Mercy Corps Ventures Anticipatory Action Accelerator 2025 (Up to $100,000)

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Mercy Corps Ventures’ Humanitarian Venture Lab has launched the world’s first-of-its-kind Anticipatory Action Accelerator. This initiative, building on recent Anticipatory Action (AA) pilots completed in Kenya and Nepal, will partner with startups, NGOs, and more to usher in a new era of humanitarian aid, leveraging innovations in tech such as climate data analytics, AI/ML, and crypto payment rails.

Their goals are:

In the immediate term, identify promising Anticipatory Action solutions and fund their implementation to better prepare climate-vulnerable people for the effects of climate change
Across a portfolio of pilots, build the evidence base on how Anticipatory Action can represent a more responsive, efficient and just future for humanitarian aid
Scale up Anticipatory Action programs around the world and crowd-in new capital to this solution

The Challenge

Nearly 300 million people around the world require humanitarian assistance. In 2023, USD 223.7 billion was allocated for aid, comparable to the annual GDPs of New Zealand, Portugal, and Qatar. However, 99% of this aid is issued reactively, delivered only after negative impacts have already been experienced. This means that only 1% of humanitarian aid is currently spent on proactively reducing and managing risks.

Yet more than half of all humanitarian crises are predictable, with 20% being highly predictable. Research shows that Anticipatory action (aid delivered before disaster strikes) is 7x more cost-effective than traditional humanitarian aid.

How can we design a humanitarian aid system that can preemptively identify crises and reduce the negative impact of shock events, allowing climate-vulnerable people to build resilience?

Anticipatory Action Accelerator Focus Area

The Anticipatory Action Accelerator is focused on the intersection of advanced climate analytics, crypto payments, and humanitarian aid. With our selected partners, we aim to push the boundaries to improve the lives and livelihoods of underserved users across the Global South.

Eligibility Criteria

The initiative seeks to partner with organizations operating in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Pacific Islands, and Western Balkans who are piloting Anticipatory Action solutions to improve humanitarian aid delivery.

Anticipatory Action Accelerator Benefits

Equity-free grants of up to $100,000 will be provided to selected partners, based on the achievement of pre-agreed milestones.
Alongside capital, MCV will also provide mentorship, impact measurement advisory, access to partnership opportunities, knowledge exchange, and brand exposure.