Client: U.S. Agency for International Development
Duration: 2017-2024
Region: Worldwide
Country: Worldwide
Solutions: Economic Growth
INVEST was a flexible, efficient buy-in mechanism implemented over seven years that helped the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) mobilize private capital for development results. Increasingly, private investors and businesses are looking to emerging markets for better returns and new market opportunities. This represents an opportunity for USAID, but it requires new forms of collaboration with the private sector.
INVEST was designed to address challenges and make it easier for USAID to work alongside the investment community. It ensured rapid procurement—under 12 weeks—so USAID could act within investors’ timelines. It enabled flexible, specialized project design and implementation. And, it focused on learning and adaptation to drive innovation in mobilizing private capital.
Based in Washington, D.C., INVEST was USAID’s first major blended finance initiative and included subcontractors such as CrossBoundary, Open Capital Advisors, and Dalberg. It built a network of more than 600 partners that provide the niche, technical expertise USAID needs on-demand. INVEST created and grew the Finance and Investment Network to help USAID access new and underutilized partners with the expertise it needs, including support for investment assessments, structuring funds, and transaction advisory services.
INVEST supported transactions in enterprise development, infrastructure, and financing instruments or funds, and worked in more than 80 countries, including Colombia, Haiti, India, Kenya, Tunisia, and Vietnam.
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