FID – Fund for Innovation in Development (Innovative Project Funding)

The Fund for Innovation in Development (FID) is an initiative supported by the French government and chaired by Nobel laureate Esther Duflo. Its purpose is to finance innovations that carry a strong evidence base for reducing poverty and inequality in low- and middle-income countries. The fund prioritises interventions with demonstrated potential for broad social and economic impact, favouring verified results over unsubstantiated claims. It operates across a range of critical sectors.

FID works with a broad set of innovators, including social enterprises, for-profit companies, NGOs, research institutions, and public bodies. This approach ensures that promising solutions can access resources regardless of their organisational form. Funding is provided in a staged, tiered manner, guiding projects from early conceptual work through pilot testing, impact evaluation, and eventual large-scale rollout. This structure helps innovators build evidence progressively, reduce risk, and improve the likelihood of lasting impact.

• Go to the FID 'launch a project' portal at fundinnovation.dev/en/launch-project.
• Register for an account and fill in the application form with information on your organisation, the proposed innovation, intended beneficiaries, and geographic scope.
• Draft a full project proposal covering the problem to be solved, your solution, theory of change, supporting evidence, implementation strategy, anticipated results, and a detailed budget.
• Attach any necessary documents, including proof of organisational registration, team CVs, and endorsement letters.
• FID reviews submissions continuously as they arrive.
• Candidates who make the shortlist may be asked for follow-up conversations, interviews, or extra material.
• For complete applications, a final response is usually issued within three months of submission.

Proposals submitted to FID are assessed through a staged review. The first step checks whether each application meets eligibility criteria and aligns with FID’s mission and thematic priorities. Following this, an expert committee conducts a detailed appraisal of each project, looking at its originality, practicality, potential to operate at a larger scale, and, most importantly, its capacity to produce reliable evidence of impact. The review includes a close examination of the project’s theory of change, the methods proposed for generating evidence, and the skills of the team that would carry out the work.

Applicants who advance may be asked to present their ideas or attend an interview, although this step is not formally documented. Decisions are generally shared around three months after the submission date. The final choice favours initiatives that can show measurable outcomes and add to the wider body of knowledge on development practice.