Innovations Driving Sustainable and Climate‑Aligned SME Finance
Each month we are running sessions featuring innovative business solutions, leading small business lenders and SME growth facilitators who present their MSMEs offerings in a 7-minute pitch to an audience of potential financial institution clients and partners looking for impactful fintech solutions. Through those sessions - run by the SME Finance Forum - we foster collaboration between financial institutions, fintech companies, development finance institutions and investors.
Since its inception in April 2021, we have featured 200+ companies active in many different markets, attracted +3000 participants and generated many business leads, leading to investments, partnerships, and innovation advancement.
Topic: Innovations Advancing Sustainable and Climate‑Smart SME Finance
In emerging markets, SMEs are central to jobs and growth, but the transition to climate-smart operations is often blocked by three frictions: (1) weak data and high reporting burden, (2) products that don’t match SME cash flows, and (3) limited mechanisms to price and manage climate and transition risk. This Marketplace session showcases a set of innovations that, together, form a practical climate-aligned SME finance pipeline—from digital tools that simplify ESG data capture and risk diagnostics, to new lending structures (green SME loans, sustainability-linked loans, and revenue/asset-backed green finance), to pay-as-you-go / pay-as-you-save models that finance productive, energy-efficient assets with repayments aligned to savings and revenue. The session will focus on what it takes to move from pilots to scale, including distribution partnerships, verification, and the “right-sized” metrics that enable banks and fintechs to finance transition without placing unrealistic reporting demands on SMEs.