Who we help
Blended finance partners for Africa’s missing middle
ARK Group International works with development finance institutions, foundations, impact investors and governments to get capital to the small and growing businesses that need it most, and to make that capital go further.
Why the missing middle needs partners
Most blended finance happens at a scale small businesses cannot reach. Convergence, the global network for blended finance, recorded a median deal size of US$65 million in 2024, while a growing business may need a few hundred thousand dollars. The businesses with the most to gain sit in between: too large for microfinance, not yet ready for development finance institutions. Reaching them takes partners who can work at their scale, and businesses that are ready to use the money well.
Our approach: disaggregated blended finance
Disaggregated blended finance is ARK Group International’s term for building the blend at the level of the individual business, one source of funding at a time, rather than inside a single large structured deal. The business wins grants, uses them to remove the risks that deter investors and to become investment-ready, and then, where it is needed, raises private finance on the strength of what the grants made possible.
The logic is the same as in any blended finance: concessional money goes first and takes the risk that private money will not. The difference is that this route is open to businesses that will never be part of a US$65 million transaction.
What ARK brings
Businesses prepared for funding.
Small and growing businesses across seven countries that have worked with ARK on funding, investment readiness and their trading income, including through Built to Scale.
A route for catalytic capital.
Grants and concessional funding placed with individual businesses to remove a named risk and show readiness, so that private investment can follow.
Research and policy insight.
Studies of diaspora investment and business finance, published by ODI Global and with the International Growth Centre, drawing on consultations with 27 institutions in Ghana and 30 in Sierra Leone.
Diaspora networks.
Our focus on diaspora investment opens a source of patient, committed capital that most funders cannot reach on their own.
Experienced leadership.
Our Managing Director, Joevas Asare, has served as an ODI Fellow and an IGC Policy Economist, and held development finance roles at the Commonwealth Secretariat and the African Development Bank.
Ways to work together
Speak with our cohort.
Meet the ventures in ARK’s Built to Scale cohorts, organisations creating impact across Africa that are preparing for funding and investment.
Collaborate across the ecosystem.
Work with ARK on joint initiatives that strengthen how Africa’s small and growing businesses are financed.
Who we have worked with
ARK’s research is published by ODI Global and with the International Growth Centre. The organisations we have supported include BioMassters in Rwanda, The FlipFlopi Project in Kenya, Wamiagro in Ghana and Freetown Waste Transformers in Sierra Leone, which went on to raise funding from the GSMA Innovation Fund and Climate Fund Managers. Built to Scale is taught with specialist experts Andy Ayim MBE and Janine Aguilera.
A partnership in practice
Freetown Waste Transformers, Sierra Leone
A GSMA Innovation Fund grant paid for an app that removed the biggest risk in the company’s model: securing enough sorted organic waste. The results helped it secure a US$3.9 million development investment from Climate Fund Managers, with a further US$20.3 million possible if the first phase succeeds. ARK advised the company throughout.
Read the case studyQuestions funders and partners ask
How is disaggregated blended finance different from conventional blended finance?
Conventional blended finance happens inside a fund, facility or large project, usually worth tens of millions of dollars, and is put together by development finance institutions and fund managers. Disaggregated blended finance happens in a single business’s own funding journey, at the scale of tens or hundreds of thousands, usually in sequence: grants first, investment after.
Which funders and partners does ARK work with?
Development finance institutions, foundations and grant funders, impact investors, governments and other organisations working to finance small and growing businesses in Africa.
How does ARK prepare businesses for investment?
Mainly through Built to Scale, ARK’s five-week accelerator. Businesses map their funding landscape, build a strategy for growing their trading income, define their ideal investor profile and shape an investment offer that manages risk, ending with a funding and catalytic growth roadmap.
How can funders and partners work with ARK?
Funders and partners can speak with the ventures in ARK’s Built to Scale cohorts and collaborate with ARK on joint work across the ecosystem. To start a conversation, email fundbridge@arkgroupint.com.
