Global Innovation Fund

Check whether a call is open first

• GIF takes applications in windows, not on a rolling basis. The last window closed on 15 January 2025.
• The apply-for-funding page is the place to see any new call. Do not prepare a full application until one is announced.

Be clear about where you work

• The homepage prioritises Africa and Asia. Other pages on its site say applicants can be based anywhere, for any developing country. Both statements are on its site today.
• The pages we read do not name India as eligible or as a priority. An Indian startup should show that its innovation serves people in low- and middle-income countries.

Pick the vehicle that fits

• Main call for innovations: the route for pilot, test-and-transition and scale-stage work, using grants, loans or equity.
• Innovating for Climate Resilience Fund: for innovations that help the world's poorest adapt to climate change.
• Thrive Fund and GIF Growth: investment vehicles with no application form on the pages we read. For these, a short enquiry to the general inbox is the only route we can point to.

Know what you are asking for

• GIF offers loans and equity as well as grants. Check which instrument a call is offering before you apply, since a loan has to be repaid and equity gives up ownership.
• GIF describes itself as impact-first, so be ready to explain who your innovation reaches and how it can scale.

Global Innovation Fund (GIF) is a non-profit, impact-first investment fund headquartered in London. It is a registered charity in England and Wales (number 1171353) and a company limited by guarantee (number 09223487). Its own pages say it has backed a portfolio of innovations tackling development challenges since 2014, in low- and middle-income countries.

How GIF funds innovations

GIF says it backs innovations with the potential for social impact at a large scale. It does this through grants, loans (including convertible debt) and equity investments. Its funding-stages page describes three stages: Pilot, Test & Transition, and Scale. The same fund therefore sits between a grant-maker and an impact investor, and a founder should not read it as a pure grant scheme.

Is it open for applications?

Not at the moment. GIF's apply-for-funding page says its last application window closed on 15 January 2025, and that its team is reviewing the proposals it received and planning next steps with the most promising applications. The pages we read do not publish a new window or a date, so there is nothing to apply to today.

Where it invests

GIF's pages do not give one consistent answer. Its homepage says it strategically prioritises investments in Africa and Asia. Its FAQ and who-we-are pages say an applicant can be based anywhere in the world and that the work covers any developing country. Its Thrive page describes it as having financed over 70 innovations in low- and middle-income countries.

The pages we read do not name India as a priority or as eligible, and none of the offices it lists is in India. Treat GIF as an international funder that an Indian founder might approach, not as an India programme.

Funds and vehicles

GIF names four ways it invests.

The main call for innovations is the route described above, staged from pilot to scale.

The Innovating for Climate Resilience Fund invests through grant, equity and debt instruments in innovations with the potential to scale and help the world's poorest build resilience and adapt to climate change. We found no separate application window for it.

The Thrive Fund invests in high-potential climate-health technologies in emerging markets. GIF Growth was launched to fill the financing gap that high-impact companies face in emerging markets. The pages we read give no application form for either of these two.

Reported results

These are GIF's own figures, not audited totals. Its 2025 impact report says the innovations it supported reached 64 million people in 2025, of whom 32 million are women and girls. Its homepage reports 138 million people reached to date. The same report says over 40 percent of its investments have successfully scaled and a further 22 percent are on track to scale or have partially scaled.

One caution on figures: GIF's pages give two different totals for the net social value created by five of its investments, so we do not repeat either.

Who funds GIF

GIF says it is supported by government development agencies, including the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Global Affairs Canada, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Swedish International Development Agency. It also names two Dutch foundations, Sint Antonius Stichting Projecten and Dioraphte. GIF is also a signatory of the 2X Challenge, a coalition of public and private investors committed to women's economic empowerment.

Where it is based

The registered office is at 8 Devonshire Square, London. GIF's who-we-are page lists offices in London, Washington, D.C., Nairobi and Singapore, while its contact page lists only London, Washington, D.C. and Nairobi, so we cannot confirm a Singapore office. General enquiries go to its hello inbox.