Funding Opportunities

Call for Applications: Innovation Challenge Fund – Ethiopia

Background

The Higher Tier Cooking Component (HTCC), as part of the larger ‘Strengthening the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for the Clean Cooking sector’ project, aims to support the development and growth of the higher tier clean cooking market in selected countries. The project builds on the combined technical and country experience of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation under a consortium partnership for HTCC.

Objective

The GIZ HTCC Project will provide funding to innovative entrepreneurs and service providers through an Innovation Challenge Fund. The ICF will only support entrepreneurs and businesses that focus on higher tier clean cooking solutions such as advanced biomass cookstoves and electric stoves, or other innovative technologies that can significantly reduce emissions and fuel consumption compared to traditional cooking methods. Applicants should target one or more of the following thematic areas:

1. Technology innovation
2. Business model innovation
3. Pricing scheme innovation

Eligibility Criteria

• Be a legally registered entity in Ethiopia
• Submit a detailed project proposal that addresses one or more of the thematic areas
• Provide evidence of in-kind and Cash contributions
• Be an organization that promotes or intends to clean cooking technologies / research / businesses
• Must be physical established in Ethiopia and your project idea will be implemented in Ethiopia.
• Demonstrate how current internal resource and technical capacity of the enterprise provides sufficient ground to utilize the requested funding in catalytic manner
• Request a grant funding amount within the stipulated range and technically capable to utilize the fund requested with proper due diligence. GIZ may commission external due diligence check on the prospective organisations to assess their legal framework and technical capacity to utilise the fund before having grant agreement.

Eligible Higher Tier Technologies including but not limited to-

• Innovative products: Products that have improved efficiency and performance from the products that currently exist in the market. The innovative aspect of the technology will be evaluated by the technical evaluation committee.
• Tier Level: Tier level three and above, including their efficiency and performance.
• Functionality: technologies designed for cooking and baking (Injera, Kotcho, etc).
• Fuel Type: fuelled by electric and biomass. LPG stoves are excluded.
• Marketable: technologies that demonstrate the need of customers and clients.
• Source: Locally produced and imported cookstoves
• Complement: Provision of after sale services and 1 year warranty.
• Technologies: electric stoves (injera baking,cooking, pressure cookers, water kettles, infrared & induction cookers, forced fan gasifier cookstoves), ethanol & advanced biomas.

Considerations during application

1. Applicants should submit their applications via email to htcceth@giz.de and/or delivered/submitted physically to the address below
   Deutsche Gesellschaft für
   Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
   Energising Development (EnDev)
   P.O Box 12994,
   Yeka Sub-City, Gurd Sholla, CMC Road
   Behind Tele office, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
2. In the email submission, please include the following information:
   Email Subject Title: “HTCC Ethiopia ICF Application: [Insert Company Name]
   [Insert name of ICF Application thematic area], [Insert Submission Date]”
3. Within your email body, please include the following:
   – Personal contact information of the applicants
   – Background and experience in clean cooking technologies.
   – the proposed innovation, technology, or solution.
   – explanation of how the proposed innovation aligns with any of the support
   pillars as listed above.
   – Anticipated impact and potential scalability of the innovation.
   – Resources and capabilities available to the applicant to develop and
   implement the technology.
4. Attached with your ICF application submission, please include:
   – ICF Expression of Interest proposal
   – Other supporting documents attached as annexes, such as organogram, company registration forms, company registration certificates, etc.

NOTE: Kindly note that applications without this subject title risk not being received in time and may be rejected.

Application Timeline: Open – December 20, 2023 – January 27, 2024

To learn more and apply, click here.