Recent years have demonstrated an increase in blended finance transactions, not only in the number of overall transactions launched but also in the scope of stakeholders involved. We see a similar upward trend in gender-related blended finance deals.
For example, according to our database, 412 out of 1346 (31%) blended finance deals have gender as one of their targeted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), representing a total commitment of $49 billion out of the $248 billion market. On average, each investment in this space is sized at $15 million, with a total of 944 different investors.
The Growth of Gender Deals: Trends and Patterns
While the number of gender-focused transactions surged significantly between 2021 and 2023, the total annual capital committed has remained relatively flat. This suggests a shift in the gender-related investment landscape, where more investors are injecting capital, but the size of their investments is relatively smaller. Private sector actors, particularly commercial and impact investors, increasingly engage in gender-related investments. For example, they invested around $12 billion out of the total of $49 billion in gender-related blended finance transactions. Over the past three years, more than 167 unique private-sector investors participated in 163 gender-related deals.
Leading Investors: The Public Sector’s Persistent Influence
However, despite the rising involvement of the private sector, multilateral development banks (MDBs) and development finance institutions (DFIs) still top the league tables for gender-related blended finance deals by number of transactions. Key players who have invested in more than 50 gender-focused blended finance deals are Dutch FMO, the International Finance Corporation, and the US public agencies: the United States Agency for International Development and the United States International Development Finance Corporation.
FMO is among the most active development banks in the gender-related blended finance space. For example, the Insitor Impact Asia Fund II (IIAF II) is a venture capital fund that invests in early-stage businesses to enhance accessibility to essential goods and services for low-income populations in Cambodia, India, and Pakistan. With a strong commitment to gender inclusion, IIAF II has qualified as a 2X Flagship Fund. It reached an interim close of $42 million in 2022, backed by key investors, including our member, British International Investment, which provided $15 million as anchor investment, and $10 million of concessional capital by FMO.
Commercial Investors Role
Commercial investors are increasingly participating in gender-related blended finance deals, albeit at smaller amounts and at a slower pace. For example, BancoSol issued Bolivia’s first gender bond to empower women-led Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in 2024. The local currency gender bond raised $30 million to expand credit for 4,500 women-led MSMEs, especially in rural and Amazonian regions. Our member, IDB Invest supported the issuance with a 50% partial credit guarantee, while We-Fi, provided a $200,000 performance-based incentive linked to BancoSol’s women-led SME portfolio growth.
Another promising trend we’ve been witnessing in the last few years is the intersection of gender and climate finance. For example, at the last G7 Summit in Italy, members of 2X Global and other financial institutions pledged $20 billion toward gender-lens investing in developing countries, with a particular emphasis on projects addressing both gender and climate challenges.
While MDBs and DFIs have long been the backbone of gender-focused blended finance, the reality of diminishing official development aid underscores the need for a more diversified approach. We can no longer rely on a single actor—every stakeholder has a vital role to play. Moving forward, collaboration across the public, private, and philanthropic sectors will be essential to scaling impact and ensuring that capital reaches those who need it most. The increasing involvement of private sector actors signals a shift toward greater market participation, but there is still considerable potential for growth, particularly in aligning commercial investments with targeted gender-lens strategies.
Please view our gender equality page for more gender-related blended finance resources, including stats on gender deals, grant programs, trainings, publications, and more.
