APAC Sustainability Seed Fund
Supporting the most innovative tech-driven solutions to combat climate change and drive sustainability in Asia Pacific
WITH SUPPORT FROM
About the fund
The APAC Sustainability Seed Fund is a new landmark initiative catalyzed by AVPN, with support from Google.org and Asian Development Bank (ADB) as the strategic and outreach partner, to combat climate change and drive sustainability in the Asia Pacific region.
Asia Pacific, especially low lying and small island countries, is extremely vulnerable to disastrous impacts of climate change such as extreme precipitation events, heat waves, rising sea levels, and loss of biodiversity. And the USD 3 M APAC Sustainability Seed Fund will scale up the most innovative nonprofit sustainability initiatives and solutions that help vulnerable and underserved communities in eleven (11) market countries – Australia, India, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong – to adapt and mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change.
The fund will provide grants to support scaling up non-profit innovations in the following areas:
- Increasing access to renewable energy /decarbonisation efforts
- Adaptation to the effects of climate change
- Biodiversity protection
- Water preservation
- Circular economy
- Air quality
- Waste management
Who is eligible to apply?
Organisation Status
- A registered nonprofit organization
- Operates in at least one of the 11 target markets, which are: Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
- Cleared from all global sanctions lists (including South Korea), nor blacklisted by any UN or international agency
- Should NOT be the following;
- Religious organisation (e.g. church, synagogue, mosque etc.)
- Consortium (only single application is allowed)
Impact Areas
You are eligible to apply if your work covers any one of these areas:
Non profit organizations are working to address climate change and drive sustainability by leveraging technology, which include but not limited to:
- Increasing access to renewable energy/decarbonisation efforts;
- Adaptation to the effects of climate change;
- Biodiversity protection;
- Water preservation;
- Circular economy;
- Air quality;
- Waste management
Governance & Ask
- Applicants need to show track record of financial accounts (audited accounts preferred, if available)
- Applicants need to show a track record of default tax payment/compliance.
- We aim to support minimum eight (8) grantees across Asia Pacific regions.
- Grant size range from USD 100k to 250k (AVPN hold the right to amend the grant disbursed)
- Intellectual Property (IP) rights developed through this fund must be open sourced. Code must be licensed under Apache 2.0, and other materials under the CC-BY-4.0 International license
Grant application timeline
21 JUNE 2022
Announcement
july - december 2022
Information Sessions
Information Sessions will be conducted on from 28th July to 6th December 2022, each with a different market focus as follows:
- 28th July 2022: South Korea and Japan Markets
- 21st September 2022: Taiwan and Hong Kong Markets
- 22nd September 2022: Singapore and India Markets
- 9th November 2022: Indonesia Market
- 10th November 2022: Thailand Market
- 14th November 2022: Vietnam Market
- 6th December 2022: Australia and New Zealand Markets
Learn more about this Fund and stay updated with the latest information by registering your interest here.
9 November 2022
Call for Applications Opens
31 January 2023
Closing Date
March 2023
Grantees Announced
Frequently Asked Questions
Maximum funding is USD $250,000 per successful application.
No. Currently, the funding will only be given for 1 (one) time period.
Selected non profit organizations can use the fund to support building of their organizational capacity as well as to support the proposed project. You can use the fund to support indirect, overhead costs, but organizations need to demonstrate how receiving the funding can further their mission aligned to the funds’ thematic areas.
Incorporation or adoption of technology within the solution is a key eligibility
criteria for the applications with the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund.
No, selected organizations don’t need to match the funding. However, you are free to match or to source other funding resources that may contribute to scale up your proposed project.
Yes, a nonprofit applicant can have strategic partnerships with other organizations to help implement the project.
No. Currently the fund is designed for the 11 markets, which are Australia, Hong
Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan,
Thailand, and Vietnam.
Yes. An eligible nonprofit organization can within the 11 target markets can apply for
solution to be implemented outside its origin market as long as still fall under the
target markets. I.e. A nonprofit organization in Singapore can apply for a solution to
be implemented in Indonesia or other target markets.
Yes. As long as the organization is registered as a nonprofit in the target markets.
Yes. As long as the organization is registered as a nonprofit in the target markets.
You can apply for the fund via the Application Portal.
New Users on the Application Portal
- Register for a new Account Here.
- Login to your account, and create a Business Account.
- Click on the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund: Apply for the fund
- Fill up the form as complete as possible.
Existing Users on Application Portal
- Login to your existing account Here.
- If you forget your password, you may reset it by clicking the “Forgotten your Password” link.
- Click on the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund: Apply for the fund
- Fill up the form as complete as possible.
For further queries, please reach to out to the AVPN Team at funds@avpn.asia
Applications are evaluated by an Operating and Grant Committee based on the criteria that have been shared. The application form requires you to provide information about your organisation and your solution across the following criteria:
- Impact. Whether the project will improve the environment through the proposed solution to address sustainability challenges
- Innovation. Whether the project will tackle the issue it seeks to address in a new and creative way using technology
- Reach. How the project will impact the environment if successful and the extent of the impact on the environment
- Scalability. If successful, the expected outcomes of the project in 5 years and whether the project can serve as a model for other communities
- Feasibility. Whether the project has a well-developed, realistic plan of execution; Whether you have identified the right partners for implementation
Although there are no specific restrictions, project operation and evaluation are typically carried out within a 12 months period. However you are free to design the project for a longer than 12 months period.
All code and intellectual property (IP) rights need to be under open source license. It means that all IP developed under the fund must comply with the Apache License 2.0 (Apache 2.0), and for other intellectual property it must comply with the international standard CC-BY-4.0.
[Apache 2.0 License]
This is a software-only license (educational programs, textbooks, etc. X).
The institution must distribute the software developed through this fund to everyone, and if any user wants to use, modify, or distribute this software, it can be used without the permission of the institution.
[CC-BY-4.0]
Every creative commons without software(including books, contents, report) should follow this license.
The institution must distribute the software developed through this fund to everyone, and if any user wants to use, modify, or distribute this content, users should give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
Implementation Partners
The application portal, EnQuire™, is powered by our digital partner Tactiv. An account needs to be created on the portal before starting an application.
