Call for Innovations: Water and Energy for Food – A Grand Challenge for Development

The S/SEA RIH is proud to announce the second Call for Innovations. Companies, nonprofits with a for-profit program, and other organizations working on water-food, energy-food, and water-energy-food innovations are invited to apply. The winning organizations will receive customized support in the form of grants, business model support, and investment facilitation.

Together with the S/SEA RIH, winners can scale their innovations and impact food security, gender equality, environmental sustainability, climate resilience and adaptation, and poverty reduction.

Thematic Areas

• The WE4F Founding Partners have identified priority thematic areas in which innovation is urgently needed as mentioned. However, it is good to note that innovations supported by Water and Energy for Food could include, but are NOT limited to, the themes mentioned:
  • Theme 1: Innovations in food production to reduce water usage
  • Theme 2: Efficient use of water resources for food production
  • Theme 3: Sustainable use of energy and water on farms
  • Theme 4: Energy innovations for food processing, and / or logistics
  • Theme 5: Food production with efficient energy use
  • Theme 6: Leveraging food waste for energy.

Priority Organizations and Innovations

• The WE4F Founding Partners have identified priority types of organizations and Innovations.
• Innovations prioritized by Water and Energy for Food could include, but are NOT limited to, the:
  • Energy- Agricultural processing: This includes Innovations which use renewable energy or aim to improve the energy efficiency of value-added food processing including the transformation of raw agricultural goods to food stuffs or the changing of food stuffs to other more valuable forms.
  • Women-led, managed, or owned organizations or organizations with a track record of serving at least thousands of female-end users in agriculture and food value chains.
  • Organizations which demonstrate strong capabilities to monitor and document key programmatic KPIs such as the end-users benefitting from the Innovation and the impact on water and/or energy savings (e.g., through CRM systems, data loggers, etc.).
  • Organizations that have a clear positive environmental impact and impact on Base of the Pyramid (BoP) and vulnerable communities through the provision their Innovation to end-users and/or in their value chains.
  • Digital solutions: This includes Innovations which are digital in nature and improve the water and/or energy efficiency of agricultural processes but cannot be defined by one single other Innovation type listed.
  • Financial solutions: This includes Innovations which improve the financial access or financial resources of actors within the food value chain including food producers, food processors, and direct end-users of agricultural goods.
  • While the program is targeting organizations established or operating in the SSEA countries in Appendix 1 – Eligible Countries of Implementation, applicants from Bhutan, Laos PDR, Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste are strongly encouraged to apply.

Characteristics of Supported Organizations

• WE4F works with entrepreneurship and innovation through the following actors, who are defined as “organizations”:
  • Private, for-profit companies that a major part of their business model and innovation addresses the nexus of water-energy-food.
  • Nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations or universities which maintain their own budget, are able to generate revenue and that do this by commercializing an innovative product or service that addresses the nexus of water-energy-food.
  • Other actors that are identified on a case-by-case basis by the Regional Innovation Hub and which fit the criteria of WE4F and are crucial for the scaling of impacts.

Funding Information

• Select organizations may qualify for grants to help achieve scaling goals, funding size ranges from $25,000 to $200,000 USD.

Why apply?

• Join a Network of Innovative Game-Changing Entrepreneurs
  • Winners will be part of an extensive network and introduced to various partners, mentors, and service providers to help them achieve their expansion goals.
  • They will also have access to an exclusive learning community where they can exchange ideas with their cohort peers in the cohort and other Regional Innovation Hubs through regular workshops and meetings.
• Receive Business Model Support and Investment Facilitation
  • Receive support to expand the business to other geographies, products, or services.
  • Attract and secure external investors by working with S/SEA RIH’s Brokering Unit.
  • Examples of support categories:
    • Investment readiness
    • Commercial expansion
    • Marketing and communication
    • Digitalization and technology enhancement.

Location: Applicants must be legally incorporated in one of 15 countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam.

If expansion into a new country is a key part of an applicant’s business plan, they must already have partners in place in that country to be considered.

Eligibility Criteria

• WE4F is looking for mid- to late-stage enterprises, nonprofits with a for-profit program, and other organizations based in South and Southeast Asia, who have innovative water-food, energy-food, and water-energy-food solutions. Applicants must meet the following minimum requirements to participate in this call for innovation.
• Women-owned and women-led organizations are encouraged to apply.
• WE4F is open to legally incorporated/registered for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations or academic institutions which are responsible for generating revenue and maintaining a self-sustaining operational budget.
• WE4F is open to all relevant organizations/companies which are ready to scale. They encourage applications from small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

For more information, visit WE4F.