Can Indian startups and social enterprises apply to the DIV Fund?

Yes. India is classified as a lower-middle-income country per the World Bank, so Indian nonprofits, social enterprises, for-profit startups, universities, and research organizations are all eligible. Government agencies and intermediaries such as incubators and accelerators are not eligible.

Is the grant equity-free and non-repayable?

Yes. All DIV Fund grants are fully non-dilutive — no equity is taken. The fund also does not provide debt or any other financial instruments. Grants are tied to milestones but used flexibly.

Do I need to start at Stage 1, or can I apply directly to Stage 2 or 3?

You can apply directly to the stage that matches your innovation's maturity. Stage 1 (up to ₹1.86 crore) is for pilots; Stage 2 (up to ₹4.65–6.98 crore) is for rigorous evaluations or market validation; Stage 3 (up to ₹13.95 crore) is for scaling validated innovations with proven impact evidence.

What sectors and problem areas does the DIV Fund support?

Health, agriculture, education, financial inclusion, energy, and climate adaptation are the primary focus areas. The innovation must demonstrably improve lives of people in low- or middle-income countries and show a credible pathway to reaching over 1 million people at scale.

Is there a fixed application deadline?

No. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year with no fixed deadline. Funding decisions are made by expert panels convened several times per year, and the overall process typically takes several months from submission to final decision.

DIV Fund Grant for Global Development Innovations (2026)

Q: What kind of evaluation support does the fund provide?

Beyond capital, the DIV Fund pairs grantees with rigorous evaluation expertise and connects them to a global network of researchers, evaluators, and scaling partners to help build evidence of impact and cost-effectiveness.

The DIV Fund is the independent successor to USAID's Development Innovation Ventures program, now run by Sasha Gallant (CEO, former head of DIV at USAID), Jeff Brown, and Nobel laureate Michael Kremer. It functions as an R&D engine for global development, backing evidence-driven innovations that can cost-effectively improve lives at scale in low- and middle-income countries — a category that includes India.

Funding is structured in three tiered, milestone-based grant stages. Stage 1 Pilot grants up to ₹1.86 crore support real-world pilots to test feasibility, user demand, and impact potential. Stage 2 Test & Position for Scale grants up to ₹4.65 crore (occasionally ₹6.98 crore) fund rigorous impact evaluations or market validation. Stage 3 Scale grants up to ₹13.95 crore accelerate the scale-up of validated innovations with proven evidence of impact and cost-effectiveness.

Beyond capital, the fund pairs grantees with rigorous evaluation expertise and connects them to a global network of researchers, evaluators, and scaling partners. All grants are non-dilutive — the fund does not take equity, and explicitly does not provide debt or other financial instruments. Funding is tied to milestones and can be used flexibly across program implementation, data collection, evaluation, and key personnel.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year, with no fixed deadline. Indian startups, social enterprises, nonprofits, and research organizations working on solutions that benefit people in poverty across health, agriculture, education, financial inclusion, energy, and climate adaptation are eligible. Applicants do not need to start at Stage 1 — they can apply directly to the stage that matches their innovation's maturity.

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