Innovating
for Impact

Three women in colorful dresses sit on a wooden bench outdoors, smiling and looking at a phone together in front of a rustic building.

Redefining what’s possible through
technology and innovative financing

From testing new digital tools in rural Uganda to transforming how international development is funded and measured, innovation is part of our DNA. This year, Village Enterprise piloted new technologies like SPRINT (Scaling Poverty Reduction through Innovation and New Technologies) to scale faster and smarter, harnessed artificial intelligence to listen and learn from the communities we serve, and advanced outcomes-based financing models that reward real, verifiable impact. Together, these innovations are helping us reach more families and ensure every dollar invested translates into lasting change.

Two entrepreneurs receive their business grant via cash transfer in Rulindo, Rwanda

Advancing Digital Solutions in Rural Africa

We’re leveraging digital tools and emerging technologies to make our poverty graduation model more efficient, scalable, and responsive—ensuring that entrepreneurs across rural Africa can access training, mentorship, and insights like never before.

A person points at a business bar graph displayed on a tablet screen while sitting at a table covered with pink cloth.

A man in a white polo shirt uses a tablet device in a room with yellow walls, plastic chairs, and a few other people seated in the background.

Three women sit indoors on benches, wearing white shirts and patterned skirts. The woman in front looks toward the camera; the room has beige walls and a barred window.

Scaling Faster and Driving Impact with SPRINT

Village Enterprise is currently piloting our most ambitious digital innovation yet—SPRINT (Scaling Poverty Reduction through Innovation and New Technologies). Launched in Uganda’s Kapelebyong and Omoro districts, SPRINT equips our Product Scaling Officers and entrepreneurs with digital tools like Kolibri for training, WhatsApp for mentoring, and DreamSave for group savings management. With this approach, each officer can now reach five to ten times more first-time entrepreneurs than our traditional model—supporting up to 600 businesses in a single year. By reducing costs by more than 50% and increasing scale, SPRINT has the potential to transform how we deliver our poverty graduation model—bringing opportunity to more women, refugees, and youth across rural Africa. In the coming year, we plan to expand SPRINT across additional regions in Uganda and into western Kenya, with the goal of reaching 15,000 entrepreneurs by mid-2026.

More on SPRINT

Harnessing AI to Elevate Entrepreneur Voices

To better capture and learn from the lived experience of the entrepreneurs we serve, Village Enterprise partnered with Rural Senses to pilot our first AI-powered qualitative evaluation. We started by collecting over 115 hours of interviews in the local dialect from our entrepreneurs in Busia, Kenya. Using Rural Senses’ AI platform, we then transcribed, translated, and analyzed these rich narratives, achieving a 65% cost reduction and 90% faster turnaround compared to traditional qualitative studies, while maintaining the authenticity and nuance of local voices. The analysis surfaced powerful stories of resilience, food security, and empowerment, as well as persistent challenges such as limited access to markets and capital. Some key findings include: 100% of participants reported improved food security, 82% expressed confidence in sustaining their businesses, and 73% of women reported greater decision-making authority at home. These insights are already informing program improvements and will continue to inform our strategic priorities around climate resilience, gender equity, and inclusive market systems. Looking ahead, AI-enabled evaluations offer Village Enterprise a transformative opportunity to scale real-time feedback, track participant sentiment over time, and ensure our programs remain deeply grounded in the voices and aspirations of the entrepreneurs we serve. As we embrace these technologies, we remain committed to using AI ethically, responsibly, and with humility—always keeping our human connection to communities at the center of everything we do.

Entrepreneurs at their farm in the Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement, Uganda

Pioneering Innovative Financing

Together with governments, funders, and local partners, we’re shaping a new standard for development—one where financing is tied directly to proven outcomes and sustainable impact.

CHECK OUT OUR WORK IN THE NEWS

Four people stand in a green agricultural field, with one person holding a tablet and others listening; watering cans are on the ground, and mountains are visible in the background.

Village Enterprise’s Impact First Initiative

Ending extreme poverty—the United Nations’ first Sustainable Development Goal—remains off track. With a $4.2 trillion annual financing gap, too much aid still rewards activities and outputs rather than proven results. Village Enterprise believes development funding must not only work differently, it must drive impact.

Through our Impact First Initiative, we are championing a simple but powerful idea: more aid should be tied directly to verifiable outcomes that deliver lasting impact for families living in extreme poverty. Building on our experience implementing the Village Enterprise Development Impact Bond—the first of its kind for poverty alleviation in Africa—we are working to reshape how global development is financed and measured.

As we expand through partnerships, we are equipping governments and local organizations with the tools, systems, and financing mechanisms to implement poverty graduation programs that drive results. By doing so, we are not only holding ourselves accountable for results but fostering a culture of evidence, efficiency, and impact across the sector—ensuring sustainable change at scale.

Two people shake hands across an office desk with documents, in front of a window and a flag.

Three women sit around a table and exchange money.

A group of two women and three childern standing in a row.

Innovative Financing to End Extreme Poverty

Village Enterprise, in partnership with the Government of Rwanda and the Fund for Innovation in Development, has launched a $25.7 million outcomes-based initiative to end extreme poverty in Rwanda by 2030. Announced as a Clinton Global Initiative 2025 Commitment to Action, this first-of-its-kind national effort will scale our proven poverty graduation model through outcomes-based financing that ties funding directly to measurable results. Over the next three years, the program will empower 116,000 households across six districts, reaching 580,000 people. By 2030, the program aims to equip 700,000 households to run small businesses, transforming more than 4.6 million lives. Combining the long-term infrastructure of government systems with the agility and innovation of civil society, Village Enterprise will provide technical assistance and build capacity—creating a scalable blueprint for government-led, impact-focused entrepreneurship models that can drive systemic change across Africa.

A woman stands and smiles next to a wooden pen holding several goats eating hay in a rustic farm setting.

Four women and a child sit on a concrete bench against a wall, looking at documents and books together.

Funding Impact with Common Good Marketplace

In October 2024, Village Enterprise became the first organization to list poverty impact assets from Africa on Common Good Marketplace, a pioneering social outcomes marketplace that is redefining how impact is financed. Much like carbon credits, these marketplaces allow donors to purchase Verified Impact Assets (VIAs), which are independently validated outcomes that directly advance progress on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Recently, we expanded this work with a new milestone: VIAs from Rwanda are now available for sale, each rigorously audited by a third-party validator, Moonshot Global, to ensure results are real, measurable, and lasting. This has drawn global attention—our partnership with CGM and work with VIAs was selected as a pilot for the World Economic Forum’s Tradeable Impact Initiative, positioning Village Enterprise at the forefront of transforming development outcomes into trusted, investable assets. Proceeds from the sales of VIAs directly fund our work—equipping more women, refugees, and youth living in extreme poverty with the tools to launch businesses, increase incomes, and build brighter futures. With every purchase, donors can invest in poverty alleviation that is both verifiable and transformative.

A group of people in brightly colored clothing stand in a circle under a large tree in a dry landscape, with yellow containers on the ground nearby.

Strengthening Local Leadership

Village Enterprise is advancing a bold vision: to demonstrate how outcomes-based approaches can channel more funding directly to local organizations. In partnership with select East African organizations, we are co-designing and piloting results-based financing (RBF) frameworks that align resources with measurable results. This work not only strengthens local capacity to deliver cost-effective poverty graduation programs, but also provides proof points for governments and funders on how aid can be structured for greater accountability and efficiency. By linking funding to results and verified outcomes, we are helping to build sustainable systems where local organizations lead, communities thrive, and development solutions are rooted in long-term impact.

Innovating for Impact

Redefining what’s possible through technology and innovative financing