This guide presents an overview of the most common funding options, including grants, debt, and equity, along with a snapshot of emerging alternative forms of financing.
The innovators supported by the Powering Agriculture Grand Challenge, and many others like them, are working on high-impact innovations that will require external capital to validate the technology, build and manufacture their product, reach customers, and ultimately scale before they can become self-sustaining. The type of external capital that a company can obtain depends on many factors including legal structure, mutual fit with the funder profile, the stage of innovation, the market opportunity, and return potential. The ability to navigate this complex landscape while maintaining a healthy capital structure is vital to the ultimate success of a venture.
Important information provided in this guide includes what funders look for in terms of legal structure and innovation stage, the importance of funder profile analysis, the types of funding available—including alternative funding sources—and the sort of return funders normally expect on their investment.
Update: The Toolbox on Solar Powered Irrigation Systems is now available in Spanish!
Por fin llega la traducción al español de la Caja de Herramientas de Sistemas de Riego Solar (SPIS Toolbox). Averigua todo sobre su diseño, planes de financiación e instalación, etc. en Energypedia.
Big news for advisors, service providers and solar irrigation practitioners: The new videos on the Powering Ag YouTube channel explain how to choose a site, install a pump, choose a financing model and maintain your SPIS. These videos complement the SPIS Toolbox, a free resource at Energypedia.
In this Issue: Powering Ag forms Investment Alliance. Innovators in Action: iDE Bangladesh & Village Infrastructure Angels. New Resources: Solar-Powered Irrigation Overview & Toolbox | Funding Guide for Innovators | Investa documents on Investment in Sustainable Energy Tech in the Agrifood sector.
Congratulations to SimGas! They took home the prize for the Innovative Technology category at the prestigious 2018 Climate & Clean Air Awards. They were recognized for their revolutionary, high-quality and affordable biogas systems, which have tremendous positive impact on climate and health.
Want to know what funders look for? This guide outlines what funders expect in terms of legal structure, innovation stage and return on their investment. It also explains the importance of funder profile analysis, and lists the types of funding available, including alternative funding sources.
The Toolbox is now available online, free of charge. It includes informative modules, guidelines, calculation sheets, checklists, and other tools that are relevant to current users. The material is also designed to help provide hands-on guidance to policy makers and financers.
The Powering Agriculture-supported FAO "Investing in Sustainable Energy Technologies in the Agrifood Sector" (INVESTA) project has identified the main barriers to the full deployment of clean energy technologies, possible ways to overcome them, and the resulting costs and benefits.
The International Forum on Solar Technologies will meet in Rome, Italy to discuss the financial, capacity-building, risk management and other practical considerations of developing solar-powered clean energy solutions. More details and registration information can be found at the FAO event page.
In January 2018, 35 Innovators gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, for a week of business acceleration training. The workshop focused on the skills needed to find product-market fit and scaling up of innovations. Hands-on activities, panel discussions, site visits and a pitch contest rounded out the week.
