Written by Nils Sjard Schulz, Founding Partner of MultiPolar and Key Expert in a consortium developing the new India De-Risking Fund. Nils works at the interface of development cooperation, finance, and impact — exploring how guarantees and inclusion can shape the next generation of blended-finance instruments..

The October 2025 Convergence–Mirova case study on the Gigaton Fund reads almost like a textbook on how far blended finance has come — and how much further it can go as we enter the final stretch toward 2030. With a USD 400 million target and the innovative layering of junior equity alongside Sida’s USD 50 million portfolio guarantee, Mirova achieved a 5.8 : 1 leverage ratio, mobilizing more than five times the concessional capital invested. It proved that, with the right architecture, private investment can flow into clean-energy markets once considered too risky.

For those of us designing the next generation of de-risking vehicles — such as the India De-Risking Fund under development with GIZ, EAAA, Luther, and MultiPolar — the real lessons lie beyond the capital stack. They appear in the honest challenges the case study documents: a technical-assistance facility that launched too late, fixed-rate pricing that couldn’t adapt when markets shifted, and a credit rating that remained elusive despite strong fundamentals. The insight is in how we design finance as a bridge — between investors and impact, between markets and communities, between risk and fairness — and in our willingness to learn from what cracks along the way.

1. From impact reporting to impact architecture

What impressed me most about Mirova was not its size but its discipline in making impact a function, not a footnote. Its ESG and gender team didn’t just report results — they shaped investment decisions. That’s the kind of DNA we need to carry forward: impact not as compliance but as operating principle.

In India, we want to go one step further. Our fund’s impact logic will live inside the investment process — aligned with SDG 7, 13, and 5 and guided by the 2X Challenge and IRIS+. Each transaction will trace a line from finance to purpose: clean-energy access, women’s participation, and climate resilience.

2. Technical assistance as connective tissue

Another clear takeaway: technical assistance (TA) is not an accessory — it is the bridge between capital and capability. Mirova learned this the hard way, raising its TA window too late. For us, TA will evolve in parallel with the fund, helping local enterprises strengthen ESG, gender, and financial systems from the start. TA, in this sense, is also a de-risking instrument — it protects impact as much as capital.

3. Designing for learning and flexibility

The future of blended finance depends on adaptability. Mirova’s fixed-rate rigidity became a constraint when markets shifted. Our approach is different: the India De-Risking Fund is being designed as a living structure — flexible in instruments, responsive to market dynamics, and humble enough to learn in real time. The guarantee comes first, but the system will breathe with the market.

4. Leave No One Behind

Perhaps the most vital bridge we must build is social. Leave No One Behind (LNOB) is not a slogan — it’s a structural principle. In our design, concessional capital and guarantees are intentionally directed toward those excluded from mainstream finance: women-led enterprises, micro-manufacturers, and underserved regions. Inclusion is not a by-product; it’s the investment thesis.

5. Local roots, global reach

This new generation of funds must blend institutions as creatively as it blends capital. By linking EAAA’s Indian platform with GIZ’s guarantee interface, MultiPolar’s impact expertise, and European investors’ risk appetite, we’re creating a partnership that is as much about shared learning as it is about financing.

Blended finance will always be about numbers. But its future — especially as we move beyond 2030 — will be defined by values: transparency, inclusion, and purpose. The bridge between finance and development must connect private capital not only to bankable projects but to meaningful ones — those that expand opportunity, strengthen resilience, and truly leave no one behind.

Because the real innovation is not in how we structure capital but in how we structure collaboration — so that finance itself becomes a force for sustainable, human-centered change.

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This reflection draws on publicly available case-study findings and sector experience. It is an independent professional commentary and not connected to any ongoing funding process or proposal review.