Deadline: 6 September 2019
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition through its Marketplace for Nutritious Foods Project is currently accepting applications for the fourth Innovation Accelerator call for proposals.
The goal of GAIN’s Marketplace for Nutritious Foods program is to increase the production, marketing, and availability of more safe and nutritious foods by promoting innovation and catalyzing private sector engagement. It does this through improving access to knowledge, networks, technical assistance and funding by means of the following strategies:
- A Community of Practice for knowledge and networking;
- Innovation Accelerator to evaluate and provide advanced financial support and technical services to businesses showing the greatest potential for positive nutritional impact and business strength and;
- Links eligible businesses with potential investors for further investment.
Focus of Innovation Accelerator in Kenya
The Marketplace’s Innovation Accelerator supports nutrition-sensitive business innovations by providing support and directing investment to goods and services that can increase consumers’ access to—and consumption of—nutritious foods.
Award Information
Types of Awards: Business concepts submitted by local companies will be assessed on a competitive basis. Those selected for the Marketplace’s Innovation Accelerator programme will be eligible to receive one or both of the following types of support:
- Technical assistance and training (typical award value: USD $5,000 to 20,000)
- Financial grants (typical award value: up to $90,000)
Award type 1: Tailored technical assistance and training
- Selected businesses will be eligible to receive technical assistance (TA) and training to address specific gaps that hinder their ability to deliver nutritious foods to low income consumers. The types of support awarded to companies will include:
- Training on improved business management techniques
- Capacity building around the safe production of nutritious foods (for example: product development, quality assurance and control)
- Technical Assistance for market research, business modelling, business planning, and market development
- Technical assistance to assist in linking companies to investors and financial institutions.
- Companies that have received technical support and training may become eligible for the second type of award offer by the Marketplace in Kenya in form of financial grants.
Award type 2: Grant support
- Selected businesses may be eligible for a financial grant of up to $90,000. Grant support will be awarded based on a company’s ability to make a sound business case (documented business plan with sound financial projections) for a business concept that will improve access to nutritious food/foods for low income consumers in Kenya. Companies will be required to co-fund these activities.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must meet all the following criteria in order to be considered for support from the Marketplace.
- Company is for-profit.
- Applicants Company may partner with other organisations, including non-governmental and governmental organisations; however, the lead applicant and implementer of the business concept must be a commercial company/business.
- Associations and cooperatives are also eligible to apply if they are functioning as businesses.
- Company is a legally registered entity in Kenya (able to demonstrate a PIN number etc.).
- Company must currently be operating in Kenya.
- Company is a financially viable business and has a product (i.e. the business model counts on sales revenues to cover all of the company’s expenses).
- Proposal relates to an innovative business concept in manufacture and / or distribution of nutritious food products. GAIN defines “Innovation” as a new or significantly improved product or business model, or an existing product or business model being introduced into a new market.
- Applicant’s product or service should directly relate to sourcing, processing and /or distribution of one of the following value chains: Horticulture (fruits and vegetables), cereals, pulses, legumes, nuts and / or Livestock (dairy, meat, eggs and fish)
- Implementation of the proposed business concept must emphasize a nutritional impact for Kenyan low-income consumers.
- Business concepts with a primary focus on infrastructure, farm inputs, technology (Apps) or non-domestic/non-nutrition focused agricultural products (e.g., roads, exports) will not be considered for awards.
- Proposed business concept will be implemented in Kenya.
- Proposed business concept should use locally-sourced raw materials.
Evaluation Criteria
All proposals are evaluated against the following criteria:
- Innovation: GAIN defines “Innovation” as a new food product or business model and/or an existing product or business model being introduced in an environment where it has not been implemented before.
- Business capabilities: the company and the entrepreneur should be able to demonstrate capacity (Human capital, systems, infrastructure etc.) conducive to the development of the innovation.
- Development priorities:
- The proposal should target population groups or geographies that are particularly at risk of malnutrition.
- The business empowers female or youth entrepreneurs or contributes to other ‘cross-cutting’ developmental priorities (rural employment, climate change mitigation, etc.).
- Feasibility: The materials for processing or manufacturing the product should be reliably obtainable in Kenya, and the production processes and distribution model should be appropriate for the Kenyan environment and likely to be appealing to the Kenyan market.
- Nutrition Impact:
- Scale; the product or service should have the potential to impact a large number of people who would benefit from increased consumption of nutritious foods.
- Significance; the product or service should make a significant contribution towards addressing nutrient gaps that the consumers currently experience.
How to Apply
Proposals and self-assessment forms should be sent by email at the address given on the website.
For more information, please visit https://www.gainmarketplace.com/kenya/call-proposals