Innovator Support for Scaling: Capital Mobilization and
Hands-on Relationships
White Paper Series
Innovation serves as an important tool in addressing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in new and accelerated ways. Particularly in the case of SDG 3 (which is dedicated to “Good Health and Well-being”), significant issues such as equity and impact are at stake in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), that critically translate to actual lives and the quality of these lives. This makes the scaling of innovations beyond the proof-of-concept stage a crucial priority. However, to scale beyond the proof-of-concept stage, innovators must overcome multiple barriers related to fragmented and immature markets, varying expectations of partnerships and customers, regulatory and legal barriers, team bandwidth, capability and expertise. To successfully unlock these barriers, innovations in global health require funds. This four-paper series focuses on the different tools available, as well as organizational decisions innovators need to make regarding financing opportunities and strategies.
What's inside
• A summary of the key barriers to scaling innovations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), best practices in the health innovation sector for success and a breakdown of support types available to innovators
• A guide to the types of financing offered by public and private funders and investors – mainly classified as grant, debt and equity – along with various market insights
• An examination of the different pathways to scale medical devices and technologies in LMICs
• Defining the dual-market strategy, different dual-market models, and insights, issues and opportunities in implementing this strategy
Who this is for
Innovators
Startups
Social Enterprises
Non-Profits
Development Funders
Donors
Investors
Private Companies
Government
Key takeaways

Technical Assistance Support for Health Innovations
- Successful engagement between Technical Assistance (TA) programs and innovators is dependent upon the compatibility and trust between the advisor and the innovator, the ability of the innovator to learn from advisors while also remaining in charge of their venture, as well as their ability to forge strong relationships that accelerate progress towards achieving key milestones
- There are several types of TA platforms available, and since each platform has specific offerings and expectations, it is key that TA platforms focus on their expertise and collaborate with other platforms focused on other aspects rather than attempting to address all barriers to scaling

Financing Instruments for Innovators to Scale Health Innovations
- There is a wide range of sources and types of capital available to innovators – weighing the pros and cons of each financing product is an important exercise for innovators as they seek to finance their growth
- Investors and funders must understand the consequences of the terms they impose through their financing activities, and the effect they can have on the future financeability of the investee organizations and the populations they serve

Models to Scale Healthcare Technologies
- The institutional origin (i.e. academic institutions, for-profit companies, non-profit organizations) of an innovation is often the primary driver of the scaling model pursued and the types of financing available to support that growth
- Popular pathways to scale for medical devices and technologies in LMICs include: Third-party licensing model, university spin-off model, LMIC growth model, dual-market strategy and scaling through a combination of revenues and grants
- Each scaling pathway presents its own set of opportunities and challenges that should be reviewed carefully by the innovator in order to secure the right type of financing, partnerships and teams to reduce the time needed to scale and increase the likelihood of success

Dual-market Scaling Strategies for Impact
- The dual-market strategy is a relatively underutilized business model for scaling early stage innovations in LMICs, and can be employed to address an overlap in health needs of patients in high income and LMIC markets while aligning collaboration interests between funders and investors
- Models of dual market investing include: Pure cross-subsidy, independent self-sustaining and synergistic models
- Successful dual market models require careful considerations of company, development funders and investors’ interests to align collaborative incentives and unlock critical scaling capital
More information
For more information, contact the EWEC Innovation Marketplace at [email protected]