P4G’s 2019 Scale-Up Partnerships: Innovations for Green Growth and Climate Action

Deadline: 18 October 2019

2020 P4G Partnership Fund is seeking applications to offer financial support and targeted assistance to select public-private partnerships that are advancing innovative strategies to achieve the following five UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

SDG 2 Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture
SDG 6 Water and Sanitation
SDG 7 Clean Energy
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production (circular economy)

P4G will provide funding only to partnerships in the start-up and scale-up phases of development and growth:

Start-up: Promising, early-stage partnerships that need support to consolidate the partnership or test the feasibility of innovative approaches.
Scale-up: Partnerships that are already engaged in promising, business-driven green growth innovations and need support to scale up and accelerate their impact.

Funding Information

Partnerships in the start-up phase may apply for up to USD 100,000. P4G funding should represent a maximum of 75 percent of the partnership’s budget. Partnerships in the scale-up phase may apply for up to USD 1 million, with P4G funding a maximum of 50 percent of the partnership’s budget. P4G funding is for a period of one to two years (12 – 24 months), depending on the needs of the partnership.

Eligibility Criteria

Primary SDG Focus: Partnership activities must focus on one or more of P4G’s five target SDGs: Zero Hunger (2); Clean Water and Sanitation (6); Affordable and Clean Energy (7); Sustainable Cities and Communities (11); Responsible Consumption and Production (12).
Start-up or Scale-up: Partnerships must be in either the start-up or the scale-up phase of development. P4G does not support partnerships in the idea generation phase (including concept, research and development, or pilot phase), or in the implementation phase between start-up and scaling.
Country Focus: Start-up partnership activities must benefit one or more of the P4G partner countries that are eligible for P4G funding: Bangladesh, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, and Vietnam. P4G has a strong preference for scale-up partnerships whose activities benefit these countries, as well, but will also consider exceptional scale-up partnership applications that benefit other ODA-eligible developing countries.

Evaluation Criteria

Partnerships that meet the eligibility criteria above will be evaluated and ranked based on the following eight criteria:

Market Need: The extent to which the partnership is addressing a significant gap in the market.
- To what extent has the partnership identified a viable target market?
- How clearly has the partnership described the key issues, problems or barriers that prevent a commercially viable solution aligned with the relevant SDGs from entering the marketplace?
Goals: The extent to which the partnership goals are relevant and impactful.
- How relevant are the goals and sub-goals to both the problem and the suggested solutions?
- How clear and consistent are the goals?
- To what extent will achieving the partnership’s goals lead to positive, measurable progress toward the relevant SDGs?
Effectiveness of the Model: The likelihood that the proposed model/approach can deliver a commercially viable solution aligned with the relevant SDGs, and the strength of the strategy to grow and replicate that model.
- To what extent is the model innovative (see definition below) while also having an approach that seems feasible? For financial instruments: how realistic and sound are the instruments and structures?
- How likely is the partnership’s model/approach to lower the market barriers that the partnership has identified?
- How likely is it that the identified model/approach will deliver a commercially viable solution within the marketplace?
- How strong is the model and the partnership’s strategy and ability to grow, replicate, and scale?
Work Plan and Implementation Strategy: The likelihood that the workplan will produce the identified goals.
- How likely are the identified workplan activities to produce the identified goals?
- How reasonable is the timeline for completing the activities and achieving the goals and deliverables in the workplan?
- Budget and Financial Plan: The level of sustainability of the partnership’s funding model.
- How well is the budget aligned to the workplan and timeline?
- How reasonable is the budget for accomplishing the desired results?
For pre-commercial ventures: how realistic is the plan to get to commercial operation, or to directly enable significant commercial investment?
- For commercial ventures: how realistic and viable are the potential future revenue streams?
Partners’ Capability: The strength of the partners’ capacity to execute the proposed model/approach.
- What is the partners’ experience in implementing change in the relevant sector, market segment, and geography?
- Does the partnership’s structure and history/precedent indicate that they can function effectively as a collective and execute on plans?
Value Add of P4G:
- To what extent would P4G acceleration and funding help this partnership to achieve its goals? (Note: this may include the partnership’s alignment with existing P4G partnership themes and partner country priorities.)
Risk: The thoroughness of the risk evaluation and the strength of the risk mitigation plan
- How thoroughly defined and comprehensive are the risks in the following areas:
  - Human capital
  - Technological
  - Process
  - Political
  - Legal
  - Economic
- Do the risk mitigation measures defined by the partnership provide reasonable assurance that the relevant risks are manageable?