Strengthening the Health Innovation Pipeline Through Blended Finance and Grant Readiness
Across emerging markets, health startups frequently encounter what is widely described as the “valley of death”, the high-risk stage between early innovation and sustainable scale. At this stage, founders have proof of concept but lack the structured capital, credibility, and business maturity required to attract institutional investors. This is where blended financing becomes critically important.
Blended finance strategically combines grant capital, concessional funding, catalytic capital, and private investment to de-risk innovation, crowd in investors, and enable startups to transition from validation to scale.
The HTCA Grant Writing Lab Series is designed as a capacity-building session. This is a two-part training series that intentionally combines broad-based grant readiness building with selective, outcome-focused implementation support. This approach enables HTCA to move beyond convening conversations toward enabling measurable action and tangible funding outcomes.
Event Objectives
The Grant Writing Series aims to:
Improve grant literacy and readiness among HTCA members
Enable founders to accurately assess grant fit and eligibility
Strengthen proposal development capability through practical, guided support
Support selected startups to complete and submit competitive grant proposals
Generate documented evidence of HTCA’s contribution to ecosystem outcomes
Target Audience
Early-stage healthtech startups within HTCA
Founders exploring grants as a funding pathway
Community innovators with limited grant application experience