Nexa Climate & Health Innovation Initiative 2026 (Up To $200,000 USD)

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Applications are open for Nexa Climate & Health Innovation Initiative 2026. Nexa is a global climate × health innovation initiative led by Grand Challenges Canada and the Science for Africa Foundation, together with a global consortium of partners investing in bold, locally led solutions that help health systems anticipate and respond to climate-driven health threats.

Nexa is investing in solutions that help local health actors turn climate-risk signals into timely action, reducing health harms from mosquito-borne infections, extreme heat, and poor air quality.

They are investing in bold, innovative solutions across Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean that enable local health actors to turn climate-driven health risk signals into timely health service delivery action, reducing health harms from mosquito-borne infections, extreme heat, and poor air quality.

With an estimated 3.6 billion people globally living in a climate-vulnerable region, the climate crisis is creating new health threats and making existing ones worse, putting added pressure on health systems already stretched thin.

As temperatures and rainfall patterns shift, mosquito-borne diseases are spreading into new areas, while extreme heat and poor air quality cause both immediate and long-term harm.

Climate-driven health risks fall hardest on the most vulnerable: pregnant women, children, the elderly, people with chronic illness, and communities with limited healthcare access. Local health systems need solutions to anticipate and respond to these risks.

Areas of Focus

Nexa was created to support local health actors to prepare and respond to the impact of these climate-related health threats. Drawing on

Changing mosquito ecology
Extreme heat
Poor air quality

They invest in innovations that address one or more of the following areas of focus:

Climate-informed early warning and monitoring systems to help communities prepare and respond to climate-related health threats

Solutions that help health actors anticipate and respond to the health impacts of extreme heat, poor air quality, and the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue
Solutions that integrate weather and climate data with health data to identify risk
Solutions that support decision-making and early action

Climate-responsive patient care delivery to support those most affected by climate-related health risks

Solutions that strengthen local response to mosquito-borne diseases, heat-related illness, and air quality-related conditions
Climate-smart approaches to diagnosis, treatment and continuity of care
Solutions that help health systems function more effectively under climate stress

What are Nexa Climate & Health Innovation Initiative investing in?

Proof of Concept innovations: meaning the testing of early-stage ideas, methods, or products. For more detail on how Nexa defines Proof of Concept, please refer to this helpful guide: Our Investment Approach.
Transition to Scale innovations: meaning approaches that have already been tested, proven to be effective, and are now ready to be implemented more widely. For more detail on how Nexa defines Transition to Scale, please refer to this helpful guide: Our Investment Approach.

Funding Amount

Proof of Concept funding amounts are up to $200,000 USD per innovation.
Transition to Scale funding amounts will range between approximately $250,000 – $2,000,000 USD per innovation at the Nexa partners’ discretion, depending on the maturity of the innovation.

Eligibility Criteria for Nexa Climate & Health Innovation Initiative

For Proof of Concept funding:
- Applicant organizations must be incorporated or equivalent in an eligible country in Africa, or in Brazil only (not elsewhere in Latin America or the Caribbean). See the complete list of eligible countries in Appendix B of the Funding Opportunity.
For Transition to Scale funding:
- Applicant organizations can be incorporated or equivalent in any country but must implement in eligible countries in Africa, Latin America, or the Caribbean. See the complete list of eligible countries in Appendix B of the Funding Opportunity.