DIV Fund Grant for Global Development Innovations

• Social enterprises, NGOs and startups with TRL 3+ innovations addressing global development challenges.

About this scheme

The DIV Fund is the independent successor to USAID's Development Innovation Ventures program, now run by Sasha Gallant (CEO, former head of DIV at USAID), Jeff Brown, and Nobel laureate Michael Kremer. It functions as an R&D engine for global development, backing evidence-driven innovations that can cost-effectively improve lives at scale in low- and middle-income countries , a category that includes India.

Funding is structured in three tiered, milestone-based grant stages. Stage 1 Pilot grants up to USD 200K (approx. Rs. 1.8 Cr) support real-world pilots to test feasibility, user demand, and impact potential. Stage 2 Test & Position for Scale grants up to USD 500K (occasionally USD 750K) fund rigorous impact evaluations or market validation. Stage 3 Scale grants up to USD 1.5M (approx. Rs. 13.5 Cr) accelerate the scale-up of validated innovations with proven evidence of impact and cost-effectiveness.

Beyond capital, the fund pairs grantees with rigorous evaluation expertise and connects them to a global network of researchers, evaluators, and scaling partners. All grants are non-dilutive , the fund does not take equity, and explicitly does not provide debt or other financial instruments. Funding is tied to milestones and can be used flexibly across program implementation, data collection, evaluation, and key personnel.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year, with no fixed deadline. Indian startups, social enterprises, nonprofits, and research organizations working on solutions that benefit people in poverty across health, agriculture, education, financial inclusion, energy, and climate adaptation are eligible. Applicants do not need to start at Stage 1 , they can apply directly to the stage that matches their innovation's maturity.

Who can apply

• Open to nonprofits, social enterprises, for-profit startups, universities, and research organizations
• Indian organizations qualify , India is classified as a lower-middle-income country per the World Bank
• Must operate as a legally incorporated entity (individuals without an entity are not eligible)
• Innovation must be at least at prototype stage; pre-prototype ideas are not funded
• Project must demonstrably improve lives of people in low- or middle-income countries
• Must show a credible theory of change and a pathway to reaching over 1 million people at scale
• Government agencies are not eligible to receive funding directly
• Intermediaries such as incubators, accelerators, and bootcamps are not eligible
• Projects targeting only high-income beneficiaries are not eligible

Eligible entity types: Private Limited, LLP, Partnership, Proprietorship, Section 8 / NGO

Benefits & funding

• Non-dilutive tiered grants: Stage 1 up to USD 200K (~Rs.
• 1.8 Cr) for pilots, Stage 2 up to USD 500, 750K for evaluations and market validation, Stage 3 up to USD 1.5M (~Rs.
• 13.5 Cr) for scale-up.
• Grantees also receive rigorous evaluation expertise and access to a global network of researchers, evaluators, and scaling partners.

How the application process works

The journey below is informational, compiled from the official program guidelines. Applications are submitted directly with DIV Fund, in your own name.

1. 1

   Applications submitted on a rolling basis are assessed against three criteria: evidence of impact, cost-effectiveness, and potential for durable scale reaching over 1 million people.

2. 2

   Promising applications advance to a detailed diligence phase with external reviewers, with funding decisions made by expert panels convened several times per year.

3. 3

   Applicants can apply directly to the stage matching their innovation's maturity , Pilot (Stage 1), Test & Position (Stage 2), or Scale (Stage 3).

Frequently asked questions