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 November 2024
Greetings DIV partners, grantees, and friends,
I am thrilled to announce that in 2024, we added 30 new awards across 20 countries and seven technical sectors to DIV's growing portfolio of investments in evidence-driven innovation. This is the largest number of grants ever awarded by DIV in a single year!
DIV takes a broad approach to innovation—including business models, products, behavioral interventions, applied research, or replications of proven approaches in novel environments. This approach is reflected in the diverse solutions in our 2024 portfolio. Recent awardees include technology-driven initiatives like Simprints, using biometric identification to improve immunization tracking for children in Ghana; GiveDirectly, leveraging machine learning and mobile money to enhance the efficiency of social protection programs in Malawi; and ARCED, using artificial intelligence and satellite imagery to improve environmental enforcement and protect public health in Bangladesh. DIV is supporting behavioral interventions like CEGA's planning tools for farmers in Malawi, designed to reduce seasonal hunger; and IPA Colombia’s work using cognitive behavioral techniques with at-risk youth to prevent gang recruitment in Medellín. DIV is also proud to support at-scale replication of proven solutions, such as BRAC’s work in Indonesia and the Philippines to integrate its evidence-based Graduation Approach into government programs to lift tens of thousands of households out of poverty.
These new grants demonstrate the power of evidence and innovation in global development, and reflect our continued commitment to provide flexible, outcomes-focused funding to innovators and researchers to test promising ideas, build evidence of what works, and scale highly cost-effective solutions to critical development challenges—improving millions of lives across the world.
Keep reading to find the full list of this year’s awards. If you've been forwarded this and want to receive our updates, sign up here.
As always, thank you for being part of our journey.
Sasha Gallant, Chief, Development Innovations Ventures
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30 New Grants Join DIV’s Portfolio in 2024
In the last fiscal year, DIV awarded 30 new grants to test and scale evidence-based innovations across 20 countries and seven technical sectors. Of these, 16 are partnering with USAID for the first time. Click on the links below or this document to learn more about each award.
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Simprints
Testing a Biometric Identification System to Improve Malaria Vaccine Rates
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Ghana
Tufts University
Evaluating the Impact of Rainwater Harvesting Technology at Scale
Stage 2 | $950,000 | Niger
Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA)
Testing a Budgeting Intervention to Address Seasonal Hunger
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Malawi
Dimagi
Testing a Digital Platform and Incentives to Deliver Child Health Care
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Nigeria
Family Empowerment Media
Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Family Planning Radio Program
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Nigeria
FHI 360
Community Health Worker-Led Participatory Learning and Action
Stage 3 | $5,000,000 | Mozambique, Nigeria
FINCA International
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Consumer Overdraft for Financial Resilience
Stage 2 | $1,300,000 | Tanzania
GiveDirectly
Testing Phone-Based Targeting for Urban Social Protection
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Malawi
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Health Access Connect
Testing Community-Led Outreach Clinics to Improve Health in Rural Areas
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Uganda
Network for Empowerment & Progressive Initiative (NEPI)
Adapting a Therapy Approach to Prevent Crime
Stage 2 | $950,000 | Nigeria
oTree Open Source Research Foundation
Increasing Access to Justice Through Improved Judicial Efficiency
Stage 2 | $900,000 | Kenya
Paris School of Economics
Testing Unite for a Better Life, a Program to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence
Stage 2 | $1,441,000 | Cameroon
Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS)
Testing a Program to Improve School Monitoring and Management
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Uganda
Hope to Live
Bringing Preventative Care to Older Adults
Stage 1 | $200,000 | Kenya
LFR International
Piloting Digital Training for Lay First Responders
Stage 1 | $200,000 | Sierra Leone
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Terre des Hommes
Testing a Digital Tool for Healthcare Workers to Reduce Child Mortality
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | India
Amira Learning
Piloting a Machine Learning-Powered English Tutor
Stage 1 | $200,000 | India
Yale University
Testing Directed Bank Payments and Training to Advance Women’s Empowerment
Stage 2 | $1,279,000 | India
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Evaluating the Teach Tool to Improve Education Effectiveness
Evidence Generation | $775,275 | India
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Vanderbilt University
Experimental Evidence on Public-Private Partnerships in Education
Stage 2 | $1,350,000 | Colombia
The Agency Fund
Evaluating a Motivational Video to Inspire Math Achievement at Scale
Stage 2 | $1,500,000 | Brazil
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 Professor James Robinson Credit: The University of Chicago
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Prof. James A. Robinson Awarded 2024 Nobel Prize for Research on Global Inequality
Prof. James A. Robinson has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his ground-breaking research on the root causes of global inequality, including the pivotal roles of institutions. Prof. Robinson shares this year's prize with two other economists. Prof. Robinson was a co-investigator on a DIV-funded evaluation of the impact of facilitated dialogues on reducing conflicts between farmers and herders in Nigeria. Learn more about his work on inclusive institutions.
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 A BasiGo bus transports passengers between Rwagitima and Kigali. Credit: BasiGo
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BasiGo Raises $42 Million and Launches First Electric Bus Service Beyond Kigali
BasiGo has raised $42 million in capital to deliver 1,000 electric buses across East Africa over the next three years and to expand into new vehicle types and markets. This is one of the most significant investments into electric mobility in Africa, to date. BasiGo has also added the first electric buses designed for operations beyond Kigali to its Rwandan fleet. The latest buses can travel between Kigali and six other cities and towns, completing each trip on a single charge. Funding from DIV enabled BasiGo to expand to Rwanda, pilot electric bus leases to established operators, and assess and optimize its business model. Learn more about the fundraising and about the new bus routes.
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 A facilitator leads a review of a community project budget for transparency. Credit: Perry Bindelglass for Spark Microgrants
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Spark Microgrants Raises $27 million
Spark Microgrants announced the successful closure of their first philanthropic round, securing $27 million to support an ambitious three-year strategy in Rwanda, Malawi, and beyond. Anchored by the World Bank, Comic Relief, and the Government of Rwanda, the round received follow-on support from nearly 30 philanthropic partners. DIV is supporting Spark Microgrants to evaluate its Facilitated Collective Action Process on Poverty Alleviation in Rwanda. Learn more about Spark.
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USAID Advances Efforts To Strengthen Cost-Effectiveness of Programming
At a recent event hosted by the Center for Global Development, Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman highlighted new steps USAID has taken to maximize the humanitarian and development impact of every dollar of U.S. foreign assistance. In a panel including implementing partners and aid effectiveness experts from around the world, USAID Chief Economist Dean Karlan reaffirmed USAID’s commitment to cost-effectiveness and launched two new Agency policy documents:
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Development Innovation Ventures Continues Rolling Application Process with New Annual Program Statement (APS) on December 1, 2024
DIV accepts applications year-round from social entrepreneurs, nonprofits, private sector companies, government partners, and researchers across every sector and country in which USAID operates. Each year, DIV updates its Annual Program Statement, which outlines the full purpose of the funding window and provides details on the funding stages and evaluation criteria. For applications submitted on or after December 1, the maximum funding amount for DIV Stage 1 grants will be $500,000. To learn more, visit www.usaid.gov/div/apply after December 1, 2024.
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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 www.usaid.gov/div to learn more and apply.
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