Project: CORICAP Impact First
State of development: Current
Stage of development: Early stage
Type of instrument — Impact Bond: No; Outcomes Fund: No; Social Impact Incentives (SIINC): Yes; Social Impact Guarantee: No; Payment-by-results (no pre-financing): No; Technical Assistance and Market-building program: Yes; Other: 
Rationale for using outcome-based finance: We hope CORICAP's social impact incentives, which are core to our mission to nurture and catalyze Congolese entrepreneurs and startups, will have a snowball effect, catapulting the Congo into a key target for business funding and alleviate fears funders associate with the country.
As part of phase one, CORICAP intends to continuously refine our mode of intervention based on collected information, with the objective of reaching a tripartite equilibrium whereby businesses have access to capital, societal problems have solutions, and there are increased opportunities in the form of job creation. CORICAP's social impact incentives would potentially influence and promote the Congolese startup regulatory framework and draw attention to the challenges and opportunities of doing business in similar environments.
To do this well, CORICAP will initially rely on philanthropic and development financing to fund operations and provide evidence that Congo has investable assets in the form of talent and social enterprise.
Key challenges to launch: The biggest challenge we have faced in the project's development is the availability of positive information that counters the risks associated with Congo. While speaking to various stakeholders about the project, frequent questions and concerns expressed are on major risks such as security, government corruption and ease of doing business. These concerns imply that it is extremely difficult to set up an outcomes based financing instrument in a place like Congo. While challenging, at CORICAP, we believe that it is possible because of our cultural knowledge. We would be grateful for the Acceleratorâs support in providing guidance and assistance on refining our social impact incentives to ensure alignment with all key stakeholders while accounting for all idiosyncratic risks associated with the Congo. To do this well, we will require instruction on how to collect specific information that might ease investor concerns while also incorporating various risks in our financing structures.
Social/developmental challenge: Despite being the fourth largest country in Africa in terms of population size, Congo-based startups and entrepreneurs received less than 0.01% of investor funds in 2022. By contrast, Nigeria, the most populated, received 25%, while Egypt (third) received 19%. Congo's external perception as highly corrupt, lacking rule of law and adequate skilled talent, is the principal reason for the discrepancy. 
Civil war and ongoing instability that has plagued Congo for 25 years crippled every fragment of society. While San Francisco now has driverless taxis, 74% of people in Congo donât have access to a bank (including mobile money services). Given Congo's rapidly growing population, these challenges demand the utmost urgency to prevent an avoidable humanitarian disaster. CORICAP will leverage the power of machine learning and big data to identify the most pressing needs, and initiate creative solutions to deploy innovative finance with the aim of maximizing social impact.
Expected intervention model: CORICAP intends to launch the first phase of creating an innovation hub in Congo that will leverage big data (cellphone usage data, satellite imagery, social media) to create startups and businesses that tackle the countryâs most pressing needs. The aim of the innovation hub is to effectively allocate capital to ideas with the highest potential for social impact. 
CORICAP's program will identify current existing startups in Congo, and create a database of the smartest and most skilled people interested in pursuing entrepreneurship. Phase oneâs focus is to prove the existence of an investable cohort of talent and opportunities in Congo. For our startup cohort, CORICAP will coach participants by providing advisory support and expertise to strengthen the business models and improve operational efficiency. For the soon-to-be-entrepreneurs, CORICAP will: provide readiness training to familiarize members with realities of working in Congo, pair up individuals based on skills, and allocate societal challenges to be solved as identified by data and analytics.
Upon project completion, CORICAP will disseminate evidence globally of an investable database of promising startups, and paired skilled individuals solving complex problems that have plagued the Congolese society such as low financial inclusion rates or access to education.
Policy sectors — Employment and private sector development: Yes; Education: No; Social protection: No; Criminal justice: No; Health: No; Agriculture: No; Environment and climate change: No; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: No; Energy: No; Humanitarian: No; Early Childhood Education: No; Other: 
Primary SDG goal: 8, 9
Country income classification of beneficiaries — Low-income: Yes; Lower-middle-income: No; Upper-middle-income: No; High-income: No
Notes: Data for this pipeline project was last updated in August 2023. 
Delivery location: Democratic Republic of the Congo