 Development Innovation Ventures Newsletter
October 2023
 15 New Awards Join DIV’s Portfolio
From transforming dried crickets into high-protein instant porridge to establishing a new market for zero-emission electric buses to expanding a digital pharmaceutical supply chain platform that increases proper use of antimalarials, Development Innovation Ventures’ (DIV) 2023 grantmaking portfolio is supporting 20 exciting new grants to innovators working across 17 countries. DIV grants—awarded to a mix of new, local, and traditional partners—de-risk new solutions and maximize impact per dollar spent. These grants will pilot, test, or scale evidence-based solutions to complex development challenges. The 15 grants highlighted below will kick off in late 2023 and early 2024. (Five 2023 grants were previously summarized in our spring and summer newsletters.)
Village Enterprise
Scaling Sustainable Poverty Graduation
Stage 3 | $6,500,000 | Rwanda
Village Enterprise will partner with the Government of Rwanda to implement a wide-scale rollout of its poverty graduation program with 22,900 Rwandan households, and train government staff to lead the implementation of a pilot program with an additional 8,100 households. Under this award, Village Enterprise will work with the Government to raise an additional $28 million to support the nationwide scale-up of a graduation program intended to move more than one million Rwandans out of extreme poverty by 2026.
Maisha Meds
Scaling a Digital Approach to Targeted Malaria Treatment
Stage 3 | $5,250,000 | Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda
Maisha Meds aims to expand the network of pharmacies using its digital inventory and sales management platform for antimalarial medicines. This award builds on a 2021 DIV-supported randomized controlled trial (RCT) that demonstrated the Maisha Meds’ platform increased appropriate malaria case management by 300 percent. Through its network expansion, Maisha Meds could reduce the cost per patient treated by up to 35 percent, saving patients money and radically improving health outcomes.
Vayu Global Health Innovations
Breathing for Babies: Revolutionizing Care for Acute Respiratory Distress
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Ghana, Tanzania
Vayu Global Health Innovations will evaluate the effectiveness of its oxygen blender and bubble continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in helping newborn babies breathe in low-resource facilities. Vayu’s model costs far less than available alternatives and does not require electricity or skilled mechanical support. Vayu will also analyze the cost-effectiveness of this promising technology and implement demonstration projects.
BasiGo
Scaling Up Clean, Green, Public Transportation
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Rwanda
BasiGo will expand its zero-emission electric bus business from Nairobi to Kigali by establishing lease arrangements with some of Rwanda’s largest bus operators. With DIV support, BasiGo aims to demonstrate the cost-efficiency and viability of electric buses in the Rwandan market and set up an urban pollution monitoring system to capture its environmental impact.
Sprout
Introducing Improved Climate Insurance Products to Smallholder Coffee Farmers
Stage 1 | $200,000 | Kenya
Sprout will pilot seasonal climate insurance and weather-prompted mobile alerts with smallholder coffee farmers. The alerts are designed to enable farmers to respond independently to more climate risks. Sprout will also study the impact of their digital products on farmers’ incomes and investments.
Valala Farms
Piloting an Insect Approach to Address Malnutrition and Food Insecurity
Stage 1 | $200,000 | Madagascar
Valala Farms will scientifically test and fine-tune its cricket powder-based instant porridge recipe to verify that it contains the ideal ratio and combination of ingredients to meet international guidelines, allowing the product to qualify for formal accreditation as a nutritional supplement.
Loowatt
Expanding Home Toilet Services
Stage 2 | $749,743 | Madagascar
Loowatt will demonstrate the financial viability of its subscription-based service model for a waterless flush, container-based sanitation device similar to a toilet. Loowatt toilets are less expensive to install and maintain than alternatives and can save up to 50,000 liters of water per household per year.
Farm Input Promotions-Africa (FIPS)
Testing the Soil Method to Sustainably Manage Fall Armyworm
Stage 1 | $200,000 | Kenya
FIPS will rigorously test a low-cost, preventative approach to controlling fall armyworm, known as the soil method. This highly accessible method is based on traditional farmer knowledge but has not been rigorously tested in similar environments.
Healthy Learners
Evaluating the Impact of a Comprehensive School Health Program
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Zambia
Healthy Learners will conduct a cluster RCT to evaluate its efforts to partner with the Government of Zambia in training teachers as school health workers who will help children access healthcare. The RCT will assess the program’s impact on health and education outcomes compared to a simple deworming program and no intervention.
Wax and Gold
Piloting a Neonatal Advanced Life Support Program
Stage 1 | $200,000 | Ethiopia
Wax and Gold will test a new training program designed to reduce newborn mortality by improving health providers’ ability to treat babies who cannot breathe at birth. In partnership with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health, Wax and Gold will evaluate the program’s relative effectiveness in less-resourced medical facilities.
OneSky
Advancing Quality Independent Childcare in Industrial Zones
Stage 2 | $1,483,431 | Vietnam
OneSky developed a model to train independent childcare providers in experiential, child-centered learning to improve childcare for working parents in industrial zones. Under this award, OneSky will train national and provincial Vietnamese government staff as master trainers of the model, and its partners will conduct an RCT to evaluate the effectiveness of this model on children’s cognitive, motor, and socio-emotional development outcomes.
HERA, Inc.
Testing an mHealth App to Increase Immunization Among Syrian Refugee Children
Stage 1 | $200,000 | Türkiye
HERA and its Turkish partner, MEDAK, will increase access to and evaluate the effectiveness of HERA’s mobile health app, which provides information related to local health facilities, appointment reminders, and health record storage for refugees living in Türkiye. An RCT will assess the app’s impact on child vaccination rates.
Letrus
Scaling and Testing an Artificial Intelligence-Based Functional Literacy Program
Stage 2 | $970,000 | Brazil
Letrus’ AI-powered literacy program provides prompt, specific feedback on writing submissions to help students improve their functional literacy skills. With DIV support, Letrus will conduct an RCT to evaluate the effectiveness of its program on improving high school students’ long-term academic and labor outcomes, such as university enrollment and employment.
Semilla Nueva
Testing Improved Biofortified Maize Seeds and Subsidies
Stage 2 | $1,200,000 | Guatemala
To improve health in Latin America, Semilla Nueva is working to enhance the quality and adoption of biofortified maize. With DIV support, Semilla Nueva will conduct two RCTs to 1) understand how biofortified maize, bred to contain increased nutritional value, can improve nutrition and health outcomes and 2) how a subsidy program can influence farmers to adopt these improved seeds.
Michigan State University
Testing a Combined Approach to Control Mosquito-Borne Diseases at Scale
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Mexico
Researchers from Michigan State University and the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY) will test a novel approach to mosquito control that combines two techniques for suppressing the mosquito population, then measure changes in mosquito population density and the prevalence of mosquito-borne diseases in humans.
DIV Innovator Spotlight
President of Kenya Launches a Nationwide Community Health Promoter Program
President William Ruto committed to enabling county governments to digitalize, equip, support, and pay 100,000 Community Health Promoters across the country. This approach is heavily influenced by Living Goods’s model. Every household in Kenya will be served by a salaried, skilled, supervised, and supplied community health promoter who will provide preventative, promotive, life-saving health care to their neighbors. In 2016, DIV supported Living Goods with a grant to scale its rigorously-tested network of community health promoters in Kenya. The new initiative to professionalize community health workers will strengthen community health programming across all of Kenya’s 47 counties. Learn more.
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PayGo Joins Sun King to Scale Clean Cooking in Africa and Asia
Engineering for Change reports that solar energy company Sun King has acquired smart tech company PayGo Energy, advancing clean cooking technology for off-grid and underserved communities in Africa. Sun King is the largest off-grid solar products company in Africa and Asia, and PayGo has pioneered pay-as-you-go technology and services for liquified petroleum gas. DIV funded a PayGo pilot and the development of a smart meter in 2017. The acquisition is said to further Sun King's ambition to assist off-grid communities transition from using biomass and kerosene fuels to cleaner technologies. Learn more.
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VisionSpring Celebrates 500,000 Vision Exams Provided to Workers
On World Sight Day, October 12, DIV-funded social enterprise VisionSpring announced it has screened half a million factory workers’ vision to improve worker well-being and livelihoods as part of the Clear Vision Workplace alliance. Many well-known brands are part of the alliance, including Levi Strauss, Target, Deckers, the VF Corporation (owner of brands including The North Face, Vans, and Timberland), Williams Sonoma, and Warby Parker. Learn more.
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Google Awards $1.4 Million to Jacaranda for AI-Enabled Program
Google is distributing $25 million in grants to support nonprofit organizations using artificial intelligence to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. DIV supported Jacaranda to test the impact and cost-effectiveness of PROMPTS, an artificial intelligence-enabled digital platform that sends free English or Kiswahili text message-based support to expecting and new mothers. These messages encourage recipients to seek care at critical times during and after pregnancy. $1.4 million from Google will support adding four new African languages to the service. Learn more.
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Maisha Meds Wins 2023 Future United Lodestar Award
Maisha Meds received the “Lodestar Award” at the 2023 Future United Awards from global health NGO GBCHealth. The Future United Awards recognizes organizations and individuals achieving extraordinary results in global health, whether large or small, and working globally or locally. Following a successful grant to test the platform in 2019–2022, a subsequent grant from DIV is supporting Maisha Meds to scale up its malaria medication sales and inventory platform that provides targeted subsidies to inform patient and provider decisions. Learn more.
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Beyond Capital Ventures Invests in Ampersand Electric Motorcycles
Ampersand specializes in affordable electric motorcycles and a network of battery stations. Beyond Capital reports that it invested in Ampersand because it represents “a true triple-bottom-line investment with impact baked into a profitable business model”. In 2020, DIV supported Ampersand to demonstrate a sustainable commercial pathway to scale for electric motorcycles targeted toward motorcycle taxi drivers. Learn more.
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Environmental Finance Names BURN Manufacturing “Best Project Developer, Energy Efficiency”
Online news service Environmental Finance named BURN Manufacturing as the “Best Project Developer, Energy Efficiency” in its recently announced Voluntary Carbon Market Rankings. The Rankings are an annual poll of the market, in which market participants vote for leading companies and initiatives that exhibit best practices and innovation. DIV has supported BURN to pilot, test, and scale its clean cooking appliances in East and West Africa. Learn more.
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Check Out DIV's Portfolio!
To learn more about DIV’s portfolio, and get the latest news from DIV and its grantees, visit divportal.usaid.gov.
DIV is accepting applications! Please visit usaid.gov/div to learn more and apply.
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