The Governing Committee and Secretariat of the Outcomes Accelerator are thrilled to announce the winners selected for its third cohort. The third call for proposals, open across all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), was the most competitive to date, drawing over 500 expressions of interest from 90 countries — a testament to the growing global demand for outcomes-based financing (OBF).
Following a rigorous assessment process, the ten selected initiatives stood out for their innovation, technical feasibility, strong alignment with government priorities, and support from outcome funders. Officially unveiled at the 2025 OFA Summit in Cali, Colombia, these projects reflect a diverse and dynamic portfolio designed to deliver measurable results.
The Third Cohort spans a wide range of sectors and geographies—from refugee livelihoods in Kenya and education access for adolescent mothers in East Africa, to climate-smart agriculture in Brazil and clean water delivery in Cambodia. The portfolio balances early-stage experimentation with scaling of proven models, reflecting the growing maturity and reach of the OBF market. Together, they demonstrate a powerful shift toward strengthening local ecosystems, enabling domestic government leadership, and embedding results-based practices in public service delivery.
The winning projects are:
- Agroforestry Outcomes Fund (Brazil): The Landbanking Group is partnering with Belterra Agroflorestas to design a pioneering outcomes-based mechanism to finance sustainable agroforestry practices across 40,000 hectares in Pará, Brazil, integrating natural capital approaches into global food supply chains.
- Education Outcomes for Young Mothers (Kenya): Healthy Brains Global Initiative, in collaboration with UNFPA and other partners, is designing an outcomes-based initiative to support 30,000 marginalized adolescent mothers to complete their education and build pathways to future success.
- Holistic Learning Social Impact Bond (India): Dalberg Development Advisors is partnering with four local municipalities in India to launch an innovative education outcomes initiative focused on 21st-century skills development.
- Homelessness to Decent Work (South Africa): In Durban, the eThekwini Municipality, in partnership with City People, is launching an outcomes-based contract to transition 16,000 vulnerable homeless youth into employment and independent living. This marks the second round of funding from the Outcomes Accelerator for the initiative, which successfully completed a scoping study and is now in early-stage design for a pilot launch.
- Human-Wildlife Coexistence Outcomes Bond (Kenya and Thailand): The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is developing an outcomes bond to promote human-wildlife coexistence, enhance community resilience, and protect keystone species across Kenya and Thailand.
- Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund (South Africa): The Presidency of South Africa is scaling up its Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund, in partnership with the Department of Higher Education and Training and the National Skills Fund. The initiative aims to place excluded youth into sustainable, quality jobs, advancing economic inclusion at scale.
- Refugee Employment Outcomes Fund (Kenya): The Refugee Investment Network consortium in partnership with Village Enterprise, is collaborating with the Government of Kenya to spearhead a $20 million outcomes fund to create livelihood opportunities for 20,000 refugee and host community youth.
- Safe at Home Outcomes Bond (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Uganda): The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is mobilizing $20 million through an outcomes bond aimed at reducing gender-based violence among over 19,000 families in crisis-affected areas, based on its evidence-driven “Safe at Home” program.
- Scaling Sustainable Water Access (Cambodia): TapEffect Co. is expanding sustainable, privately-operated rural water systems through an outcomes-based contract, aiming to bring safe water access to 60,000 underserved households in Cambodia.
- Social Success Note for Natural Farming (India): Vrutti is launching an innovative Social Success Note to promote multi-layer natural farming practices, boosting agricultural resilience, food security, and ecological conservation in India. This initiative aims to directly benefit 4,000 tribal farmers and restore 60,000 acres of land through a scalable, replicable implementation model.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all our new cohort members. The Outcomes Accelerator looks forward to supporting you on your journey.
Watch the official announcement and stay tuned for more updates on the Third Cohort as these exciting projects progress toward implementation.
About the Outcomes Accelerator
The Outcomes Accelerator is a global initiative to accelerate more effective testing, scaling, and mainstreaming of outcomes-based financing approaches in the delivery of SDG impact. It offers flexible funding, targeted expertise, and networking to enable outcomes-based financing projects to launch. At the policy level, the Accelerator aims to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of development spending from the public and private sectors, to ultimately achieve the objectives of the SDGs. All proposals are competitively assessed against pre-defined evaluation and eligibility criteria that can be found here.
To learn more about the Outcomes Accelerator and our growing global community, visit outcomesaccelerator.org.
The Governing Committee of the Outcomes Accelerator is comprised by its funders, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the UBS Optimus Foundation and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK (FCDO), who are supported by Levoca LLC as the Secretariat.
