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. In the health sector, particularly in Africa, grants often serve as the first layer of catalytic capital. They enable innovators to:
- Validate clinical or market assumptions
- Strengthen regulatory readiness
- Build early traction and impact evidence
- Develop governance and financial systems
- Demonstrate viability to future investors
Without access to this early-stage, risk-tolerant capital, promising health innovations stagnate. Many startups do not fail due to poor ideas; they fail because they cannot bridge the funding gap between prototype and sustainability.
For platforms like Health Tech Connect Africa (HTCA), improving grant readiness is therefore not simply a skills-building exercise; it is a strategic intervention in the financing pipeline. Strengthening founders’ ability to access grants directly improves their survival, investment readiness, and long-term scalability.
Event Type: Two-phase, outcome-driven capacity-building series
Venue: 8 Montgomery Road, Yaba
Event Dates:
- Phase 1 – March 31st
- Phase 2 begins – April 9th
Background
Within the HTCA platform, grant writing as a pathway to funding has consistently emerged as a priority need for healthtech founders and community innovators. While HTCA regularly curates and shares relevant grant opportunities, community engagement data reveals a persistent conversion gap: many founders are unable to move from awareness of opportunities to actual application and submission.
This gap is not driven by lack of interest, but by knowledge barriers including limited grant literacy, weak understanding of eligibility requirements, poor articulation of impact, and insufficient hands-on support to complete competitive proposals. As a result, funding opportunities shared across the platform remain underutilised, and viable health innovations struggle to access early-stage capital.
The HTCA Grant Writing Series is designed as DFH’s direct response to this gap. Rather than functioning as a one-off training, the series intentionally combines broad-based grant readiness building with selective, outcome-focused implementation support.
From a DFH practice perspective, the series is structured to generate clear evidence of activity, capability development, and conversion outcomes, reinforcing HTCA’s positioning as a high-value, enabling community platform. This series is exclusive to the HTCA community and also serves as a strategic lever for community growth.
Event Objectives
The Grant Writing Lab 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
Event Structure Overview
| Phase | Description | Access | Primary Outcome |
| Phase 1 | Grant Readiness & Fundamentals (Open Lab) | Open to only HTCA members | Improved readiness and clarity on grant applicability |
| Phase 2 | Review session | Selective cohort | Completed and submitted grant proposals |
Phase 1: Grant Readiness & Fundamentals (Open Session)
Description
Phase 1 is a physical, interactive grant writing session designed to help HTCA members understand how grant funding works, what funders expect, and whether their startup or organisation is realistically positioned to apply.
The session is deliberately practical and peer-led, facilitated by a member of the HTCA community with demonstrated success in winning competitive grants.
Target Audience
- Early-stage healthtech startups within HTCA
- Founders exploring grants as a funding pathway
- Community innovators with limited grant application experience
Format
- Physical, in-person session
- Practical facilitation
- Peer-led by a member startup with tract record of successful grant applications.
Core Outputs (Phase 1)
By the end of Phase 1, participants will have:
- Assessed their organisational and startup readiness for grants
- Identified at least one grant opportunity aligned with their stage
- Developed an outline of key proposal components
- Expressed interest in progressing to Phase 2 (where eligible)
Transition Mechanism: Phase 1 to Phase 2
Progression to Phase 2 is not automatic and is intentionally selective.
At the end of Phase 1, interested participants will be invited to submit an EOI capturing:
- Startup/organisation profile and stage
- Identified a grant opportunity
- Evidence of eligibility and readiness
- Team capacity and availability
- Commitment to timelines and deliverables
Phase 2: Proposal Development & Submission Sprint
Purpose and Scope
Phase 2 is a focused implementation sprint designed to support selected teams through a guided review to aid in the submission of real grant proposals. This phase is outcome-driven, with submission as the core success metric.
Scope includes:
- Identification and confirmation of 1-2 live grant calls
- A cohort of 2-3 startups/organisations. ( Innovators are either paired up or submit as a single entity)
- Structured review and iteration support by experienced founders
- Final proposal submission by participating teams
HTCA’s role in Phase 2 is to provide structure and guidance not to act as the applicant, co-applicant, or guarantor of funding success.
Roles and Accountability
HTCA Team
- Programme coordination and timeline management
- Facilitation of peer review session
- Documentation of outputs and learning
Participating Startups:
- Ownership of proposal content and submission
- Timely delivery of drafts and revisions
- Compliance with funder requirements
- Active participation during proposal review
Funding decisions and outcomes remain the sole responsibility of funders.
Selection Criteria for Phase 2
Selection will be based on:
- Clear eligibility and alignment with the selected grant call
- Demonstrated organisational or startup readiness
- Clarity of problem statement and proposed solution
- Capacity to meet timelines and deliverables
- Willingness to engage in feedback and peer learning
- Completion of HTCA Startup needs assessment form
- Completion of Phase 1 event feedback form
Priority may be given to start-ups aligned with DFH/HTCA focus areas and those with limited prior access to grant funding.
Participation Expectations (Phase 2)
Selected participants must:
- Attend all required sessions and check-ins
- Meet agreed submission timelines
- Share drafts for review and feedback
- Take full responsibility for submission processes and compliance
- Participate in post-submission follow-up for impact tracking
Failure to meet expectations may result in removal from the cohort.
Conclusion
The HTCA Grant Writing Series is designed as a practical, outcome-driven intervention that directly responds to a validated community need. By combining broad-based learning with targeted implementation support, HTCA aims to move founders from grant awareness to action, strengthening member’s ability to access funding. It serves as both a high-value intervention for HTCA founders and an enabling platform for healthtech innovation
