Global Innovation Fund
Global Innovation Fund is a non-profit impact investor, launched in London in 2014, that funds innovations for the world's poorest. Its water bets sit inside that mission: affordable solar irrigation and prepaid metering that put clean water within reach of low-income households. As of 2026 it has backed 2 water companies across 2 deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Global Innovation Fund was announced from a podium in 2014 by then UK prime minister David Cameron, as a new kind of aid vehicle. GIF is a non-profit that writes grants, loans and equity cheques from $50,000 to $15 million into ideas that help people living on less than $5 a day, and its founding $200 million came from an unusual table: the UK, the US, Australia, Sweden and the Omidyar Network. From its London base, with offices in Washington, Nairobi and Singapore, GIF has committed around $150 million to nearly 80 innovations across the developing world.
GIF comes at water from the opposite end of most funds I track. Where they chase industrial reuse, membranes or digital utilities in wealthy markets, GIF treats water as basic infrastructure for the world's poorest, and both of its water companies sit on that seam. Agros builds solar-powered irrigation that lets smallholder farmers across Cambodia, Myanmar and Indonesia swap expensive diesel pumps for the sun. CityTaps makes prepaid smart water meters that let utilities pipe clean water to low-income urban households and take payment over mobile money. The common thread is water as a tool against poverty, not a market to be optimised.
Today GIF is run by Joseph Ssentongo, who took over as chief executive in March 2025 after the fund's founding CEO stepped down, and its investing is led by chief investment officer Avinash Mishra. In 2024 GIF launched GIF Growth, a returnable-capital arm built to help proven innovations scale, and it has steered new money toward climate adaptation, where water security sits near the centre. For a newcomer the frame is simple: GIF is a development funder that owns a small but deliberate slice of the water story, and when it backs a water company it is usually because the technology answers a question about who gets to drink, farm or stay dry on less than $5 a day.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Global Innovation Fund invest in?
- Global Innovation Fund invests in innovations that improve life for people in low- and middle-income countries, across health, agriculture, financial inclusion, education and climate adaptation. Its water work fits that mission: affordable solar irrigation and prepaid metering that bring clean water to poor households. GIF backs ideas with grants, loans and equity.
- Is Global Innovation Fund a water fund?
- Global Innovation Fund is not a water fund. It is a non-profit impact investor backing innovations for the world's poorest across many sectors, and water is a small, deliberate part of that. GIF has backed 2 water companies across 2 deals, both aimed at water access in developing markets rather than industrial water technology.
- Who runs Global Innovation Fund?
- Global Innovation Fund is led by chief executive Joseph Ssentongo, appointed in March 2025 after serving as chief operating officer and acting CEO. Its investing is run by Avinash Mishra, chief investment officer and head of GIF Growth, who leads the risk-capital team behind its water and climate bets.
- Where is Global Innovation Fund based?
- Global Innovation Fund is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with offices in Washington, D.C., Nairobi and Singapore. Launched in 2014 with founding backing from the UK, US, Australian and Swedish governments and the Omidyar Network, GIF invests across more than 30 low- and middle-income countries.
- Is the Global Innovation Fund a government agency?
- Global Innovation Fund is an independent non-profit and registered UK charity, not a government agency, though it launched in 2014 with money from the UK, US, Australian and Swedish governments alongside the Omidyar Network. It makes its own investment decisions from London, a step removed from any single donor.