Juliette Seban: "An ongoing dialogue between innovation and research"

How does FID define innovation?

We take an open and inclusive view of innovation: it can be technological, social, organizational, or financial. The only requirement is that it have the potential to improve the status quo. We also firmly believe that innovation can emerge in any context. That’s why we run an open call for proposals—welcoming a wide range of actors, from academia and public institutions to civil society and private enterprises, with no sectoral restrictions. We specifically target solutions implemented in low- and middle-income countries. All ideas are welcome!

What is FID’s funding approach?

Our funding model is tiered. Projects receive grants tailored to their level of maturity - whether to prototype or pilot an early idea, to rigorously evaluate its impact, to initiate a first scale-up or to support its deployment through public entities. Half of the 3,500 applications we have received from 101 countries since our launch focus on early-stage innovation—where funding is often hardest to secure. This highlights the importance of continuing to support experimentation, by giving promising ideas the means to prove themselves and attract larger-scale financing. Through this step-by-step approach, we help nurture an ecosystem of high-potential innovations to fight poverty and inequality.

How are impact and learning central to your mission?

Our goal is to identify effective solutions to reduce poverty and inequality. Each stage of project development is accompanied by research activities and a tailored learning agenda, built on ongoing dialogue between innovation and research. At the Preparation and Pilot stages, teams test ideas in real-world conditions and learn—through rigorous monitoring and evaluation—how to move from concept to implementation. At the Impact Evaluation stage, research teams scientifically assess the causal impact of the solutions being deployed. At the Scaling Up stage, organizations experiment with scaling strategies and work on transferring capacity to the right partners. By maintaining this strong link between innovation and research, we ensure robust approaches while generating actionable knowledge for the wider community.

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