HIP Norway Innovative Financing Consultancy

The Humanitarian Innovation Programme (HIP Norway) grants funding and support to develop, test and scale new solutions that can contribute to better and more efficient humanitarian assistance. The program supports innovation projects led by humanitarian organizations where the expertise and technical know-how from the private sector is applied to find solutions to humanitarian challenges. HIP Norway is fully financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Innovation Norway. More information may be found here: https://hip.innovationnorway.com/

Innovation Norway is Norway’s policy instrument for value-creating business development. Innovation Norway was established by special legislation and is owned by the government and the county councils with stakes of 51 % and 49 %, respectively. The company is represented in all the counties in Norway and approximately 23 countries across the globe. For more information: www.innovasjonnorge.no.

A strategic objective for HIP Norway is to more effectively catalyze private funding for humanitarian impact. As such, we are seeking a consultant to identify opportunities for the further development of HIP Norway in this area, and to support our innovation projects in attracting non-traditional financing. This work will be essential both in securing the success of individual HIP Norway-supported projects, and in shaping the program’s strategy and effectiveness within innovative and blended financing in years to come.

The task of the consultancy is twofold. Prospective consultants may submit tenders for one or both workstreams.

1. Analyse portfolio and position projects to attract non-traditional financing (workstream 1)
   1. Analysis of the HIP portfolio – investment readiness, opportunities and needs for support:
      1. Identify the most relevant strategies and most promising modalities for HIP-projects to attract private funding
      2. Provide an overview of the support most commonly needed for HIP projects to succeed with innovative financing
      3. Identify specific projects that could benefit from direct assistance from the consultant in attracting private funding
   2. Hands-on support for specific projects:
      1. Conduct activities to position projects for investment, e.g. identifying relevant arenas and target audiences, conducting pitch training, consulting on strategies. Develop tools and/or marketing materials for projects/private partners to better present themselves to potential investors and other funders – e.g. narratives, term sheets, pitch decks etc.
      2. Connecting projects with potential partners/investors: Potentially organizing an event on humanitarian investment opportunities or leveraging existing arenas. Investigate if matchmaking platforms would be useful for the projects/private partners to engage with and test out the benefits of being present on such platforms.
      3. Project design: advise projects on market-based mechanisms and designing innovative financing modalities.
2. Optimize HIP’s blended finance model (workstream 2)
   1. Analyze HIPs current multi-year financing model and propose improvements that could catalyze more private capital, while maintaining humanitarian impact.
   2. Supporting the identification of gaps in the humanitarian innovation funding pipeline that HIP could be positioned to help fill.
   3. Identify relevant private actors that are interested in investing in projects or otherwise collaborating with HIP and other stakeholders on increasing private humanitarian financing, especially through commercial models (i.e. beyond pure philanthropy).

Scope of the procurement

Framework agreement:

The anticipated annual value of the contract is NOK 500 000. Furthermore, reservations are made with regard to budgetary changes and the company’s priorities affecting the execution of the competition and the contractual relationship. If the needs of the Client so dictate, another supplier may be used.

Part tenders

Tenders may be submitted for one or both parts of the assignment (referred to as “1” and “2” in section 2.1). A supplier may not stipulate the awarding of the entire or several parts of the contract as a condition. The tenders will be evaluated separately for each part and contracts will be awarded separately for each part. This does not prevent a supplier from being awarded more than one part. When submitting a partial offer, it is requested that the qualification application state which parts the supplier wishes to make an offer for.

CONTRACT AND DURATION

The following contract terms with attachments will apply for the procurement:

The contract period is from the date of signature and lasts 6 months.

The Client has an option to extend the contract on the same terms by 6 months, making the total possible term of contract 1 year. Any extension of the contract in accordance with the option will occur automatically, unless the Client terminates the agreement. Notice of such termination must be given in writing no later than one month prior to the expiry of the contract.

Either party may terminate the contract at any time with three months’ written notice.

When submitting an offer, the Supplier is obliged to have read and accepted the contract terms that apply to the procurement.

PROGRESS PLAN

The Client has set out the following time frame for the process:

Deadline: July 4, 2025, at 17.00 (CET)

Evaluations: July 7 – August 1

Awarding of contract: August 4-8

Contract signing: August 11-15

EXECUTION OF THE COMPETITION

Procurement procedure

The procurement will be carried out in accordance with the rules set out in this request for tender, as well as Act no. 73 of 17 June 2016 relating to public procurement (Public Procurement Act) and Regulation no. 974 of 12 August 2016 relating to public procurement (Public Procurement Regulation) Part I.

The Client may enter into a dialogue with the suppliers. This dialogue can involve all aspects of the tender and other received documents or information and can, for example, include clarifications and negotiations with the suppliers. The Client reserves the right to negotiate in phases and to move forwards with a selection of suppliers if there is a need to do so. The Client will consider this following expiry of the deadline for submission of tenders.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND PUBLIC ACCESS

Information submitted to Innovation Norway is, in principle, public information in accordance with Section 3 of Act no. 16 of 19.05.2006 relating to the right of access to documents held by public authorities and public undertakings (Freedom of Information Act).

Exceptions to the right of access to tenders and procurement protocols may be made until the selection of a supplier has been made, cf. Section 23 (3) of the Freedom of Information Act.

The Client is subject to a duty of confidentiality regarding business affairs, cf. Act no. 130 of 19 December 2003 relating to Innovation Norway, Section 27 (1). In the event of a claim for right of access, “commercial aspects” will be redacted.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Documentation for fulfill qualification requirements

For Norwegian suppliers: For procurements worth more than NOK 500,000, VAT and tax certificates will be required, from the winner only, before the contract is signed.

AWARD CRITERIA

The contract will be awarded on the basis of which tender has the best ratio between price and quality, based on the following criteria:

• Price: Price per hour excl. VAT
  Weighting: 10 %
  Documentation requirements: The supplier must deliver its price per hour in the offer.
• Project solution: Will be evaluated based on a short description of proposed project methodology and plan.
  Weighting: 30 %
  Documentation requirements: The supplier must describe its understanding of the project and how the project will be resolved.
• Expertise and experience:
  Weighting: 60 %
  Will be evaluated based on the following:
  – Relevant private sector experience, e.g. with investment, financing, entrepreneurial endeavors and emerging/frontier markets. Proven track record in securing different types of funding.
  – Deep insight into the humanitarian sector, including innovative financing modalities for humanitarian impact and blended finance, as well as the ability to communicate humanitarian contexts to less familiar audiences.

The supplier shall provide a CV for the resource(s) with a description of experience, expertise and previous relevant assignments. The team’s composition shall be described.

Awarding of points and weighting model

Price:

For the award criterion Price, a linear model will be used. In the event that the highest price is twice as high as the lowest price, a proportionate model will be used. In the event that a price item is set at NOK 0, the following formula will be used:

Points = 10 – 10 x current price

selected maximum price

The weighting will be according to the table above.

Other award criteria:

The evaluation will use a points scale from 1 to 10 points, where 10 points will be given to the best response for a given award criterion, and a relatively lower score to the remaining tenders. We reserve the right to interview relevant applicants.

REJECTION

The client can/must reject a supplier/offer in accordance with the rejection provisions in the procurement regulations.