Call for Nominations – Impact Ventures 2023

About the program

The Growth Stage Impact Ventures (GSIV) program identifies through a highly competitive process enterprises from developing countries that have developed at-scale products and services that contribute to the SDGs while achieving commercial success and are committed to embed impact considerations into decision-making. By showcasing and supporting these ventures, UNDP aims to bring forward evidence of the existence of pipelines of investable ventures that can advance the transition to SDG-aligned investment in developing countries.

The program is based on the findings emerged from the Nigeria SDGs Investor Map, a market intelligence tool designed to help private investors (funds, financiers, corporations) identify investment opportunities areas and business models that advance the SDGs. The SDG Investor Map of Nigeria revealed market insights around five sectors aligned with the national development needs and policy priorities of the country, where private capital can make a difference to people and planet.

The GSIV takes the SDG Investor Map one step further, defining a mechanism to identify and support specific ventures operating in the priority investment sectors coming out of the SDG Investor Map, and therefore, a potential investable pipeline to advancing the SDGs at country level.  This pipeline is then presented during a national investor convening. In addition, the program provides support to finalists in the adoption of the SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises, which are the only management standards in the market that embed sustainability at the core of an organization holistically.

Eligibility criteria

1. Geographic criteria: This Call for Nominations aims to promote the development of the private sector in Nigeria. Only ventures with substantial operations in Nigeria, with a management team and workforce primarily based in Nigeria and providing products and services mostly in Nigeria and other African countries, are eligible.

2. Business model criteria: Eligible ventures, which should be seeking partners (technical, financial, or other) to grow, will be evaluated according to a business model criteria covering their impact, financial record, investment, innovation, team profile and scalability.  The criteria are listed in detail in the Call for Nominations document at the top of this page.

3. Thematic criteria: The program aims to identify and aggregate a pool of partnership and investment-ready enterprises within the sectors that help advance the SDGs in the country. Only enterprises operating in one of the following seven sectors will be considered for the selection process: Food & Agriculture, Renewable Resources and Alternative Energy, Infrastructure, Technology and Communication, Health Care, Consumer Goods and Services. Please refer to the Call for Nominations document at the top of this page for more details.

Benefits of being nominated

Ventures selected as finalists will be endorsed by UNDP and will receive capacity building and trainings to improve their impact management and to enhance their investment readiness and core business areas. Additionally, finalists will be given exposure and be directed towards opportunities for accessing financing from among the network of partners of the GSIV, including UNCDF’s funding mechanisms. Moreover, UNDP will extend to all finalist ventures an invitation to attend and pitch their solution during a UNDP event the International Investment Forum organized in collaboration with the Impact Investment Foundation in Nigeria, in late 2023. This will be an occasion to meet the investor community and discuss partnerships and investment opportunities.

  The GSIV program truly enables entrepreneurs to access networks of investors, corporate and institutional partners to build support systems to scale into new markets. Our participation as finalist has enhanced our brand and improved our SDG-aligned practices.  – CEO of Powerstove (Nigeria), GSIV finalist 2021 

  What are the benefits for third-party nominators?

Third parties nominating ventures to the GSIV will be acknowledged on UNDP website and will be invited to attend exclusive events and investor convenings organized by UNDP.

Enquiries

For additional details, please contact luisa.bernal@undp.org and fatima.umar@undp.org