Having unlocked this Vitrine Theme , here is the deal:
Blended Finance Refugee Fund – Hybrid Investment Model to Enable Refugees in Jordan
Impact Business Case
IDENTITY CARD
Blended Finance Refugee Fund
- The world is undergoing one of the worst refugee crisis since World War II, and Jordan is one of the most affected countries both in absolute and relative terms
- While many humanitarian relief & infrastructure investment efforts exist, the funding ecosystem underserves SMEs & entrepreneurs which cater to refugee needs
- The social impact investment component with a triple bottom-line impact is more than attainable in the refugee context, but until now little has been done outside the pure aid sphere
- Vehicle to fill the void by institutionalising venture / SME investment & nurture entrepreneurship for one of the most vulnerable demographic segments
- Given the specifics of refugee finance, in particular if in a hybrid commercial effort, we are looking for interested parties to become cooperating partners in developing this initiative further…
Photo:M.Umarova
Terms
Project
The Blended Finance Refugee Fund will cater to both start-up & existing business models that enable Syrian refugees and to contribute to their economic empowerment
- The structure will be hybrid, with blended finance channelled through a social impact fund to entrepreneurs or existing SME businesses, led by Syrian entrepreneurs or those companies specifically catering to refugee needs
- Accelerator: located in Amman? (Impact MENA-led) will have two different tracks: a new business creation track and an existing business growth track, to prepare & empower the entrepreneurs for venture funding
- Blended Finance Refugee Fund: located in Amman will finance the most commercially sound graduate entrepreneurs or existing businesses, and support them until exit in a VC sense
Investment strategy
The principal investment objective of the fund manager will be to achieve above-average returns in terms of triple bottom-line impact for all the stakeholders of the Blended Finance Refugee Fund
Investment structure
It is the intention, if at all sustainable, to attempt the whole structure to be onshore based, whereby the Blended Finance Refugee Fund will be enabling additional impact through strengthening the local risk investment ecosystem
Investment roles
The proposed hybrid investment model to help enable Syrian refugees in Jordan, with a wide participation for cooperating partners across the ecosystem
Entrepreneurial development
Using the Kauffman FastTrac entrepreneurship development program and developing a number of proprietary tracks to be used in the acceleration process but also in further corporate development stages of selected businesses
- Acceleration component of the Blended Finance Refugee Fund
- Pipeline development process
- SME creation track
- SME growth track
- Capacity building & support tools
- Business plan development tool
- FastTrac NewVenture
- FastTrac GrowthVenture
The processes
A stacked process that would blend the elements of business acceleration & entrepreneurial development with venture investment & development, while complying to the internationally recognised social impact investment guidelines
Impact method
An impact measurement framework, tailored to the context of refugees that will be built into the investment process and will measure its non-financial impact contribution
- The framework takes as it starting point the SDGs and uses its targets & indicators combined with other indicators
- The framework is built on the basis of highly recognised concepts
- The framework measures the impact at two different levels, at the venture levels and at the Blended Finance Refugee Fund level
Impact measurement
Impact measurement is an integrated part of the strategy built into the investment process
- A measurement framework tailored to the unique context of refugee entrepreneurs, as well as refugees affected by the project
- The framework takes as it starting point the SDGs, and uses its targets & indicators combined with other indicators
- The framework built on the basis of internationally recognised concepts (EVPA and Kellogg Logic Framework)
- The impact framework measures the non-financial impact & helps to understand impact on society & environment, and its contribution to sustainable development
Impact value chain
The objective of Impact measurement is to manage and optimising the process of creating social impact by transforming objectives into measurable results through an Impact Value Chain using a combination of indicators
EXPLORATORY PIPELINE
For the purposes of assessing the market, we have done certain extrapolations based on the surveys conducted
Beneficiary businesses / start-ups:
- Businesses owned by Syrians
- Businesses employing Syrians
- Businesses catering to Syrians
- Businesses in effected refugee areas
Business examples addressing SDGs 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 10:
Industry & Agriculture
- Natural organic soap factory
- Decorative & precious stones
- Waste recycling plant
- Agribusiness marketing
- Olive peat factory
- Organic chicken breeding
- Cattle & sheep farm
- Organic fertiliser factory
- Poultry & cattle feed factory
- Tomato processing factory
- Aquaponics & fish farm
- Dried & frozen fruits factory
- Medical herbs factory
- Strawberry farm & factory
- Flavoured yogurt factory
- Healthy soups factory
- Bee Hives Factory
- Flour-based baked goods
- Thyme factory
- Chicken parts factory
Services & Tourism
- Specialty restaurants
- Organic goods retail
- Building restoration
- Construction services
- Mobile food trucks
- Medical resort
- Camping centre
- Mobile & hybrid auto repair
- Integrated petrol stations
- Transport services
- Repair services
- IT services
Deal sourcing
Blended Finance Refugee Fund with an active & collaborative approach
Various offline/online marketing channels & outreach partners will be utilised in both start-up & growth tracks
Marketing channels:
- Workshops & seminars: in collaboration with outreach partners
- Business plan competitions
- Digital: social media, dedicated website, SMS, eShots
- Printed material: leaflets, posters, billboards
- Other: radio ads & other visibility activities
Outreach Partners:
- Local NGOs: charities, clubs, commerce & industry chambers, professional networks, industry associations
- Government: related ministries & agencies, universities, research institutions
- Private sector: large local corporations, multinationals, Incubators, VCs,
- Multilateral agencies & donors
Cooperating partners
Key to this theme is in seeking cooperating partners, those coming onboard with this initiative, through available research, legal advisory & other in-kind participations and/or grants.
Log of approached entities at various stages of the project development:
NGOs
- King Abdullah II Fund for Development
- Crown Prince Foundation
- Shoman Foundation
- Nuqul Foundation
- Beyond Capital
- International Youth
- Foundation
- Mercy Corps
- Middle East Investment
- Initiative
- int@j
- SPARK
- Jordan River Foundation
- Injaz
- King Hussain Foundation
- Business and Professional
- Women-Amman (BPWA)
- Forum for Business and
- Professional Women (JFBPW)
- Women Access to Entrepreneurship Development and Training Society (WAEDAT)
- Sisterhood is Global Institute
- ReBootKamp (RBK)
- Center for International
- Private Enterprise
- Mowgli Mentoring
- AlFayha Charity
- Al Gharraa Charity Organisation
Multilateral Organisations & Donors
- UNWomen
- UNDP
- UNHCR
- ILO
- JADE
- EBRD
- EU
- EU country embassies
GOs
- Ministry of Planning
- Ministry of Industry & Trade
- Ministry of Labour
- Ministry of Interior
Further investigation requirement
Potential cooperating partners are invited to express interests and/or ability to help us on the following items:
- Market survey of the existing businesses by refugees & any registered interests with agencies, labor agencies & other
- Market survey of the unregistered refugees
- Interview government agencies for clarity on job restrictions
- Interview government agencies & study laws for clarity on differences and/or restrictions for business setup by Syrians
- Joint approach to the relevant Jordanian government bodies with the cooperating partners in order to get to certain comfort levels for potential Blended Finance Refugee Fund investors…
Proposed budget
Cooperating partners are invited to see if any grant or in-kind participation is in their domain to help develop the project further
Value added
The team has extensive regional as well as global expertise
It provides blended industry know-how with a complementary skill-set well suited to the project: entrepreneurship development, social impact management, SMEs investment & venture capital expertise
- Participated in a dozen social impact projects & as many transition impact investments
- Developed 22 national programs & 11 entrepreneurship development programs
- Closed 100 advisory & principal transactions worth $¾bil primarily with SMEs
- Executed over 30 principal investment exits with many more liquidity events
- Managed 4 funds and designed double that including a PPP fund
- International perspective from 2-dozen countries, yet a very regional focus
Theme Contribution
An independent advisory firm based out of Amman, primarily focused on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region
- Impact MENA provides services to governments, non-profit organizations, universities, investors & other stakeholders in the entrepreneurship & innovation ecosystems
- The firm builds on the track record of its founders & team over the last 15 years designing & implementing economic development programs on the national & regional levels; in addition to engagements where the founders & team had acted as advisors to more than 50 leading organizations in 10 countries in the region
- Over the last 5 years, Impact MENA developed its own venture creation & acceleration model in which clients are engaged in well-designed awareness, training, mentoring & support activities to help them move from ideation to implementation in up to 3 months, in addition to an enterprise growth program for existing businesses
An independent advisory firm, primarily focused on social investment & corporate social responsibility
- 360°Impact creates bridges between social ventures, social investors & corporates by mapping out frameworks for societal & business value creation
- The advisory firm which is part of IPA (Impact Partnership Advisory Pty Ltd) identifies, nurtures & cultivates a pipeline of early stage social entrepreneurs, with which corporates engage operationally on social ventures which receive strategic support & access to market and financing from social investors
- Another part of 360°Impact’s job involves advising corporates on the alignment of social & economic goals by integrating economic, social & environmental objectives
- The advisory firm has also developed a market watch intelligence on subjects such as sustainability and innovation, SDGs, social entrepreneurship, strategic CSR & inclusive development
Theme Related Tracker
- Right Decision, Wrong Reasons: The Way Forward from the Attack on Global Aid
on October 21, 2025The global aid system is fracturing, with profound implications for the roughly 4 billion people who live on less than $7 a day — and especially for the 120+ million who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. But as Simon Marot Touloung, Elana Banin and Jakob Øster argue, while recent attacks on the system may be overly simplistic, they point to a real issue: Humanitarian aid had failed to evolve, and it is structurally incapable of catalyzing the long-term economic transformation displaced communities need. They explore some market-based alternatives to traditional aid, and propose five principles to guide the transition from the failing aid model toward new approaches that can actually deliver resilience and dignity.
- Africa is Done Waiting: 10 Key Takeaways from Africa HealthTech Summit 2025
on October 20, 2025NextBillion was a media partner at last week's Africa HealthTech Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, which focused on the theme: “Connected Care: Scaling Innovation Towards Universal Health Coverage.” NextBillion managing editor James Militzer shares 10 takeaways from the event — and four video interviews with key thought leaders — covering topics that range from the role of the private sector in driving healthtech innovation, to the problem of "pilotitis" and the need for a new narrative around African development.
- SACCOs, Social Collateral and Bitcoin Communities: A Filmmaker Documents New (and Old) Ways to Extend Financial Inclusion Past the Limits of Fintech
on October 14, 2025Luke Willms worked at an African NGO, where he was tasked with creating short videos to showcase the positive impacts of its microcredit program. But as the video project progressed, his assumptions about the effectiveness of microfinance began to unravel. He would spend the next seven years filming stories from across Africa and other regions, exploring whether microlending still held relevance in a rapidly changing world. The resulting documentary, “Unbankable,” was released last year, with the goal of helping to reframe the global conversation around financial inclusion. He shares key stories from the movie, which show how Africa’s informal, trust-based financial systems offer models of resilience and adaptation that could find new applications in other emerging countries.
- Consultants at a Crossroads in Global Development: New Research Reveals their Challenges — And Highlights Strategies for Navigating the Current Disruption
on October 8, 2025The dismantling of USAID earlier this year has had many ripple effects, including over 238,000 global jobs lost at the agency and its implementing partners. But according to development consultants Alethia Wong and Lorenz Wild, the plight of independent consultants working in global development — who are often not represented in workforce statistics — hasn't received much attention. To better understand these impacts on the consulting ecosystem, they launched a survey of independent consultants earlier this year: They share the results in this article, exploring how development consultants are pivoting to earn income and how contracting companies can support them — and sharing advice from job recruiters for consultants looking for full-time roles.
- How India’s Non-Bank Financial Companies are Closing the MSME Credit Gap — And What Other Emerging Markets Can Learn from Their Success
on October 6, 2025Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) make up around 90% of businesses and employ over half of the workforce globally, while generating up to 40% of GDP and creating 70% of formal jobs in emerging markets. Yet according to Sameer Nanda at Ugro Capital Limited, these businesses face an ongoing credit gap that, in India alone, amounts to an estimated ₹80 trillion. He explains how non-bank financial companies are addressing this gap by offering dynamic and flexible lending services designed for MSMEs — and shares useful lessons from their approach that can be applied in other emerging economies with similar credit challenges.
- When AI Gets It Wrong: Lessons from a Women-Centered Design Experiment Highlight the Need for Inclusive GPTs
on September 29, 2025In emerging markets, women entrepreneurs continue to face systemic barriers to financial inclusion. And as Koheun Lee at CARE explains, ChatGPT and other AI models sometimes contribute to this exclusion, reinforcing societal biases that limit women’s potential for business growth and long-term financial health. She shares insights from CARE's attempt to build a women-centered design GPT — and proposes some practical steps AI users can take to mitigate bias against women when working with mainstream GPTs.
- Beyond Shock, Money or Mandate: Why African Banks Aren’t Taking Bold Climate Action — And What it Will Take to Move Forward
on September 25, 2025Africa is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world. Yet though climate finance has emerged as a growing solution, African banks have yet to truly ramp up their climate lending. As Carla Legros and Anthony Mbithi argue, one reason for this lack of urgency is that the financial case for this lending has rarely been framed in ways that resonate with how banks operate — namely, as a clear money-making opportunity in the near to medium term. They share a framework for understanding financial institutions' level of engagement in climate finance, providing funders and policymakers with a tool they can use to match their interventions to banks’ institutional reality.
- Moving Past the ‘Infrastructure of Hope’: Why Investors, Policymakers and Entrepreneurs Must Build a Modern E-Commerce Ecosystem in Southeast Asia
on September 22, 2025Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for over 95% of all businesses in Southeast Asia, and millions of these entrepreneurs have migrated their hustle online. Yet according to Macy Castillo at Enstack, due to a lack of access to reliable payment options and other tools, they are attempting to build modern e-commerce businesses on a foundation of informal agreements and personal trust: an “infrastructure of hope” that leaves them exposed to payment fraud and locked out of formal finance. She argues that this is the central challenge for economic inclusion in Southeast Asia today, and explores Enstack's solution.
