Call summary :

RFP Process Overview

Grant Categories
- Category 1: A gender-smart and/or women-led emerging fund manager (including investment vehicles) investing in climate-smart solutions; or
- Category 2: A network organisation or intermediary supporting women entrepreneurs at the forefront of climate action.

Geographic Scope:

Category 1 and 2 applicants must apply to use the grant funding for work and/or investments made in countries where USAID works. Preference will be given to applicants who are deeply entrenched in their operating environment and possess an understanding of its context.

Organisations may propose to use grant funding for a variety of purposes including building their own capacity to provide gender-smart and gender-transformative climate finance, sustaining their organisation through vital working capital, making track record deals and/or portfolio (revolving) investments, providing pre- or post-investment technical assistance (TA) to pipeline or portfolio companies and/or, in the case of network organisations, making grants to women entrepreneurs advancing climate-smart products or services. Preference will be given to proposals that include the use of funds to invest in or extend grant funding to women-led businesses leading climate solutions that also lead to positive health outcomes. Preference will also be given to proposals that emphasise how their use of funds will be catalytic, particularly for mobilising additional private capital for women-led climate solutions.

Both Category 1 and Category 2 applicants can decide how to structure their proposals by choosing what amount they propose to use for their organisation (e.g., as working capital) and deciding what amount they propose to invest in or grant out to women-led, owned, or benefiting businesses. For Category 1 applicants, grants for pipeline and portfolio companies may be provided as pre-investment or post-investment technical assistance or in the form of investment capital (any instrument).

CGEF anticipates awarding multiple grants under this RFP in each category with an aggregate value of up to $5 million (USD) for this funding round. CGEF is targeting grant tickets ranging between $500,000 to $1,000,000 (USD) depending on the proposed level of impact, the track record of the applicants in managing a similar volume of finance for climate and gender activities, and the catalytic nature of the grant finance provided by CGEF6. The final grant amounts will be determined, following due diligence, by 2X Global and an independent grant selection committee based on the strength of the application and the assessed capacity and track record of the applicant and could be lower or higher than the targeted range.