Repayable Grant (RG)

About this grant

The Repayable Grant (RG) is a financing instrument offered by the Swiss Capacity Building Facility (SCBF) to support social enterprises working in inclusive finance. Unlike a traditional grant, the grantee is obligated to repay part or all of the grant when a certain level of profit, revenue, or investment leveraged is achieved, as specified in the grant agreement. This structure allows SCBF to recycle capital while still providing concessional support to enterprises in the early or scale-up stages of development. The RG is designed to support the scale-up of solutions that expand access to responsible digital financial services for underserved, low-income communities worldwide. SCBF's key focus areas are the intersections of finance with agriculture, health, housing, and inclusive finance enablers more broadly. The instrument targets social enterprises that have demonstrated a viable model and need capital to grow their reach among low-income populations. SCBF operates as an innovative public-private partnership funder, collaborating with partners from both the public and private sectors. Past recipients of Repayable Grants have included insurtechs and financial service providers such as Lumkani (RG-02), an insurtech combining smart fire-detection technology with affordable insurance for informal settlements in South Africa. The RG complements SCBF's other instruments, including Technical Assistance Grants and Impact-linked Finance, forming part of a broader toolkit to address the 'Pioneer Gap' in inclusive finance.

Eligibility

The Repayable Grant is available to social enterprises seeking to scale up their inclusive finance solutions. Applicants must be working in the field of inclusive finance for low-income or underserved communities, with a focus on areas such as agriculture, health, housing, or digital financial services. The grant is global in scope, with SCBF having funded projects across more than 50 countries. There is no explicit restriction to SCBF members for the Repayable Grant instrument (unlike some windows of the Technical Assistance Grant, which are restricted to SCBF members). Enterprises must be at a stage where scale-up is feasible and where repayment from future revenues or profits is plausible.

How it's scored

The page does not provide specific scoring criteria, weightings, or panel composition for evaluating Repayable Grant applications. Applications are assessed in the context of SCBF's mission to advance inclusive finance for low-income populations, with an emphasis on potential for social impact, scalability, and alignment with SCBF's focus areas of agriculture, health, housing, and inclusive finance enablers.

Key requirements

• ✓Social enterprise status or inclusive finance focus
• ✓Scalable inclusive finance solution (digital finance, insurtech, or related)
• ✓Clear path to profitability, revenue growth, or investment leverage
• ✓Commitment to repay grant when specified thresholds are achieved

Recent past awardees

Knowing who's won the last rounds tells you whether you're in the strike zone.

• Lumkani

Frequently asked questions

Who can apply for Repayable Grant (RG)?

Eligibility covers organisations in GLOBAL; social-enterprise, startup, sme. See the eligibility criteria above for the full conditions.

Relevant sectors

About this sector

Climate fintech funding backs financial products and infrastructure that move capital to climate solutions, from green lending platforms to risk and disclosure tools. Support comes from innovation programmes, development finance and investors. Applicants are usually asked about regulatory approval, data sources and how the product reaches its users.