality GDP, and that low incomes largely centred around define us. We want to work with a smaller number of
of output. rural households. This led me to ask: why, despite an FPOs to converge a larger number of services – in the
abundance of resources such as plentiful water, did this next six months, we hope to work with 50 FPOs in a
Supply chain infrastructure is a key bottleneck in the deficit exist? more intensive manner and we hope to commission a
agriculture sector even without a global pandemic third-party assessment of how this work has fared.
as farmers and producers in India have limited direct “I developed various insights into the problem but
access to the end buyers resulting in tremendous market realised one significant issue was the poor quality of “Alongside the direct impact that Kamatan is having,
inefficiencies. As COVID-19 turned into a global crisis, institutional arrangements at the ground level. There I am also proud of our indirect impact on the sector.
widespread lockdowns hampered traditional supply was an absence of farmer-owned institutions and Since Kamatan was founded more than four years
chains and marketing avenues, but Kamatan is working therefore a big deficit in the localised economy where ago, thanks to the FPOs we support and the investors
to help keep the gears of the food supply chains in India farmers are producing, which takes away a lot of the who support us, this idea has become mainstream.
moving. value they could generate. Institutions such as non-banking institutions and
agritech start-ups are setting out to solve other
To date, Kamatan has reached more than 30,000 small “I began to work on the idea of strengthening problems such as localised weather information,
and marginal farmers through 17 farmer cooperatives, institutions that could help agriculture such as maintaining soil moisture and quality control of crops,
procuring over 25,000 metric tons of farm produce marketing and rural credit, and then ten years ago in partnership with FPOs. When we started out there
with direct marketing to large institutional buyers. decided to focus on farmer-owned institutions as a way were not more than about a dozen start-ups talking
The resulting improvement in price realisation, waste to overcome the limitations imposed by small average about doing business with FPOs and now there are
reduction, and cost efficiencies is expected to increase working size farms, around one hectare, and find a way hundreds. Seeing the balloon come up in this way is
farmer incomes by 10 percent. As Kamatan’s technology to collectivise farmers so their joint bargaining power perhaps the greatest compliment we get and we are
platform facilitates smooth transactions between buyers could be deployed. excited for the possibilities that the future holds.”
and sellers across India, the company is also piloting an
app to include price updates for key commodities and “This is how the idea of the FPO came about – and it
value-added services. found a lot of resonance among smallholder farmers.

32 GIF Impact Report 2020

Water innovation
Drinkwell
Over one billion people Drinkwell is a social enterprise working to provide access

living in cities worldwide to affordable and clean drinking water for millions of
underserved urban customers through Water ATM-

lack access to running enabled systems. Their utility-based water filtration

technology can filter unsafe drinking water and therefore

water in their homes, help avoid diseases.

and a significant number Drinkwell’s innovative approach has the potential to

improve the lives of low-income urban slumdwellers

of the three billion in Bangladesh where there is a low rate of piped clean
drinking water. A combination of patented purification

people in developing technology, filtration, and pay-as-you-go cards underpin

an easy-to-operate turnkey solution. Each system serves

countries with basic between 200–2,400 households, employs one to three

people, and lasts for at least 10 years. The investment is

water connections
supported by ADVANCE, GIF’s partnership with Unilever
and Anglo American that seeks to unlock private sector
investment needed to scale new business models for
experience extended the UN Sustainable Development Goals. With GIF’s
$500,000 convertible loan investment in 2019, Drinkwell
shortages, either has been working towards installing more than over 200
new systems with the Dhaka Water Supply & Sewerage
because of failure to pay Authority (DWASA), the utility in charge of water and
sanitation in Bangladesh’s capital. To date, 156,000
and/or general water households and 624,000 people have been impacted by
this investment.
utility mismanagement

Impact Report 2020 GIF 33

 CityTaps
CityTaps has developed a solution to water scarcity
The Water Innovation Engine, launched by the Government of Australia to foster coordination, sourcing, investing that bridges the gap between water utilities and the
and scaling water sector innovation, tackles pressing challenges for households, cities, watersheds and countries urban poor: a pre-payment service that comprises the
with a focus on advancing the well-being of the less-advantaged populations of low- and middle-income world’s only smart and pre-paid water meter and billing
countries. GIF was selected as a partner to build a portfolio of innovations that address issues and opportunities software. Customers use mobile money to pre-pay for
around the innovative role of data in the provision and use of water in developing countries. It is one of the running water with any mobile phone, at any time, for
initiatives arising from the High Level Panel on Water established in 2016 by the UN Secretary General and the any amount. Running water in the home is substantially
President of the World Bank, in which Australia played a leading role. cheaper, more convenient, and healthier than any
alternative.

GIF’s $500,000 equity investment is enabling CityTaps

to roll out new meters as part of an ongoing pilot in
Niger and other countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Mali
and Ecuador. Data on the usage and reliability of the
meters will be collected to build evidence for utilities to
use going forward. So far, 4,200 households have been
directly impacted by this investment, with 33,000 people
benefiting and completely new subscribers having
accounted for roughly 10% of those connected to water
and another 13% are re-connected users disconnected by
the utilities due to outstanding arrears. New subscribers
save on average 86 minutes every day and up to $3.14
per kiloliter of piped water compared to other sources.
Because users immediately get notified by SMS when
there is a leak on their plot, they are able to save more in
lower bills and avoid paying reconnection fees or overdue
surcharges. Before the City Taps suite, any water bought
was primarily reserved for drinking purposes, with water
used for hygiene kept at a minimum. With cheaper and
easier access to water through the prepaid meters, users
report more water availability which results in improved
hygiene, especially in homes with young children.

34 GIF Impact Report 2020

Creating impact by
exiting investments
For GIF, seeking to maximise impact rather than just
financial gains, the decision to exit an investment involves

When trying to maximise social impact with limited answering several questions. What is the impact thesis
of the company? Where is it on its path to growth? What

resources, determining when, and how, to exit an type of capital does it need to continue growing, while
also being focused on preserving and deepening impact?

investment successfully is as important as weighing Before each investment, GIF dedicates time and

when to enter one. Entering an investment with

resources to assess if its capital can be catalytic to the
company’s innovation agenda. This consideration of
“additionality” must, in turn, be weighed against the
an exit mindset allows for an investment to be potential for a higher long-term financial return, while
also enabling new investors to participate in a company’s
catalytic by providing impact in the short term and success. An understanding of the incentives of these
investors is important to ensure that impact focus will
helping crowd-in other money later. This lets the last through changes in ownership.

private sector economy grow without distortion The primary consideration for GIF when looking at
current and future investments is whether the company
and provides liquidity without dilution to existing continues to need GIF’s risk-tolerant and patient capital
to grow in a way that preserves impact. It is important to
shareholders us whether our additionality in terms of both finance and
impact remains significant.

Impact Report 2020 GIF 35

SafeBoda Taptap Send
SafeBoda, which has created an innovative model for Taptap Send is a peer-to-peer money transfer platform
differentiating itself by saving lives and limiting injuries that allows immigrants to send money back home to
through improved safety in Uganda’s motorbike taxi Africa and Asia. Taptap Send’s solution is elegantly
sector. The for-profit company was able to grow and designed to provide customers with instant, safe,
attract new investors after GIF supported its seed round user-friendly and low-cost transfers. Taptap Send
and now there are over 15,000 SafeBoda drivers in has experienced tremendous growth in transfer
Uganda offering an estimated more than two million volumes through its current payment corridors in West
rides per month. GIF was a co-funder of the seed round Africa (Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Mali), East Africa
and instrumental in getting the start-up running by (Kenya, Zambia, Madagascar) and South East Asia
covering 37 percent of SafeBoda’s costs between 2016 (Bangladesh, Vietnam). GIF invested $750k of equity
and 2017. GIF provided a $230,000 convertible note to in the development of Taptap Send’s technology in
SafeBoda in 2016 which returned over $9.86 in net social 2015 and successfully exited as part of Taptap’s 2020
benefit per dollar invested by GIF – taking into account Series A round. GIF’s exit helped bring in new investors
the financial contributions of other funders. SafeBoda- into the funding round and highlights the results of our
affiliated drivers are 39 percent less likely to be involved approach with respect to investing in market innovators
in a road traffic crash than non-SafeBoda drivers and an – particularly early-stage, high-risk innovations – and
estimated 200 deaths were prevented between 2016 mobilising capital for emerging market business.
and 2020. During the period of GIF’s investment,
SafeBoda generated an estimated $13 million in
discounted net social benefits. Accounting for the
fact that other investors also invested in SafeBoda, an
estimated $2 million in discounted net social benefits
was generated by GIF’s investment.

36 GIF Impact Report 2020

Open innovation
Once we identify an innovation with the potential for outsized impact, we rely on a decision-making process that
combines the best of rigorous academic peer review with a venture capital style approach to investment selection.
In 2020, as in every Decision panels, our majority-external investment committee, are a big part of this. They maximise transparency and
accountability and help us to ensure that we are directing our resources towards innovations that have the greatest
year since inception, potential for transformative social impact. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our 2020 decision
panelists for their time, expert insight and collaboration.
GIF was committed Stevie Smyth Valdex, Executive Director, SVX.MX Peter Benjamin, South Africa Country Director,

to championing open Natalia Gavrilita, independent consultant, former Minister

Co-founder, HealthEnabled

of Finance, Moldova. Harvey Koh, Managing Director, FSG

innovation – the idea Monica Mehta, EVP, Wadhwani NEN and Inspire Jamie Martin, Co-founder and CEO, Injini

that great ideas can Varun Sahni, Founding Partner, Impact Investment Amitav Virmani, Founder and CEO, The Education
Partners LLP Alliance
come from anyone and Sean Blaschke, Technology for Development, Business Gopal Naik, Professor, IIM Bangalore

anywhere Analyst, Eastern/Southern African Regional Office

Anup Malani, Lee and Brena Freeman Professor of Law,

Eric Ikoonae, Team Lead and Technical Advisor Global
Health Security Agenda, Africa Field Epidemiology
The University of Chicago Law School Network (AFENET) Sierra Leone.

Anit Mukherjee, Policy Fellow, Center for Global Srikant Nagulapalli, Secretary, Energy, Government of
We have an open application window on our website,
Development Andhra Pradesh
and are always on the lookout for applications from
innovators addressing any development challenge, as Birguy Lamizana Diallo, Programme Officer, UNEP – UN Emrys Schoemaker, Research Director, Caribou Digital
long as there is a clear pathway to scale, a focus on Environment Programme
Vimala Ramachandran, Managing Director, Educational
people living on $5 per day or less and a commitment to
Anju Malhotra, Principal Adviser, Gender and Resource Unit Consultants Pvt Ltd
generating rigorous evidence of impact.
Development, UNICEF
Peter Barron, Public Health Specialist

Impact Report 2020 GIF 37

GIF’s 2020
board
members
James R. Clark Jane M. Siebels
Salvatore J. Giambanco Darren J. Welch
James P. Hayarimana Michael R. Anderson
Jack M. Hawkins Kanini Mutooni
Kathryn Card Kaufman Sarah Jayne Pearson
Elizabeth M. Peak Velavan Gnanendran
Santhosh Mathew

Mr. Green Africa

38 GIF Impact Report 2020

Our partners

PayGo Energy (page 43)

Impact Report 2020 GIF 39
I M PAC T
REPORT
2020

www.globalinnovation.fund

8 Devonshire Square, London EC2M 4PL, UK

1701 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA

@GlobalInnovFund

@Global Innovation Fund

@Global Innovation Fund SmartStart