Scaling, systems, synergy: Key takeaways from the Skoll World Forum 2026.

The Skoll World Forum, the Sidebar and Marmalade Festival in Oxford are always more than just conferences, they are a pulse check for the global social impact community. This year, members of the Global Innovation Fund (GIF) team joined the conversation to dive deep into the "knottiest challenges" facing our world today.

From the potential of AI to opportunities to attract investors to drive social and climate impact, we’ve returned with fresh perspectives and a renewed commitment to collaboration. Here are our collective takeaways from a week with some of the world’s front-running social and environmental changemakers.

The crucial role of blended finance

Blended finance was a major focal point this year. The message was clear: blended finance is an approach, not just a vehicle. It works best when the capital stack is built around a clear impact objective, rather than forcing an objective to fit a specific financial structure. Blended finance has always been at the core of GIF’s offering: a range of flexible, creative financial instruments to support innovators’ needs.

“It was exciting to see blended finance take center stage, an approach well suited to GIF’s investment model. By deploying a blend of financial instruments, we can de-risk investments and catalyse the follow-on capital needed to scale.”

- Shreya Das, GIF Investment Director

From grant dependence to independence

We were proud to lead a session with Brink and the Belgian Government’s Enabel on a topic of increasing importance: reducing the cycle of grant dependency. 

At GIF, we increasingly deploy grant capital to validate and de-risk viable social innovations. This catalytic approach helps crowd in private capital without distorting markets, creating a bridge to long-term sustainability.

"This event is part of a critical dialogue on creating diverse pathways to financial independence for social enterprises, ensuring they can thrive without long-term dependency on grants.”

- Shailaja Annamraju, Senior Managing Director, Impact

Scaling up, scaling deep 

For social innovation to truly transform the lives of those it serves it must be sustainable and resilient. 

At GIF, we invest in solutions with the potential to scale in emerging markets and reach underserved communities. But “scale as growth” alone isn’t enough. Our portfolio’s success relies on understanding what will make an innovation “stick”. By investing in behavioural insight-led approaches, we can better understand systemic barriers and facilitate widespread adoption to improve the lives of underserved and vulnerable people. 

It was a pleasure to speak with potential grantseekers about scale and focus during our event with Cartier Foundation and Mulago, convened by Rippleworks, and hear from long standing grantees J-PAL and BIT about the value of behavioural insights on health outcomes.

Scaling impact with AI

There was a frisson of energy around the opportunity for AI to improve impact and attract investment, from building a common foundational architecture for scale to using Gen AI for real-time finance tracking and evaluation. However, the consensus was clear: while tech is powerful, humans must remain at the centre:

“I was energised by the discussions on the potential of AI to transform the sector, moving past the hype to discuss concrete opportunities and tools. We are keen to partner with others on this journey around using AI to deepen real-world impact.”

- Ryna Sherazi, Senior Managing Director, Partnership

Breaking the silos

A common thread this week was on the need for collaboration and coalition. If we are to dismantle systemic barriers and drive change in the ecosystem, we must move beyond our individual organisations. 

“We cannot achieve our goals in isolation. We need to forge powerful coalitions between entrepreneurs, funders, and governments. It's not about scaling your solution, but understanding what problems governments, communities and markets need to solve.”

- Alessandra Buonfino, GIF Senior Advisor

Despite the complexity of global challenges, the atmosphere in Oxford was one of collaboration. GIF’s decade-long track record proves that when we align capital, technology, and human insights, social innovations can scale. We are leaving Skoll with a reinforced conviction that these are the essential ingredients for achieving systemic change.