IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES

What does a focus on girls and young women mean? How can I find investment opportunities in this area?

Example of an investment thesis

How can investors integrate a focus on girls and young women in emerging markets as part of their investment thesis?

Investors often start by considering the following criteria to shape their investment thesis:


  • Goals for their portfolio, where they want to make a difference
  • Types of capital to employ (debt, equity, grants, blended, pay for success, etc.)
  • At which stages of the business to invest in (pre-revenue, launch, growth, mature)
  • Investment horizon (short-term, long-term)
  • Role as investor (active, passive)
  • Impact focus
  • Sector focus
  • Geographical focus
  • Business model focus
  • Business role in a market focus


Investors can then start to consider a focus or opportunity relevant to girls and young women. To illustrate, we present four examples of investment theses below, representing a wide range of sectors, regional focus and stage of capital, contributed by investors interviewed for this toolkit

Thinking how a business can reach girls and young women

A business can reach girls and young women in at least four main ways, as demonstrated in the table below. This can help investors identify potential investment opportunities. Yet, be mindful of potential risks (read Cautionary Tales).

Please note that value chains also include girls and young women at the top of the chains – as leaders, entrepreneurs, founders, managers or emplyees in the companies. 

Key questions to ask a business

These are key questions investors may ask a business to understand its focus on girls and young women. Investors may also ask these to influence the trajectory of existing investments or to challenge the business to have more impact on girls and young women. 

Ecosystem view

Thinking through the various levels of the ecosystem surrounding a girl and young woman presents opportunities for investors, as illustrated by the graphic on the right.

Understanding your target group

Investors can gain deeper understanding of their target group by asking basic questions at each level of the ecosystem surrounding a girl or young woman:    

These questions and considerations will also feed into investors’ thinking about depth versus breadth of impact.

A  crucial step to understanding your target group is to think through issues around safeguarding to ensure that girls and young women are protected from harm, including sexual exploitation, abuse, harassment or bullying. Find out more in the Managing Investments section.

Girl and young women impact opportunities by sector

To identify potential opportunities for girl and young women impact investments within a specific sector, refer to following sector guides (forthcoming).

To learn more about identifying opportunities, refer to examples of SPRING ventures, life course risks faced by girls and young women and differences between rural and urban contexts.