+ What are the size of the grants?

The size of the grants will be up to 25,000 USD.

+ When is the deadline?

The CFA Incubator application process will have two Phases.

Concepts for feedback (Phase I) must be submitted by January 24.

Full proposals must be submitted by February 20 (midnight EST).

+ What does the application process look like?

The application process for the CFA Incubator will take place over two concurrent windows, the Concept Feedback Window and the Open Call for Proposals. The Concept Feedback Window is designed to provide rapid feedback and refinement of initial ideas and is available to any proponent who submits a short concept. Once short concept applications are received (open until January 24) the CFA will provide either written feedback or will offer a brief discussion session (30 mins). Written feedback and discussions will occur on a rolling basis through February 12th. The Feedback Window seeks to generate stronger full proposals.

Full proposals are sought during the entire Open Call for Proposals and can be submitted without passing through the feedback process.

The closing date for full proposals is February 20th, 2025.

+ What materials do I need to submit?

The required material for Phase I is the shortened proposal online.

The required material for Phase II are the Full Proposal via this link, as well as any additional documents (such as a CV, Business Plan -if it exists- that you wish to include in your proposal).

+ When will winners be announced?

Successful organizations or individuals will be notified of their acceptance by mid-March, 2025.

+ All full proposals must demonstrate potential conservation benefit to be considered for funding.

The CFA Incubator is focused on innovative finance – not simply conservation enterprises.

There are some of the selection criteria*: Overall strength of concept (10%) Clarity of presentation (10%) Degree of innovation (10%) Skills and experience of the Proponent/Entrepreneur/Lead Actor (20%) Degree of potential conservation benefit / impact on nature (20%) Potential financial or economic impact (generating impact, aligning interests, or cost savings) (10%) Scalability and Replicability (10%) Likelihood of success (10%)

(*)Subject to change

+ Am I able to submit more than one proposal?

Yes, you can submit as many proposals as you would like for different ideas. But we would prefer only one concept per proponent (give us your best idea!)

+ How long should the detailed proposal be?

One to two pages. (See the online form).

+ How long should the Socioeconomic section be? Impact on nature section?

As short as one paragraph.

+ What stage of development are you looking for in a proposal?

We want the technical support and grant money provided by the Incubator to have the biggest impact possible. This means that we are ideally looking for ideas in the early stage or seed stage.

+ Is there a geographic focus?

The CFA is focused on high biodiversity areas, specifically the global south. We would love to see great concepts from Africa, but proposals are not restricted to any specific geographical region.

+ Are there specific ecosystems and conservation areas you would prefer to see concepts focused on?

No, we want to accept a broad range of proposals. Conservation benefit is part of the criteria, so proposals focused on areas/species that are more threatened or at higher risk will receive higher scores for that area of critique.

+ Do proposals need to be applicable globally?

Scalability and replicability are important, but (as we understand that legal structures and ecosystems vary globally) it is not necessary for your concept to be able to be applied globally.

+ Will you accept hypotheses for innovative ideas that still need to be researched or does it need to be something we know will work right now?

You have to be able to give us a sense that it can work. There needs to be enough information for the reviewers to assess the likeliness of success. We don’t need to know if it can work, these are meant to be innovative ideas.

+ What kinds of projects or companies were selected in the previous rounds?

Detailed descriptions of selected projects (round 1 and round 2) are available at the bottom of the Incubator page on the Conservation Finance Alliance website.

+ Why launch an Incubator?

It began as part of a grant proposal to Mava from CFA in 2017. We feel that conservation finance is a lever of change and can really make an impact by understanding and aligning the different interests of those involved in conservation. Great innovations have changed the course of conservation finance, and we want that to be happening more quickly. We have the money and have the team and we want to make this happen.

Now the third round of the CFA Incubator will run during 2025 with financial support from the Nature Transformation Fund run by Milkywire, in collaboration with Klarna.