Orange Corners Innovation Fund

The Orange Corners Innovation Fund (OCIF) is an initiative designed to address the financing needs of young entrepreneurs in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. By providing selected local fund managers with capital, OCIF enables investments in entrepreneurs who are often deemed too high-risk by traditional funding sources. The fund offers seed funding in the form of (soft) loans and grants, along with extensive technical assistance and capacity building to help these enterprises scale their businesses, improve investment readiness, and attract follow-up funding, ensuring sustainable growth. Launched in 2019, OCIF is expanding to 21 countries in 2024 and will continue until at least 2030. The program features two financing tracks: Track 1 provides entrepreneurs with a prototype voucher and monthly allowance, up to a maximum of €5,000 per entrepreneur. Track 2 selects 3-5 entrepreneurs at the end of each cohort through a pitch competition, offering each access to a maximum amount of €50,000 in startup seed funding, consisting partly of a grant and partly a loan, along with further business development support for a period of 12–18 months. The capital provided to the entrepreneurs is partly a grant and partly a loan, with terms and conditions varying per country. OCIF is managed by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) on behalf of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with local embassies and consulates of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. From its headquarters in The Hague, the fund works with local partners to strengthen ecosystems for young entrepreneurs in the target regions. The fund's mission is to promote entrepreneurship, innovation, and the development of innovative solutions to local challenges, eliminate one of the biggest obstacles for the development of early-stage startups by giving access to finance, attract a higher quantity and quality of applications for the Orange Corners incubation program(s), and provide a more attractive program for entrepreneurs and (potential) private sector partners to support.