Growing Digital Innovation Funding Window for Early-Stage Enterprises

This initiative focuses on de-risking digital solutions at an early stage, supporting product development and market validation, enabling enterprises to demonstrate product–market fit, building foundational capabilities in digital risk awareness, secure-by-design development, and responsible data practices, enhancing security, resilience, and reliability of digital systems, providing milestone-based non-repayable grant financing, delivering tailored technical assistance, offering venture-building and investment readiness support, strengthening gender inclusion, ensuring compliance with environmental, social, and governance standards, and facilitating ecosystem and partnership engagement.

The program provides matched, non-repayable grant financing ranging from USD 150,000 to USD 300,000 for up to thirty-six months, with disbursements tied to the achievement of agreed technical, commercial, and operational milestones. Beyond funding, supported enterprises benefit from structured venture-building and technical assistance through the AECF Innovation Lab and its ecosystem partners, with guidance in business model development, financial strategy, customer segmentation, leadership development, and preparation for follow-on investment. Technical assistance also covers digital security, cybersecurity awareness, data-protection practices, and responsible use of open-source solutions to strengthen the sustainability of digital innovations.

Eligible companies include early-stage enterprises that have developed a minimum viable product and moved beyond the ideation stage, as well as established companies introducing new digital solutions not yet commercialized or scaled. Enterprises must demonstrate a clear connection between their digital solution and the relevant sector, including distributed renewable energy, clean cooking, productive use of energy, climate mitigation or adaptation, or efficient natural resource management. Applicants should show committed founders, measurable benefits to target communities, viable end-user financing strategies, evidence of economic development potential, environmentally sustainable design, and continuous promotion of sustainable development outcomes. They should also demonstrate contributions to enterprise resilience, green job creation, climate mitigation objectives, improved energy efficiency, local community benefits, and a secure digital ecosystem.

To be eligible, companies must be legally registered private, for-profit entities, demonstrate operational and financial capacity, provide matching contributions in line with the one-to-one requirement, comply with national and international laws and standards including data protection and ESG requirements, successfully pass due diligence and integrity screenings, avoid involvement in corruption or prohibited activities, and allow regular monitoring and audits by AECF. Applicants must also demonstrate additionality, ensuring that the proposed project would not proceed, or would proceed on a smaller scale, slower pace, or reduced impact, without support from the DIFEC programme.

For more information, visit AECF.