INVEST Year 4 Quarter 2 Report

INVEST works with the private sector to mobilize private capital for development and is a key mechanism that USAID can use to engage the private sector. INVEST is fast and flexible and can respond with tailored approaches to USAID and market needs. INVEST fosters operational and technical innovation for better development outcomes and impact across USAID. INVEST is the result of co-creation and is driven by a research and learning mandate. INVEST's approach focuses on building municipal government capacity in India and Vietnam to engage the private sector in education and clean energy initiatives. Additionally, INVEST is piloting new corporate investment models to provide safe and affordable water at scale. Research is being conducted to build Mission capacity in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean to implement Public-Private Sector Engagement (PSE) approaches. INVEST is also conducting investment opportunity assessments, structuring funds and financial instruments, and providing transaction advisory services. INVEST has engaged over 380 partner firms from the investment and development community with specialized technical and financial expertise. These partners have expertise in 14 technical areas and have experience working in 200 countries. INVEST has also engaged over 80 partner firms to develop and implement technical activities. Innovative procurement and rapid subcontracting processes have led to faster implementation. INVEST generates evidence that builds the knowledge base on PSE and blended finance approaches for development. This evidence is widely distributed and targeted learning and communications products share it with USAID and partners to build USAID capacity and improve future applications. INVEST has published 11 learning blogs and four "Voices from the USAID Finance and Investment Network" video interviews in the second quarter of Year 4. These publications shared lessons learned in designing investment models for emerging markets, promoting gender-smart practices in emerging market SMEs, blended finance interventions in global health, and implementing regional strategies to drive investment into higher-risk countries. INVEST has mobilized $183 million in capital and closed 25 transactions. INVEST provides transaction advisory services targeted at closing investment deals and catalytic funding for asset managers to leverage USAID resources and mobilize capital for development. INVEST is actively supporting transactions worth $1.91 billion and has a cumulative capital mobilized of $183 million.