ANDE and the IKEA Foundation launched the second phase of a partnership to improve access to finance for waste and circularity enterprises in India and Kenya.

As part of this initiative, ANDE has announced a Waste & Circularity Investment Innovation Fund, which aims to increase the pipeline of investment-ready enterprises within India and Kenya’s waste management and circular economy sectors.

The fund seeks to empower entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) to craft and implement technical assistance activities to bolster capital infusion into these pivotal sectors. Selected ESOs will design supplemental programs or other interventions in consultation with investors that are likely to lead to more capital deployed in waste and circularity businesses.

Objective: Streamlining Investment Flows

The fund’s mission is twofold:

• • First, to assist ESOs in developing activities that increase the number of investment-ready waste and circularity-focused SGBs; and
  • Second, to collaborate with investors to eliminate bottlenecks in the accelerator-to-investment pipeline.

Grant Allocation: Fostering Innovation and Expertise

Grants will be disbursed on a competitive basis to a small number of ESOs that incorporate investor input to build the capacity of and facilitate increased investment into SGBs in the waste management and circularity sector. The Request for Proposals  will ask for innovative approaches to the facilitation of investment deals.  These interventions would be a supplement to or reimagining of more traditional acceleration programs.

There will be two rounds of grantmaking, in 2024 and 2025.

Scope of Support: Building Investment Readiness

Eligible activities under this fund are broad yet focused on enhancing investment readiness of waste and circularity SGBs. These may include, for example:

• • Providing direct technical assistance to SGBs preparing for investment;
  • Orchestrating matchmaking events with potential investors;
  • Organizing specialized training programs to equip businesses with the necessary tools to secure investment.