News and blogs

GIF’s investment mandate is focused on finding and funding innovative ventures and solutions that have high potential to be impactful on the lives of the poor, scalable to reach millions and cost effective. Applying these criteria has meant that GIF’s portfolio has been largely comprised of investments amenable to quantifying impacts generated by innovations (e.g. […]

Studies have shown that large, unconditional cash transfers reduce poverty and improve quality of life, at least in the short run. However little is known about the effects of large cash transfers in contexts of protracted displacement. On World Refugee Day GIF partners GiveDirectly and IDinsight report on the impact of a one-time cash transfer […]

GIF is pleased to announce the first innovations to receive investment from our Innovating for Climate Resilience fund: Agritask, a decision-support platform for agricultural operations; and PLACE, a non-profit hyperlocal mapping organisation. The Innovating for Climate Resilience fund invests, through both grants and risk capital, in early-stage innovations that aim to support people living on […]

At the Global Innovation Fund, we are committed to providing women and girls with the freedom they need to succeed. One of our core objectives is enhancing the agency of women and girls and we see applying a gender lens to all our investments as a strategic priority. In 2018, we partnered with Global Affairs […]

GIF wants to maximise its social impact. We also want to support climate adaptation. Are those goals compatible? Can we measure climate adaptation impact on the same yardstick we use for all our investments? We think so. For us, the main purpose of climate adaptation is to make sure that people – in particular, those […]

We are delighted to announce that Sarah Pearson has re-joined the GIF Board of Directors. Prof Sarah Pearson, DPhil (Oxon), GAICD, FTSE has extensive global executive leadership experience spanning C-suite roles in the public and private sector, including leading brands such as Cadbury and McKinsey. Her career has spanned being an entrepreneur, intrapreneur, innovator and […]

Earth Day 2022 centres on the theme Invest in Our Planet, calling for individuals to “act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement (equitably).” In celebration, GIF Chief Economist Ken Chomitz highlights how GIF experience points to three routes that harness innovation to drive both climate resilience and poverty reduction. Building tailored solutions to specific climate challenges […]