Deadline: 21-Jul-22
Applications are now open for the Growth Stage Impact Ventures (GSIV) programme that identifies through a highly competitive process enterprises from developing countries that have developed at-scale products and services that contribute to the SDGs while achieving commercial success and are committed to embed impact considerations into decision-making.
By showcasing and supporting these ventures, UNDP aims to bring forward evidence of the existence of pipelines of investable ventures that can advance the transition to SDG-aligned investment in developing countries.
The programme is based on the findings emerged from the SDG Investor Map of Tanzania, a market intelligence tool designed to help private investors (funds, financiers, corporations) identify investment opportunities areas and business models that advance the SDGs. The SDG Investor Map of Tanzania revealed market insights around five sectors aligned with the national development needs and policy priorities of the country, where private capital can make a difference to people and planet.
Thematic Areas
- To assist investors in their search for investment opportunities, the Tanzania GSIV aims to identify and aggregate a pool of partnership and investment-ready enterprises within the sectors that help advance the SDGs in the country. Only enterprises operating in one of the following five sectors and thirteen Investment Opportunities Areas (IOAs) identified through the SDG Investor Map of Tanzania will be considered for the selection process.
- Food and agriculture
- Renewable Resources and Alternative Energy
- Infrastructure
- Education
- Services
- Additional criteria for attention:
Benefits
- The GSIV programme has the objective to improve the visibility and exposure of the selected enterprise in the impact investment ecosystem at the local an international level, and to offer concrete possibilities for developing new connections and access networking opportunities. Ventures selected as finalist will be endorsed by UNDP and will receive capacity building and training to improve their impact management practices:
- Visibility: Enterprises ranking first will be endorsed by UNDP as ventures aligned with the SDG Investor Map of Tanzania and will receive a broad exposure through UNDP’s communication channels and those of partners globally and in Tanzania.
- Capacity Building: Capacity-building workshops will be offered by UNDP and partners to the selected ventures to boost their ability to contribute to the SDGs, enhance their pitching techniques, and communicate their intended impact to an SDG-aligned investor profile.
- SDG Impact Standards Training: Selected enterprises will be invited to join an in-person workshop on the SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises, to help them better align their management practices with the Standards. An assurance system and Seal will be available from a third-party in late 2022, for enterprises that wish to undergo the process. In parallel, enterprises will be provided facilitated access to other relevant training and services offered by local and international partners of UNDP.
- Exposure in UNDP events: UNDP will extend to all finalist ventures an invitation to attend and pitch their solution at the hybrid Tanzania Investor Convening in the context of the presentation of the Tanzania SDG Investor Map in November 2022. This will be an occasion to meet the investor community and discuss partnerships and investment opportunities.
- Network: Finalist ventures will have the possibility to access the global presence of UNDP (+170 countries) and networks to support their scaling and the replication to new countries. They will have access to a wide network of stakeholders interested in learning more about their innovations, and benefit from one-on-one introduction to relevant decision- makers and other programmes to scale up their products offering.
- Endorsement: Possibility to get reference letters from UNDP for public procurement or other opportunities.
- What are the benefits for third-party nominators?
- Third parties nominating ventures to the GSIV will be acknowledged on UNDP website and will be invited to attend exclusive events and investor convenings organized by UNDP.
Eligibility Criteria
- Who can nominate enterprises?
- Nominations may be made by third parties, namely entities that have, or had in the past, a working relationship with the nominated enterprise. This might include accelerators, impact funds, family offices, international organizations, development banks, governments, NGOs, among others.
- Self-nomination by enterprises is not accepted, however they encourage third parties to complete the nomination form in cooperation with the nominated venture, in order to ensure the accuracy of the information provided.
- Geographic criteria:
- This Call for Nominations aims to promote the development of the private sector in Tanzania. Only ventures with substantial operations in Tanzania, with a management team and workforce primarily based in Tanzania and providing products and services mostly in Tanzania and other African countries, are eligible.
- Business model criteria:
- Eligible ventures, which should be seeking partners (technical, financial, or other) to grow will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Impact: be a mission-driven enterprise (possibly within by-laws) with an impact-driven model—meaning that the venture aims to generate a measurable, positive social or environmental impact, with impact management procedures and measurement metrics and/or key performance indicators in place; and the potential to contribute to the achievement of more than one SDG, in an integrated way;
- Financial record: have an established business model and strong financial track record (based on number of clients, annual revenue, EBITDA, break-even, previous funding raised);
- Investment: raised at least US$150,000 or reached break-even through organic growth;
- Innovation: present an innovative technology, business model, or process with a strong competitive advantage (intellectual property, clear unique selling proposition, uniqueness factor);
- Team profile: retain a solid team with complementary competencies to run and grow a business;
- Scalability: demonstrate that the solution is scalable at the regional, continental, or cross-sectoral level.
- Eligible ventures, which should be seeking partners (technical, financial, or other) to grow will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
For more information, visit https://www.undp.org/tanzania/news/call-nominations-impact-ventures-committed-achievement-sdgs-2022-programme-tanzania
