Resources: Fresh insights into Impact-Linked Finance in Bangladesh /

Would you like to know how two innovative Impact-Linked Finance instruments empower high-impact enterprises in Bangladesh? The website of B-Briddhi, a program powered by Roots of Impact, LightCastle Partners and the Swiss Embassy in Bangladesh, has a multitude of inspirations.

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The B-Briddhi (“Scaling Impact Enterprises of Bangladesh”) program is a multi-year public-private development partnership (PPDP) supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh and implemented by Roots of Impact and LightCastle Partners with many other stakeholders, including investors, private sector organizations, incubators, and support organizations for impact enterprises.

A comprehensive impact ecosystem-building program

B-Briddhi was launched in 2020 to enhance the financial, social, and environmental performance of impact enterprises by enabling them to master Investment Readiness (IR) as well as Impact Measurement and Management (IMM). In addition, it gives them much-needed access to innovative and catalytic funding, which puts them in a much better position to scale their impact. In the meantime, there are many case studies and learnings available from the program, which also cover the Impact-Linked Finance instruments used under the catalytic funding pillar: Impact-Ready Matching Funds (IRMF) and Social Impact Incentives (SIINC). Find some selected case studies below:

Three inspiring case studies of Impact-Linked Finance for high-impact enterprises

Apon Wellbeing provides factory workers, especially women, with low-cost everyday items, free health service and interest-free credit facilities in Bangladesh -> check out the case study!

SOLSshare is empowering rural communities in Bangladesh by deploying affordable and accessible renewable energy solutions. It also expanded its portfolio to include clean energy solutions for the transportation sector -> get more insights in this case study

Sheba has  established itself as a market leader for servicing MSMEs (micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises) in Bangladesh. One arm is sManager, a holistic suite of services intended to address MSME challenges and improve their livelihoods.  -> read more about this case!

 

Find all the resources here:

Resources: The Impact-Linked Fund for WASH has launched /

Would you like to see how Impact-Linked Finance is empowering impact enterprises in the WASH sector? A new page by our program partner Aqua for All has all you need to know.

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Building on the promising results of the SIINC for WASH programme, Aqua for All and Roots of Impact are continuing their partnership by launching the Impact-Linked Fund for WASH (ILF for WASH). ILF for WASH aims at enabling pioneering impact enterprises in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to gain access to suitable and innovative finance. By using Impact-Linked Finance and providing “better terms for better impact”, these WASH enterprises get equipped to grow their businesses, expand the reach of their solutions, and create impact at scale. This will ultimately contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6,  universal access to clean water and sanitation.  

An innovative Impact-Linked Finance program

What’s new about ILF for WASH is that on top of Impact-Linked Finance, the fund provides technical assistance that incorporates a two-throng approach to address impact-related challenges. Firstly, enterprises will be directly supported through an Impact-Linked Finance Readiness Bootcamp. This bootcamp aims at providing targeted support to improve enterprises’ impact measurement and management (IMM) systems. Secondly, specialised Train-the-Trainer programmes will strengthen the capacity of wider ecosystem players and empower service providers to deliver foundational support such as basic training on IMM to enterprises.

A quote from an entrepreneur

“SIINC is a fantastic tool to make harder to reach market segments commercially attractive and more accessible. Building the SIINC metrics into our financial modelling definitely reduces our risk profile and positively impacts our access to and interactions with current and future investors.”

 

Nikolai Schwarz, Country Director Cambodia, ATEC

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Resources: Explaining Impact-Linked Finance to Investors /

Are you an investor who wants to learn from practitioners how to identify the right social finance tool for your impact objective? AVPN Academy has launched two more modules for its free Social Finance courses – including Impact-Linked Finance.

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The Social Finance Centre is a practitioner-focused learning centre developed by AVPN in partnership with UBS Optimus Foundation. Two new modules were launched in June 2022 and our partner Roots of Impact contributed valuable insights in Impact-Linked Loans and SIINC.

About the modules

The modules  “How to Choose the Right Social Finance Tool” and “Partnering for Social Finance” are meant to inspire practitioners in Asia-Pacific and beyond, and include experts from Roots of Impact, UBS Optimus Foundation, Japan Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF), Convergence Blended Finance, Trisector Associates, and Piramal Foundation. Enrol for free to access the videos and enjoy your learning journey!

Resources: Making Impact-Linked Finance work for KWSH /

Curious how Impact-Linked Finance helps impact enterprises in the WASH sector to deepen their impact? Here is an inspiring video with William Puyo, General Manager of KWSH, who closed a SIINC transaction in June 2021 as part of the SIINC for WASH program.

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The Social Impact Incentives for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (SIINC for WASH) is an innovative, results-based financing program co-designed and implemented by Roots of Impact and Aqua for All. It rewards selected water and sanitation enterprises with time-limited payments for achieving additional social and environmental impact. Khmer Water Supply Holdings (KWSH) is one of the program’s first beneficiaries.

About KWSH

Khmer Water Supply Holding (KWSH) offers clean and affordable water services to (semi–) rural households since 2013. The impact enterprise acquires private rural piped water stations and increases their production and distribution capacities to underserved areas. Customers pay a one–time fee to have a water tap installed on their premises. Over the next five years, KWSH aims to organically grow its existing portfolio stations and more than double the number of households within its license areas -> check out more details in the KWSH case study!

The video excerpt below is from the Investing for Good webinar held in June 2021 upon the launch of their report “A review of impact-linked finance: does incentivising impact work?”

A quote from the entrepreneur

“With the support from SIINC for WASH, we expect to bring our services to thousands of additional households, which would otherwise continue to be excluded. We are really looking forward to seeing these incentives push us to deepen our impact and stay true to our mission statement.“

William Puyo, General Manager of KWSH

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Resources: Fresh insights into SIINC for WASH /

Would you like to know how SIINC can empower high-impact enterprises in the WASH sector? A new page by our program partner Aqua for All has all the insights for you.

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The Social Impact Incentives for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (SIINC for WASH) is an innovative, results-based financing programme co-designed and implemented by Roots of Impact and Aqua for All. It rewards selected water and sanitation enterprises with time-limited payments for achieving additional social and environmental impact.

A comprehensive Impact-Linked Finance program

SIINC for WASH showed the great potential for catalysing finance for water and sanitation enterprises. It also revealed the enterprises’ need for capacity building. Some shortlisted enterprises would strongly benefit from pre-SIINC support to be considered for the pipeline. Based on this experience, there are plans to enhance the SIINC for WASH programme to include pre-SIINC support, technical assistance and learnings exchange to increase its outreach and impact.

The three inspiring high-impact enterprises in this program

Khmer Water Supply Holding (KWSH) provides access to clean piped water in Cambodia -> check out the case study!

ATEC provides modern biodigesters to convert animal manure into organic fertiliser and biogas for clean cooking -> get more insights in this interview

aQysta developed an innovative, low-emission, hydro-powered pump for irrigation for smallholder farmers in Asia -> read more about this case!

 

Quotes from the entrepreneurs

“SIINC for WASH allows entrepreneurs to pursue both impact and revenue, without having to choose between them. I hope that SIINC for WASH and our results will prove to larger investors that our approach works and therefore help to raise more capital. I would also like that our SIINC for WASH transaction inspires other entrepreneurs.‘”

Pratap Thapa, CEO& Co–Founder aQysta

 

“For us, the SIINC transaction is a quality seal and a way to clearly steer us towards impact. It also demonstrates that we are able to make use of highly innovative impact finance mechanisms and get out of our comfort zone by trying something new.”

Nikolai Schwarz, Country Director Cambodia ATEC

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Photos: a glimpse into the first two inspiring enterprises in this program: KWSH and aQysta / copyrights: KWSH, aQysta