Haiti Clean Cooking Fund – Call for Expressions of Interest – UPDATED with Q&A
HAITI CLEAN COOKING FUND
The Haiti Clean Cooking Fund (the “Program”) is a key component of the Haiti Cookstoves and Clean Energy Market Project (the “Project”) which aims to develop a sustainable market for clean cookstoves and fuels in Haiti. The Program will provide financial and technical assistance to support the growth of clean cooking companies in Haiti. It may finance capital expenditures and/or working capital or be used to build the internal capacity of companies involved in the design, production, distribution, or retail of stoves, fuels, or related products and services. There may be supplementary funding available for specific uses such as carbon asset certification, product research and development, prototyping and testing, consumer financing pilots, and integration of gender-responsive solutions for business growth.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The Haiti Clean Cooking Fund is open to companies that:
- Manufacture, distribute, or retail cookstoves or fuels in Haiti on a commercial basis;
- Operate a business model which includes selling to the household market;
- Are structured as a business or a not-for-profit entity which is registered and have operations in Haiti; e.g. not a government agency;
- Have developed a growth plan;
- Are cash flow positive and profitable, or show a clear path to it;
- Have third-party audited financial statements or will commit to deliver audited financial statements within six months of grant disbursement;
- Commit to using the funding for activities which are strategic and are intended to enhance the scalability and sustainability of the enterprise; and
- Commit to conduct Alliance-sponsored testing of cookstoves in line with ISO Standard 19867-1 in a recommended lab within three months of grant disbursement, or test fuel products as appropriate.
And companies that:
- Are registered in other countries and with operations outside of Haiti and that have an interest in entering the Haitian market or partnering with a local Haitian entity to manufacture, distribute, or retail clean cooking solutions in Haiti on a commercial basis.
PROGRAM DETAILS
- Type of Support: The funding will be provided for use by recipients, including either their own expenditure, or for procurement of third-party technical assistance. The type of assistance will be determined by the requirements set by the Alliance and the enterprise and will be subject to the approval of the Program’s Technical Assistance (TA) Committee.
- Amount: The size of individual awards will range from $25,000 – $250,000. Funding for companies applying to conduct feasibility assessments will be limited to up to $50,000. There will also be the potential for follow-on funding of up to $300,000, available to companies that show potential to scale after the first round of funding.
- Matching contribution: The Program will give preference to companies that can provide matched funding, with a minimum of 50 percent of the amount received from the Program being contributed by the enterprise. As such, grantees would need to deliver a ratio of investment to Program funding of 1:2. Matched funding may be from retained earnings, equity, debt, grants and contribution from partner organizations. The funding can be in the form of cash, cash equivalent contributions, or in-kind contributions. Examples of cash equivalent contributions may include but are not limited to salaries for staff, rental expenses covered on part of the enterprise, etc. Examples of in-kind contributions may include but are not limited to management time, technical assistance, machinery and equipment, etc. In-kind contributions can be up to a maximum of 50 percent of total matched funds.
- Use of funding: The funding may be deployed for a range of uses depending on the requirements of the enterprise, including for capital expenditures and working capital. It may also support the grantee’s capacity building and technical assistance needs. The companies can outline multiple uses of funds, and will be encouraged to consider the following categories in addition to others:
- Improving the marketing and sales strategy and effectiveness, including training staff and refining marketing and sales approaches.
- Conducting pilots or expanding programs related to consumer financing.
- Developing new products through R&D, refining design, production of existing products, or piloting products.
- Developing, refining, and modeling commercial and go-to-market strategies.
- Implementing or refining management information systems to improve business processes.
- Capital expenditures including equipment purchases, etc.
- Carbon credit certification such as for Gold Standard for Global Goals.
For companies interested to enter the Haitian market or form partnerships within Haiti, funding up to $50,000 will be made available to:
- Conduct feasibility assessments or pilots to gauge the market readiness for their products and services.
- Explore partnership opportunities to manufacture or distribute their products.
If an applicant wishes to propose a use of grant funding or technical assistance which does not fit into one of the above categories, such requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Companies may outline multiple uses of funds.
- Additional resources: As part of the Haiti Cookstoves and Clean Energy Market Project, there will be additional funding and resources available to enterpises for below purposes apart from the uses under this Program, including:
- Gender integration into the business models: As leveraging gender insights and gender-responsive business solutions can maximize business growth, while simultaneously maximizing impact, the Project will work with the companies to develop a gender action plan appropriate to the business’ stage of growth and provide them a gender-value chain analysis training.
- Haitian diaspora e-commerce platform: For marketing to diaspora, the Project will partner with an e-commerce platform targeted at Haitian diaspora. The Alliance will work with cooking companies in Haiti to include their products on the platform. The targeted “Clean Cooking e-commerce platform” will support the companies in capturing the unique market where diaspora purchases products for their friends and family in Haiti.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Companies will be judged on various criteria including feasibility of the proposal, potential to scale, business model innovation, product performance and quality, and gender integration. The reasonability and achievability of growth plans will be assessed more favorably than plans which are overly ambitious.
SELECTION PROCESS
To ensure the development of high-quality, credible business plans, and to allow companies to participate without investing substantial resources at the initial stage, the application process will be conducted over two phases as detailed below.
- Phase 1: Initial Information Phase
Applicants will be asked to submit a brief application to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria for the Program. The application should include existing materials with details such as the business model, management team, financials, proposed use(s) of funds and technical assistance, etc. (described below).
- Phase 2: Detailed Proposal and Due Diligence
Based on an assessment of the initial application, shortlisted companies will be invited to submit a detailed proposal. Companies will be fully responsible for their business plans including their conceptualization and development. However, during the detailed proposal phase, the companies will be able to consult the Alliance for feedback and recommendations.
Due Diligence:
Detailed due diligence will be conducted by Alliance staff as well as a third party as part of the evaluation process. The due diligence may comprise of legal, financial, commercial, and gender due diligence. The evaluation process may include site visits, interviews with management, staff, customers, and review of financial and legal documentation.
SELECTION PROCESS TIMELINE:
January 15, 2020 – EOI Opens
January 29, 2020 – Information Webinar (presentation now available below)
February 9, 2020 – EOI Submission Deadline
February 24, 2020 – Shortlisted Companies invited to write full proposals
March 15, 2020 – Full proposal Deadline
March/April 2020 – Due Diligence + Proposal Refinement
May 2020 – Notification to selected applicants
APPLICATION DETAILS
The initial application process will be open from January 15, 2020 and applications are due by February 9, 2020 at 6:00pm EDT by email. Applicants are asked to submit the following to investment@cleancookingalliance.org:
- An existing business plan which gives an overview of the company, the product, the business model, the growth plan, the management team and proposed use of funding (maximum 5 pages)
- Historical financials including income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, etc.
- Any up-to-date fundraising/investor documentation e.g. pitch decks, business plans, as available
- Detailed or summary forward-looking financial projections, as available
Click here to access the Haiti Clean Cooking Fund Webinar Recording