Overview

The Indo-Pacific NGO Blended Finance Accelerator is a five-year, AUD 10 million initiative launched by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in partnership with Convergence Blended Finance. The Accelerator supports NGOs to design and scale blended finance solutions that unlock private capital for climate action and gender equality in the Indo-Pacific.

Blended finance activity is growing in the Indo-Pacific region, yet funding still falls far short of what is needed to meet development goals. A major gap is the lack of investable, high-impact vehicles. NGOs are well-placed to help fill this gap, bringing local knowledge, technical expertise, and trusted community relationships. However, their role in blended finance remains limited, currently NGOs sponsor only about 6% of global blended finance deals. Persistent barriers include:

• Limited understanding of blended finance concepts and structuring approaches
• Limited expertise and resources for financial structuring and navigating regulatory restrictions
• Resource constraints and governance complexity that hinder feasibility studies and vehicle design
• Restricted access to private investors and specialized technical service providers

The Accelerator is designed to address these barriers by providing catalytic grants and dedicated acceleration support to help NGOs design and launch blended finance vehicles. In doing so, it aims to build a pipeline of investable solutions enabling them to take on roles not only as technical assistance providers, but also as impact managers and, where appropriate, fund managers. In doing so, the Accelerator will help mobilize private capital at scale, expand development impact, and set an example for the wider NGO community.

Some examples of NGO’s use of blended finance from our portfolio include Conservation International’s Restoration Insurance Service Company (RISCO), The Nature Conservancy’s Blue Bond, and Wildlife Conservation Society's Bukit Barisan Selatan (BBS) Landscape Fund.

Join us for a virtual information session on November 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM AEDT / 11:00 AM SGT. Register here.

Programme Offerings

The Accelerator consists of two core components:

Type of Grants

Applicants can apply for the following types of catalytic grants:

Grant Types	Stage 1: Scoping/Feasibility	Stage 2: Proof-of-Concept/Pilot	Stage 3: Scale-up/Expansion
Definition and Uses of grant	Funding may be sought to explore the feasibility of a new solution and validate its potential. Example activities include: 1. Scoping and refining design and structure of vehicle (financial and legal). 2. Market scoping, building initial pipeline and stakeholder consultations. 3. Draft impact assessment and governance frameworks.	At this stage, funding may be sought to support the design and structuring activities required to prepare for the vehicle’s possible launch. Example activities include: 1. Advancing fundraising and investor outreach. 2. Refining the blended finance vehicle’s design and legal structure. 3. Refining governance, impact frameworks. 4. Investment pipeline development and warehousing or piloting investments to build a track record.	After an initial blended finance vehicle pilot or launch, funding may be sought for scale-up and expansion. Example activities include: 1.Setting up/refining the legal structure. 2. Operational funding to identify investment pipeline, and prepare the vehicle for scale-up. 3. Support to secure additional investor commitments to reach target close. 4. Contribution to GP capital commitments to catalyze additional investors.
Maturity of the Solution and Pre-requisite	The NGO is in the early phase of exploring a blended finance solution and has an initial theory of change and scoping exercise partners identified.	The NGO has completed initial feasibility work, developed an initial financial structure and model, secured internal/external buy-in, identified key partners (e.g. fund manager) and received at least 1 hard/soft commitment from an investor.	The NGO’s role within the vehicle is defined, and the vehicle is either investment-ready or already launched. Secured anchor investment and commitment from key implementation partners.
Amounts	Up to CAD275,000 (~USD 200,000)	Up to CAD 750,000 (~USD 550,000)
Type of funding	Non-repayable grants	Non-repayable or conditionally repayable grants

*Grant funding will be provided in Canadian Dollars (CAD)

Eligibility Criteria

Purpose: Proposals must articulate a clear need for grant support for the design, proof of concept, pilot, scale-up or expansion of an innovative blended finance vehicle. The proposed solution should be a financial instrument with a blended finance structure. It can be in the form of a fund, project finance vehicle, private company, bond, results-based financing, facility, or any other type of financial instrument. Vehicle must demonstrate potential to drive private investment at scale for development impact in Indo-Pacific.

Applicant types: Applications must be from NGOs applying independently or together with consortium partners. NGOs must have a material role in the design and implementation of the financial instrument such as fund manager, investment pipeline origination, technical assistance provider, or any other substantive role. The NGO should have evidence of support from their Board and/or internal management to participate in a blended finance structure prior to being eligible to receive funding.

Focus geography: The applicant can be based in any country (developing or developed market). However, the blended finance vehicle must target one or more countries in the Indo-Pacific region that are eligible to receive Official Development Assistance and are aligned with DFAT’s list of target countries (Eligible Countries), which at the Commencement Date are: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pacific Islands Nations (Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu), Pakistan, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. The proposal will be eligible for funding only if 100%* of the target region consists of one or more of the Eligible Countries. *Convergence may consider regional proposals with up-to 20% of the anticipated portfolio exposure to any other ODA eligible country in the Indo-Pacific region not listed above.

Focus sectors: Blended finance vehicles supported by the program must focus on either or both of the following impact themes -

• Climate Action - Addressing climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation or both. Must align with at least one of the following: SDG 7 (Clean Energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land).

• Gender Equality - Strong gender equality focus. Must significantly contribute to gender outcomes and focus on integration of gender equality into the design, implementation, and operations of vehicles, rather than as a “bolt-on feature” or “nice-to-have”. Must align with SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and can include vehicles which are targeting the nexus of gender equality and other impact themes like health care, education and financial inclusion.

  
  

  [Priority Stream for 1st Call for Proposal]: For this cycle, we are prioritizing stage 2 and stage 3 solutions; however, applicants for stage 1 solutions are also eligible to apply.
  

Evaluation Criteria

Development Impact: The financial vehicle is designed to deliver inclusive, measurable and significant environmental and social impact especially for underserved groups like women, indigenous people, and people with disabilities, with clear impact indicators and a focus on underserved geographies like Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and frontier markets (e.g., Pacific Island countries)

Scalability and Replicability: The vehicle aims to mobilize commercial and private capital at scale and has the potential to be replicable across similar contexts, serving as a model for other NGOs and contributing to a pipeline of investable solutions.

Additionality and Demonstration: Addresses climate finance and gender barriers in a new or more efficient way than existing solutions. Demonstrates a clear need for blended finance and grant and acceleration support from the Accelerator to unlock capital for underserved populations.

Gender Consideration: The vehicle incorporates gender-related risks and opportunities, and plans to use frameworks like the 2X Criteria to track gender outcomes.

Likelihood to achieve financial close and financial sustainability: The vehicle has a bankable/investable structure, is likely to attract private investors in the short to medium term, and demonstrates a clear pathway to long-term commercial viability with minimal or no need for concessionality. It includes a robust governance model, investment strategy, and risk management framework, and investors have been actively involved in the design of the concept to date.

Internal buy in: The NGO has internal leadership support, alignment with its mission, a committed team in place, and the legal capacity to develop or participate in the blended finance vehicle.

Stakeholder support: The vehicle has identified key financial and implementation partners with strong support from critical stakeholders in the target region(s)

Track record: NGOs must demonstrate relevant experience or a clear plan to access technical and financial expertise, understand local barriers in the target sectors and/or geographies, and have established partnerships to support the development and implementation of their blended finance vehicles.

Refer to the document for further details on the evaluation criteria.