Open call for Nominations: Growth Stage Impact Venture for the SDGs

UNDP teams up with EPFL, Orange and SAP to pick top 12 entrepreneurs to change the landscape of health, energy and waste management in countries where GDP per capita is less than USD 12,000 a year

UNDP calls for accelerators, impact funds, family offices, international organizations and governments to nominate entrepreneurs to the second edition of the Growth Stage Impact Ventures (GSIV) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

What is the GSIV Initiative about?

The SDGs represent an incredible business opportunity but innovative ventures from countries where GDP per capita is less than USD 12,000 a year face difficulties in accessing finance.

The GSIV, an Initiative organized by UNDP Geneva, EPFL Tech4Impact, Orange, and SAP, focuses on mature impact ventures in the countries where GDP per capita is less than USD 12,000 a year with game-changing potential to drive impact and yield.

The 2020 GSIV Call for Nominations will promote ventures that contribute to tackling inequalities (with particular attention to gender inequalities) and empowering poor and vulnerable people in countries where GDP per capita is less than USD 12,000 a year in the following areas:

  • Increasing Access to Quality Health Care,
  • Increasing Access to Affordable and Clean Energy, and
  • Reducing and Recovering Waste. 

We aim to identify innovative solutions to accelerate SDG progress in countries where GDP per capita is less than USD 12,000 a year to:

• Demonstrate the business case for increasing investment in enterprises that advance SDG progress. To achieve this, we are looking for credible ventures with a strong track record of sustainable financial returns alongside positive impact.

• Connect investors — primarily Swiss but including European investors more broadly — with a bankable pipeline of impact ventures in countries where GDP per capita is less than USD 12,000 a year and then familiarize them with impact finance and financiers.

For more details on the 2020 call for nominations, please check https://www.sgsgeneva.org/

Who is eligible?

Only ventures with headquarters, primary workforce and service provision or product market in countries where GDP per capita is less than USD 12,000 a year can be eligible for the selection. 

Eligible ventures, which should be seeking partners to grow, must respond to these eligibility criteria.

Who can nominate entrepreneurs?

Nominations may be made by third parties (such as accelerators, impact funds, family offices, international organizations, or governments). Each nominator may propose up to three (3) ventures in its pipeline that meet the eligibility criteria. National entities belonging to the same larger corporation may each nominate.

Self-nomination by enterprises is not accepted.

How to nominate

Nominations are through an online form. Only nominations in English language will be accepted.

The deadline to submit a nomination is 15 July 2020 at 11:59 pm CET.

Thematic and geographic scope

While the proportion of people living in poverty has fallen steadily in recent decades, poverty remains widespread in numerous countries. Moreover, disparities in human development are significant within and between countries, as documented in the 2019 Human Development Report (HDR). The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic risks a global socio-economic crisis that will push millions of people back into poverty—threating vulnerable women, children, elderly people, and informal workers most. 

Selection and benefits

The selection process consists of four stages:

1.     Initial screening to verify compliance with minimum eligibility criteria; 

2.     Shortlisting of 24 impact ventures (8 per theme) based on the information provided by third-party nominators;  

3.     Evaluation by a Technical Committee of the in-depth profiles of shortlisted ventures with the objective of narrowing down the list to a maximum of 12 recommended ventures (4 per theme). The Technical Committee comprises representatives from international organizations, large corporations, academia, investors and thematic experts;

4.     Final selection of the 12 ventures by an Advisory Board composed of UN experts and academia. The Advisory Board can decide to recommend fewer ventures. 

Selected impact ventures will be invited to pitch during the SDG Finance Geneva Summit 2021. They will receive broad exposure before and during the event, and access to a wide network of decision-makers interested in learning more about their innovations and plans to scale up. They will have access to a prepping program, and benefit from a package of services provided by the SDG Finance Geneva Summit’s partners including one-on-one introduction to decision makers to scale up their products offering.

Third parties nominating ventures to the GSIV will be acknowledged on the event’s website and will be given one-person invitation to attend the SDG Finance Geneva Summit. Third parties whose nominees are among the 12 selected ventures will receive additional exposure during the event.

Background

The GSIV selection takes place within the framework of the SDG Finance Geneva Summit. The broader objective of the summit is to promote SDG aligned investments, showcasing emerging market examples of businesses that do well by doing good. By bringing together the unique ecosystem of development professionals, investors, development finance institutions, academia and entrepreneurs, UNDP aims to catalyze a shift of capital from mainstream finance to impact investing with a focus on addressing the SDGs.

In 2019, the first Call for Nominations resulted in 119 proposals from 40 countries where GDP per capita is less than USD 12,000 a year. All 12 finalists were mid-sized, with an average of up to 50 employees, annual revenue of over US$3 million, and with a cumulative impact on more than 15 million lives through their products and services. 

Core Partners

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. UNDP Geneva leverages partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders across Europe, in the public, private and non-governmental sectors, to mobilize the means and support progress towards the SDGs across UNDP’s programmes.

EPFL Tech4Impact is part of EPFL, one of the two Federal Institutes of Technology in Switzerland. EPFL Tech4Impact’s mission is leveraging technologies to address grand societal challenges. Tech4Impact provides a common platform to engage with students; researchers, entrepreneurs, corporates, NGOs, international organizations, and foundations, as well as society at large.

Orange is a global leading telecommunication company. The CSR department is actively supporting social entrepreneurship in Orange priority markets in countries where GDP per capita is less than USD 12,000 a year through innovative projects such as Orange Fab Labs accelerators and Orange Impact investment Fund.

The SAP Next-Gen program is a purpose driven innovation university and community for the SAP ecosystem enabling companies, partners and universities to connect and innovate with purpose linked to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).