Updates and Articles

Updates

Irrisol Engineering Secures Investment from DOB Equity to Expand Rural Water Access in Uganda

Irrisol Engineering has secured a new investment from DOB Equity to expand access to safe, reliable, and affordable water across rural Uganda. The investment marks an important milestone in Irrisol’s growth journey, demonstrating how catalytic grant funding and technical assistance from IAP can help inclusive businesses attract commercial investment and scale their impact.

First IAP Bangladesh call: iFarmer and Tetra join the portfolio with inclusive models in agriculture and water

The Innovations Against Poverty (IAP) programme has completed its first Bangladesh call under Round 3, selecting iFarmer and Tetra for co financing and technical assistance. From 92 applications nationwide, the two companies were chosen for their strong inclusive business models addressing agriculture and water access for low-income communities. The call demonstrated high demand for catalytic finance and showed that the full IAP Challenge Fund cycle can be delivered in a more streamlined and efficient manner. Together, the selected projects aim to strengthen women’s economic participation, climate resilience, and essential service delivery.

From Impact to Investment – Why Mapping Impact Matters

When inclusive businesses describe their work, they often focus on activities rather than impact. “We train farmers.” “We employ women.” “We provide clean energy.” These activities tell only part of the story. Mapping how that employment or how that energy provision has knock on effects on people, communities and the environment help businesses reframe the value and impact of their work.

IAP Backs 14 Businesses Targeting 3.2 Million People

€2.27 million in IAP grants for businesses across Ethiopia, Uganda and Zambia . Innovations Against Poverty (IAP) has signed contracts with 14 inclusive businesses projected to reach 3.2 million people living in poverty (PLIP) by the end of 2026.

Beyond the Checklist: Why Due Diligence Drives Real Impact

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The US$5 Trillion Opportunity: Business as a Force for Development

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From Grants to Growth: The Investment Journey of IAP Alumni

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Insights from Reviewing 400 Inclusive Business Proposals

Insights from Reviewing 400 Inclusive Business Proposals. When necessity meets ingenuity, magic happens—across Cambodia, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zambia, local entrepreneurs are turning the world’s toughest challenges into tomorrow’s growth markets.

Reflections on IAP’s Challenge Fund Third Round

Reflections on IAP’s Challenge Fund Third Round: Lessons from Supporting 600 Applications. The IAP Challenge Fund’s third application window was open for about two months. And yet half of all submissions arrived on the final day.

Strides towards sustainable and greener cooking practices in Uganda

In June 2023, Raising Gabdho Foundation (RGF) launched its new factory at Kapeeka Industrial Park, Nakaseke district. RGF is a social enterprise that offers clean cooking solutions and adoption of energy efficient products.

Articles

What happens after the grant ends?

What happens to inclusive businesses after grant support ends? A new long-term learning study followed 26 IAP-supported businesses two to six years after funding ended and found that most continue to operate, grow, and attract additional investment. The study highlights the importance of adaptability, technical assistance, and investment readiness in achieving long-term business success and impact.

More than the money: How IAP builds technical assistance around what companies actually need

Technical assistance is most effective when it is designed around the real needs of businesses rather than a standard package of services. Through structured assessments, field engagement, and ongoing collaboration, IAP tailors advisory support to help companies strengthen governance, improve operations, enhance market competitiveness, and become more investment-ready. The programme’s experience shows that flexibility, trust, and strong business foundations are key to creating sustainable growth and long-term impact.

From Grant to Growth: How Impact Finance is Transforming Farmers’ Lives

SOGE and HUSK are two Cambodian inclusive businesses that are helping farmers address irrigation challenges and soil degradation through innovative, climate-smart solutions. With early-stage grant funding and technical support from Innovations Against Poverty (IAP), both companies strengthened and scaled their business models. As they matured, the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD) helped them become investment-ready, enabling further growth and attracting private investment. Together, these interventions demonstrate how the right support at the right time can help inclusive businesses scale their impact and improve the

Inclusive businesses explained: what they are, why they matter, and why they are worth backing

Inclusive businesses are enterprises that provide goods, services, and livelihoods on a commercially viable basis to people living at the base of the economic pyramid, making them part of the value chain. Inclusion is not an add-on; it is the business model itself, meaning they succeed commercially by serving underserved communities. These businesses deliver a “triple win” by benefiting governments, low-income communities, and the businesses themselves. However, many of them fall into the “missing middle,” where they are too large for microfinance but too small for traditional investors. In this context, development finance plays a catalytic role by creating the conditions for markets to function and enabling these businesses to scale.

Jemma Outgrowers Zenaw Andarge and Negussie Anbaw

Sustainable fish farming on Lake Kariba

Siavonga Breams Multi-Purpose Co-operative Limited (SBCL) is a group of small-scale fish farmers domiciled around lake Kariba in Siavonga district of southern province, Zambia.

Jemma Outgrowers Zenaw Andarge and Negussie Anbaw

Magical Mbereshi beans in Zambia transforming smallholder farming?

Zambian enterprise Afriseed Ltd is partnering with Innovations Against Poverty (IAP) to

Solar Powered Irrigation

Improving Yields with Green Energy

Solar Green Energy brings economic and social benefits for rice farmers through higher and more reliable yields, as an increased amount of farmland becomes

signatures of asia

Signatures of Asia

Signatures of Asia (SoA) was founded in 2007 and is today not only one of the top ten organic rice and sugar exporters in Cambodia, but also the first company in the country to

Mesafint Alebel machining solar pump parts

Recycled electronics keep Ethiopian farms irrigated

If a tech start up should have its origins anywhere, where else than a garage could be more in fitting with the, often apocryphal, Silicon Valley mythos?

HUSK Super Farmer using biochar

Introducing Zambia’s First Plant-Based Beverage for the Base of the Pyramid market!

260 Brands, a Zambian company operating from Lusaka, makes high quality consumer products using local ingredients sourced from smallholder farmers. With over 25 years of providing high-quality African food and beverages in Zambia,

Gender Balance

Securing Land Ownership

Based the current pace of development, it is estimated that it will take another 170 years to achieve gender parity within companies and business at large. This is particularly unsettling seeing as full gender parity in labour markets

Biogas Injera stove sm

The Biogas Injera Stove

What started out as a prototype developed during the final years of university studies is today an innovative product with the potential to positively impact the lives of many women in rural Ethiopia

Jemma Outgrowers Zenaw Andarge and Negussie Anbaw

Jemma Produces Ethiopia’s High Quality Onion and Potato Seeds

There are few things that will fire up a discussion in East Africa as the seemingly innocent question of the origin of the Nile.

HUSK Super Farmer using biochar

HUSK’s Female Super Farmers

Srouy’s hands move deftly amongst the vines, her thumb and forefinger pinching each ripe bean from its stem. By the end of the month, she will have harvested some 60 kilograms of beans for sale to her local famers’ cooperative. Today, after forty years of farming, Srouy is as much the entrepreneur as farmer.

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Sanitation Africa

Having grown up in one of Kampala’s slums, experiencing for himself problems of poor sanitation, young and innovative Samuel Malinga started to develop an clean sludge

Wana Energy Crop

Reducing Indoor Air Pollution

With an innovative Pay-as you-go business model, Wana Energy Solutions is transforming the market for clean cooking solutions, making it accessible and affordable to

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