Using Outcome Harvesting to tell the story of Innovation Start-up Grants: The Case of I-Growth Accelerator Programme

Access to credit is a significant obstacle for innovation start-ups in Uganda due to the lack of collateral, credit history, and financial literacy. To address this issue, UDB and RAN Lab launched the UDB i-Growth Accelerator program, which supports entrepreneurs in growing and expanding their startup enterprises. The program targets individuals with innovative project ideas focused on transformative technologies or approaches, with proof of concept.

To capture the impact of the program, Outcome Harvesting (OH) was employed to track and document the program's outcomes and successes. The use of OH allowed for a more nuanced understanding of the program's impact on addressing issues such as financial access, and youth unemployment. Additionally, OH facilitated storytelling as a means of communicating the program's success stories to a wider audience.
The program's long-term goal is to become a vehicle for crowd-funding innovations, further contributing to accelerating socio-economic development through sustainable financial interventions.