The Global Innovation Fund has three stages of Financing – Pilot, Test & Transition and Scaling Up.
Pilot
At 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.
Pilot stage could include
- Research and development
- Introducing an innovation to target customers
- Assessing user demand and willingness to pay
- Documenting social outcomes and costs of spreading the innovation
Test & Transition
At 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. The innovators may require funding to test new business models or to make operational refinements. This stage typically includes rigorous testing of social impact and cost-effectiveness, often through randomized experiments for solutions that will require significant public resources to transition to scale. Funds can also be used to build paths to sustainability and scale.
Scaling Up
At the Scaling Up stage, GIF supports the expansion of innovations that have already demonstrated a strong track record of social impact and effectiveness. The Scaling Up Fund helps innovators transition successful approaches to a large scale, usually with the goal of eventually achieving widespread adoption throughout one or more developing countries.
Scaling Up Activities 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
- Assessing ways to drive cost-effectiveness as the scale continues to increase
