DIV In the News

This paper evaluates early investments made by USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) fund, calculating a portfolio-level benefit‑cost ratio of approximately 17.6 and a social rate of return exceeding 143 %, based on data from five selected innovations.

Vox article about the 2023 bipartisan Fostering Innovation in Global Development Act, using DIV as an example of effective grantmaking that should influence how other foreign assistance is provided.

US Global Leadership Coalition article arguing that leveraging innovation and evidence-backed scaling models in global development - exemplified by Development Innovation Ventures - can dramatically increase the return on aid dollars and amplify impact worldwide.

CGD blog says that all three 2019 Economics Nobel laureates highlight Development Innovation Ventures as a U.S. government initiative combining experimentation, scaling, and impact-oriented aid.

Moneyball for Government highlights the value and approach of DIV in its chapter on data and evidence in foreign assistance.

SSIR article argues that government can adopt a “lean startup” ethos by funding, testing, and scaling new ideas, highlighting USAID’s DIV as a model of applying venture-style experimentation to public programs.

Article in The Economist about the importance of approaching development in a different way, including Development Innovation Ventures as an example of this approach.
 

Vox article about DIV leader Sasha Gallant's approach to supporting innovation in development and how DIV's approach can be a model for others looking to support effective, evidence-based global development work.

Brookings article notes that a “quiet revolution” is reshaping U.S. foreign assistance by elevating innovation approaches like DIV to amplify impact and catalytic funding.

Michael Kremer delivering his 2019 Nobel Prize Lecture on “Experimentation, Innovation, and Economics,” and naming Development Innovation Ventures  (starting around 23:55) as an institution that crowdsources innovations and funds them for broader impact.

Financial Times article describes how development aid agencies are adopting Silicon Valley–style innovation strategies like those behind DIV in order to better attract and incubate new solutions.

Foreign Policy article argues that while Silicon Valley’s tech ethos offers promise for tackling global challenges, the real innovation in development may come from government-driven models like USAID’s DIV which blend experimentation, scaling, and rigorous impact evaluation.

Reporting highlighting the first ten years of DIV, showing the tiered, evidence-driven funding model that reached over 99 million people and promoted cost-effective, high‑social‑impact innovations.

Op-ed by Nobel Prize winners Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer about the value and importance of social innovation funds in global development.

Devex article reports that France plans to launch a Fund for Innovation in Development chaired by Esther Duflo, modeled on approaches like DIV to test, scale, and evaluate solutions to poverty and inequality.

New York Times opinion piece argues that directly giving cash to people in poverty often outperforms traditional aid programs by letting recipients choose how best to improve their lives and discusses DIV serves as a seedbed for new ideas and rigorous evaluations that measure impact.

Devex article reports that major donors have launched a new Global Innovation Fund (USD 200 million) that explicitly builds on lessons from USAID’s DIV and similar programs to support, test, and scale development innovations.

CSIS feature on DIV, why innovation in development is so important, and how the US government incorporated innovation into mainstream development work.