Save the Children has launched Save the Children Global Ventures, a new entity designed to catalyse private sector investment to transform the lives of the world's most disadvantaged children and their communities, ahead of International Children's Day on Sunday (Nov 20).
With global aid budgets stretched to breaking point under the burden of COVID, conflict and the climate crisis, the need to rethink and expand humanitarian funding streams has never been so urgent. It is estimated that the current size of the impact investing market is somewhere between US$500 billion and US$2.3 trillion.
Without more innovative, sustainable, and entrepreneurial sources of funding to tackle these challenges, the world will fall significantly short of meeting the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals which promised to leave no child behind by 2030.
Save the Children Global Ventures Founder and CEO, Paul Ronalds, said:
"It's critical we unlock private sector capital to test and scale new models of delivering significant impact to millions of children. There are massive untapped funding sources that organisations like ours have historically overlooked that could help us solve some of the most challenging problems facing children.
"As we come to terms with a rapidly changing world, taking action to ensure the ongoing growth of the social impact engine is imperative. This will be a game changer."
Building on its experience managing a portfolio of social enterprises and an impact investment fund in Australia since 2020, Save the Children Global Ventures will address urgent problems by leveraging innovative finance models, including impact investment, parametric insurance, and results-based financing that relies on proven results at scale to deliver funding.
These innovative sources of funding will complement traditional philanthropy, public fundraising and grants that play a vital role in supporting the child rights agency's work in many of the world's most fragile countries.
The portfolio includes the Children's Impact Endowment Fund, an open-ended perpetual endowment fund where financial returns from investments are recycled back to the Fund as an ongoing sustainable source of capital.
James Pearson, Head of Impact and Responsible Investments at QBE, a Save the Children Global Ventures partner, said:
"We are incredibly proud of our partnership with Save the Children, through which we are investing to provide the working capital to improve the capacity of local communities' response and recovery from social crisis. This commitment forms part of QBE's impact investing initiative Premiums4Good which helps create real world social and environmental impact alongside a financial return."
Over its more than 100-year history, Save the Children has developed a global delivery platform, deep technical expertise, and trusted relationships in more than 110 countries. Complementing this unique impact footprint with new and innovative finance capabilities and skills means it is well positioned to bring more projects and technologies to scale.
The organisation plans to tap into existing investment pools in a variety of innovative sectors worth billions - including digital health and education technology - improving value for money and increasing accountability through a greater focus on results for children most affected by inequality and discrimination.
Tim Paris, Co-Founder and CEO of Dataro, a portfolio company in Save the Children's Australian Impact Investment Fund, said:
"The investment received is helping to scale the roll out of Dataro's data innovation services to a greater number of non-profits who are currently struggling with outdated data practices. Dataro is the AI fast track for charities to use data innovation to increase revenue by removing unnecessary costs. While most big corporations today rely on data to maximise their efficiency and growth, charities have not had the budgets needed to do the same. This is where Dataro closes the gap."
In 2020, Save the Children Australia launched its pilot social impact investment fund, investing in edtech and health technology. Save the Children has also used results-based contracts to improve outcomes and offer improved value for money. These include a contract to help Tasmanian children in hard-to-reach areas improve their readiness for school, and another in Sierra Leone to improve primary school children's literacy and numeracy skills.
Save the Children has also supported grass roots social entrepreneurship through initiatives like Kumwe Hub, a Rwandan social enterprise that supports the growth and success of child-focused entrepreneurial companies.
By 2030, Save the Children Global Ventures aims to access more than US$1 billion in new funding by leveraging blended finance, results-based finance, impact investment, loan mechanisms and climate financing.
