WE4F 2.0 - Regional Call for SMEs (Track 1)

WE4F 2.0 - Regional Call for SMEs (Track 1) - EOI Application
Track 1 of the Water and Energy for Food (WE4F 2.0) Programme targets established small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that drive job creation, strengthen national value chains, and enhance resource efficiency within the water-energy-food nexus/ climate resilience relevant product or service. Eligible applicants must be legally incorporated for-profit or not-for-profit entities, or academic institutions operating with a self-sustaining revenue model and a proven track record of generating income from climate-resilient or nexus-relevant products and services. The Programme prioritizes financially viable organizations demonstrating sustainable business models and measurable market traction. Applicants must be operational for 3 to 25 years, with minimum annual revenues of USD 300,000 and an EBITDA margin of at least 5% over the past three years (supporting documentation required). Enterprises must show strong financial sustainability, scalability potential, and the capacity to achieve 15–25% year-on-year revenue growth and/or 5–10% profitability improvement. Applicants must have an established management team with financial and operational expertise with at least 10 full time employees. Eligible organizations must operate or partner within designated developing or emerging countries, particularly within the MENA region, and demonstrate national presence or verified local partnerships active since January 2023. Awardees must provide one-to-one matching funds (cash or cash equivalent) based on the requested WE4F contribution to support commercialization, expansion, and operational growth activities. Innovations must directly link water and/or energy to food value chains or water in other value chains, generate positive environmental outcomes, avoid ecological harm, and deliver inclusive benefits—particularly to low-income populations and women. Robust data collection systems capturing end-user demographics and impact metrics are mandatory. Government entities and individuals are not eligible, while women-led and women-owned enterprises are strongly encouraged to apply.
General Information*
Energy - Farm inputEnergy - Farm productionEnergy - Agricultural processingEnergy - Energy production and infrastructure in agricultureEnergy - Aggregation and storage in agricultureEnergy - Agricultural goods transportWater - IrrigationWater - Capture/storage in agricultureWater - Reuse in agricultureWater - Quality/salinity in agricultureWater – sustainable usage in other value chainsWaste - Circularity in foodDigital solutionsFinancial solutionsLand restorationOther
For-profit; If for-profit, please indicate the type of company below (e.g., Joint stock / LLC /Other)Non-profit; If non-profit, please indicate any for-profit arms or for-profit partners below.Other – Please indicate below
Indicate the type of your organization
If you’re not a registered entity, please pause your application for future rounds. Thank you for considering us.
Primary point of contact information *
Secondary point of contact information *
Share of women in founding and/or management team (%) (Numeric input only)*
As percentage
Share of ownership by women (%) (Numeric input only)*
As percentage
Share of female employees (part-time and full-time) (%) (Numeric input only)*
As percentage
YesNoMaybe
Through providing grants, Technical Assistance, and partnership opportunities to fast growing Water/Energy-Food Nexus and climate resilience Organizations (“innovators”) as well as supporting the enabling environment in which such innovators operate, WE4F 2.0 aims to enable 100s of thousands of end-users in agriculture and food production value chains in the targeted countries in MENA to adopt affordable water and/or energy saving solutions to enhance their resource efficiency, agriculture and food production productivity as well as their climate resilience. Therefore, the selection of the organizations for the Regional call for SMEs, and the extent they could continue to benefit from the Program, is contingent upon the provision of key information and data to be provided by the innovators to measure the impact of their solutions on end-users. Such information includes, and is not limited to, the numbers and gender breakdown of the Innovation’s end-users, the changes in income levels, the water and/or energy savings as a result of using the Innovation. Examples of documentation include locations, and contact information of end-users (e.g., from CRM systems), income ranges, savings in energy or water consumption and food produced or processes (e.g., information from data loggers, inputs backed by sales data, publications and/or primary research, etc.). WE4F 2.0 will also provide a wealth of resources, best practices, training, tools, and one-to-one support to the innovators to prepare the information required and has successfully supported 30+ innovators in MENA in upgrading their ability to document and report on key financial and impact matrices.
Eligibility Questions: The following questions apply to the Lead Applicant organization

1. Incorporation and Operations
Are you applying as a standalone Organization or in a consortium?*
If you are applying as a consortium, please list the name of the lead organization as well as the name of the other Organizations (co-applicants).*
For Your Organization (Lead Applicant):*
For the consortium partner (s)/co-applicants:
YesNo
*Targeted MENA countries:

Egypt - Lebanon - Jordan - Morocco - Tunisia - Iraq
If you’re not established in MENA and do not have a partner who is, please pause your application for future rounds.
If yes, how many years has your partnership been operational? (Numeric input only)*
2. Number of full-time employees (as of time of application to WE4F 2.0):*
YesNo
4. If yes, to which countries?*
5. Annual revenues (in US Dollars):*
6. EBITDA margin (operating margin) in the last 3 years (2023-2025) (%) [you may use the attached calculator if needed: Concept note - Track1 - EBITDA margin helper calculator.xlsx
Water-Energy-FoodWater-FoodEnergy-FoodCircular EconomyLand restorationOther
8. Thematic area targeted (select all that apply)*
9. Please describe your traction since the start of your operations
Do you provide your Innovation directly to Customers (B2C) and/or through distributor/retailer (B2B)? or both? *
How many paid Customers in the agriculture or food sector have you acquired since the start of your operations to date? Customers are individuals or organizations directly purchasing your product or service. Your customers are either farmers/food consumers (when you operate as B2B) or businesses selling products to farmers/food consumers (when you operate as B2C). (Customers may differ in the case of innovations under theme 11: Wastewater treatment and reuse, water loss reduction, and desalination.)*
How many end-users in the agriculture or food sector have you acquired since the start of your operations to date? End-users are those who are clearly and unequivocally benefiting from your Innovation, i.e., individuals whose income increases, have access to more affordable products/services, or save on expenses because of your Innovation to the extent which your organization can determine and document. This is given the fact they can be uniquely determined. If you are eligible to apply to WE4F 2.0, your customers are either farmers/food consumers or businesses selling products to farmers/food consumers. Family members of farmers who benefit from your product or service can also be counted as end-users, particularly in the case of small-scale farmers. Workers in farms or food processing establishments benefitting from your Innovation can be also considered as end-users. (End-users may differ in the case of innovations under theme 11: Wastewater treatment and reuse, water loss reduction, and desalination.)*
Estimate share of poor or vulnerable end-users (refugees, IDPs, or returnees) *
Estimate share of female end-users *
YesNo
YesNo
If your response to Q10 or Q11 is “Yes”, please pause your application. Thank you for considering us.

12. Grant request and Matching Funds

Regional call for SMEs awards are expected to be of average 100,000 USD depending on the type of funding requested. The period of performance for individual awards is up to two years; the actual period of performance for each award will be determined at the time of award. The regional call awarded innovators must match the grant amount by 100%. For example, if the innovator's budget to scale its solution is 200,000 USD and the grant ask from the WE4F 2.0 Program is 100,000 USD, the innovator must contribute with 100,000 USD in cash or in-kind. The regional call grants are disbursed on a re-imbursement basis (i.e., the grantee is to submit a monthly invoice for the Allowable Costs as defined by the Grant Agreement as well as the needed back-up documentation and proof of matching spending)
If you do not plan to provide Matching Funds (cash or in-kind). please pause your application for future rounds. Thank you for considering us.
YesNo
a.1 If yes, please specify the type of financing (equity/ debt/ etc), and the amount in USD?*
b. To support your growth beyond the grant, how much investment/financing (in US Dollars) will you need if you were to grow your revenues by at least 15% and/or your profitability by at least 5% by 2028? How do you plan to use the investment?*
c. What are your expected sources of funds and/or in-kind contributions to meet this target with WE4F 2.0 support (please estimate a monetary value in US Dollars)?*

Innovation Details:
1. Please describe your innovation and how it addresses one or more of the Thematic Areas (See 2A in the solicitation document) in the targeted MENA countries. Please elaborate on your target customers and end-users (including how you reach vulnerable populations such as women, youth, refugees, IDPs, or returnees where applicable), as well as your business model and value proposition (maximum 250 words). You may attach your Organizational Profile.*

0/250
Based on your previous answer, You may attach your Organizational Profile.

Cancelof
2. How much growth in your customer base (in agriculture and food value chains or in other value chains in the case of innovations under theme 11: Wastewater treatment and reuse, water loss reduction, and desalination) do you anticipate from 2026to 2028? (in %) and what key strategic initiatives do you plan to deploy to achieve such growth? (For Track 1, WE4F is seeking to support SMEs that demonstrate the ability to grow revenues by 15%-25% YoY and/or enhance profitability by 5%-10%) (maximum 250 words)*

0/250
3. Are there any arrangements that you have undertaken, or are planning to undertake, to ensure that you Innovation(s) is/are accessible and/or affordable to vulnerable groups including vulnerable populations such as refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and returnees, in both rural and urban areas? (maximum 250 words) Such arrangements could include product/solution customization, special pricing/financing schemes, tailored communication channels, etc.*

0/250
4. Are there any arrangements that you have undertaken, or are planning to, to ensure that you Innovation(s) is/are accessible and/or affordable to women? (maximum 250 words) Such arrangements could include product/solution customization, special pricing/financing schemes, tailored communication channels, etc.*

0/250
5. Describe the existing or potential positive and negative environmental impacts (especially related to natural resource / water management, climate mitigation and adaptation as well as biodiversity) that could be generated by your Innovation. Please describe your key mitigation measures for the negative impacts. Please note that despite the core product/service being environmentally friendly, collateral/unintended negative environmental impacts can occur during its life cycle and needs to be mitigated. (maximum 250 words) - Positive impact e.g. Are there positive effects on biodiversity as result of your solution’s water management, does the innovation support diversification as opposed to monocultures. Does your innovation reduce dependence on fossil fuels; does your innovation prevent loss of crops due to flood or drought or salinity; does your innovation protect the natural habitat (lakes, forests, soil) etc. - Negative impact e.g., from procurement to production to distribution to end of life),especially related to natural resource management, including water, and biodiversity, and how you intend to (or already) mitigate any current and future negative risks. Illustrative examples: our mobile solar pumping solution could result in excessive, unmonitored use of water. Mitigate: install digital water meters and monitor water use in real time. *

0/250
6. Describe your organization's supply chain integration and national market foot print, including:· - Your key suppliers and the nature of your relationships with them (e.g. description of suppliers and support provided)· - How your business strengthens or influences the broader value chain (upstream and downstream linkages) (maximum 250 words)*

0/250
Should be Empty:

WE4F 2.0 - Regional Call for SMEs (Track 1) - EOI Application

If you’re not a registered entity, please pause your application for future rounds. Thank you for considering us.

Eligibility Questions: The following questions apply to the Lead Applicant organization

*Targeted MENA countries:

If you’re not established in MENA and do not have a partner who is, please pause your application for future rounds.

If your response to Q10 or Q11 is “Yes”, please pause your application. Thank you for considering us.

12. Grant request and Matching Funds

If you do not plan to provide Matching Funds (cash or in-kind). please pause your application for future rounds. Thank you for considering us.

Innovation Details: