Events

The India Blended Finance Collaborative, supported by USAID, hosted an invite-only in-person event, “Leveraging Blended Finance for WASH Financing”. The event was in partnership with Water.org, and with Trilegal and Center for Water and Sanitation (CWAS), CRDF, CEPT University as esteemed knowledge partners.

The discussion during the event focussed on various topics such as developing financial products tailored for WASH projects, investment opportunities in innovative WASH technologies, and aligning grant capital with long-term sectoral goals. Foundations, CSR Organisations, Investors, and ecosystem builders presented their key observations, highlighting the diverse perspectives and potential solutions to enhance investment in the WASH sector.

The India Blended Finance Collaborative, supported by USAID, hosted an invite-only in person event, “Transforming Agriculture through Blended Finance: Building Resilient Ecosystems” in partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

Representatives from over 50 organizations, including asset managers, commercial banks and NBFCs, philanthropic capital providers, foundations,incubators, think tanks, DFIs and other ecosystem players, attended the event. The workshop aimed to unravel and explore the opportunity for blended finance in agriculture and how climate resilience ecosystems could be built through synergic partnerships of ecosystem players.

The event was headlined by a keynote from Shri Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Ex-Chairman, NABARD, Executive Chairman, Capital India Finance Ltd, Senior Advisor, Omnivore Capital Management Advisors.

The event also saw active participation from esteemed members of Impact Investors Council (IIC) including ANDE, Ankur Capital, Asha Impact Trust, Bridgespan Group, Caspian, Dalberg Global Development Advisors, Desai & Associates, Grameen Capital, IPE Global, Sangam Ventures, Trilegal, USAID and Villgro Innovations Foundation.

The event also marked the launch of the groundbreaking paper titled “Financing Climate Resilient Agriculture: Financing the Minor Millets Value Chain.” in the presence of Sanjoy Ghosh, GM, FSDD, NABARD, HO & Former – COO, NABARD Consultancy Services. This paper highlights the remarkable case study of the Minor Millets Plant located in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh. It delves into various aspects, including the economics, capital structure, and the utilization of funds, while also shedding light on the pivotal role played by the stakeholders involved. You can download the report here.

In line with the Government of India’s strategic efforts to promote the consumption of millets, GIZ collaborated with esteemed partners NABARD and Reliance Foundation to facilitate the establishment and successful financial closure of a millets processing unit in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh. This endeavor aims to bring forth numerous benefits, such as enhancing local consumption, creating new trading opportunities with diverse geographical regions, and ultimately stimulating the growth of the local economy.

The event witnessed the launch of two new initiatives related to the social finance market in India:

1. The launch of “The Blended Finance India Narrative: A Decade of Blended Finance in India and what lies ahead.” report. The report examines the various trends, challenges, and opportunities arising through the use of blended finance over the past decade. In addition, it provides an outlook on the future of blended finance in India and innovation in this space.

2. The inauguration of Blendedfinanceindia.org. A go-to resource portal for everything related to blended finance in India. This website is designed to provide valuable information, research papers, masterclasses and an open-source database of all blended finance transactions in India that will be updated regularly.

The India Blended Finance Collaborative (IBFC), an initiative of the Impact Investors Council (IIC) and USAID to catalyze innovative financing in India, is planning to host a dialogue in partnership with Trilegal that is centered around legal considerations that practitioners need to account for when designing and implementing blended finance structures in the country. The session will focus on the following broad themes:

1. Increasing awareness and knowledge on laws that regulate blended finance transactions in India such as Income Tax Act (ITA) 1961, Foreign Contributions Regulations Act (FCRA), CSR Rules 2014 etc.
2. Building capacity and educating practitioners on blended finance structures, such as Social Venture Funds (SVFs), that can help mitigate existing regulatory hurdles.
3. Illustrative models of successful CSR participation in blended finance (e.g. collaborative outcome funding, structuring via intermediaries)

This workshop is curated by India Blended Finance Finance Collaborative, an initiative of the Impact Investors Council and supported by USAID, in partnership with SAMRIDH Health and IPE Global. It takes place at 2:30 pm on the 8th of Feb at Radisson Blu Plaza (near Delhi Airport) and virtually over Zoom.

This workshop aims to showcase the role Blended Finance can play in making efficient use of capital to generate and scale social impact, specifically in the health sector. The workshop is targeted at CSR foundations, development foundations, HNIs, and leadership team members from philanthropies and family offices: it is designed to be a deeply interactive session focusing on the opportunity for blended finance in health, real-life case studies on learnings from transactions, as well as an open discussion on how to amplify impact and outcomes using blended finance in health.

On behalf of the Impact Investors Council (IIC) and NASSCOM Foundation, IBFC is hosting an exclusive in-person India Blended Finance Collaborative (IBFC) Masterclass ‘Advancing the Technology for Good (Tech4Good) Agenda through Blended Finance.’ Technology is a powerful enabler of last-mile impact across sectors and populations. This masterclass aims to discuss and showcase how CSR practitioners from the tech industry can leverage blended finance to support tech driven impact solutions.

This masterclass is designed to help participants learn about:

1. Overview of Blended Finance and how it can play a catalytic role in scaling social impact.
2. How can Blended Finance be applied to advance Tech4Good agenda.
3. Success stories and case studies/examples of Tech4Good agenda using Blended Finance.
4. How can CSR organisations and philanthropic organisations play a more direct role in the Blended Finance ecosystem under the current regulatory frameworks and guidelines.

India Blended Finance Collaborative (IBFC) is Impact Investor Council’s (IIC) pioneering initiative (supported by USAID) to help philanthropic and CSR capital maximize funding and social impact capacity through blended finance.

This masterclass conducted in partnership with British Asian Trust will provide viewers with:

1. A 101 on the various instruments under Pay for Results and when to use them
2. Defining characteristics of pay for results instruments – how can you flex each instrument to create fit for purpose tools
3. Demonstrating how pay for results can work for CSR using live results

Additional Links for reference:

1. Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NR5tf5E2DekJLfKHr3y7irL8pnSazlZg/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101108192182081706904&rtpof=true&sd=true
2. Additional reading material shared during the MasterClass: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1roO5e6SGd26_2ml5SssrWDd6sjbAIyLXYWpHy1LOyd8/edit?usp=sharing
3. About the India Blended Finance Collaborative: http://www.iiic.in/ibfc-intro

India Blended Finance Collaborative (IBFC) is Impact Investor Council (IIC) pioneering initiative (supported by USAID) to help philanthropic and CSR capital maximize funding and social impact capacity through blended finance.

In this masterclass, participants learn about:

1. How and why is Blended Finance a powerful tool for social impact
2. Understand the Blended Finance transaction lifecycle and how tailored approaches can be designed
3. How philanthropic and CSR capital can participate in blended finance under current regulatory frameworks

IBFCs masterclasses are designed for:

1. C-suite executives and leadership team members of philanthropic foundations, CSR teams, corporate foundations, family offices, and others.
2. Who are looking at innovative ways to increase the on-ground impact of their funding in a sustainable manner.

To learn more about IBFC and blended finance please visit – www.iiic.in/ibfc-intro