£1m in grants offered by the Vision Catalyst Fund

Submit your concept note for an Eye Health Accelerator Grant now.

If you think you have a programme which may be a good fit, please submit a concept note to us by 7 July 2023. In addition, OneSight EssilorLuxottica and VCF glasses and lens donations are open on a rolling basis, with applications from eligible organisations due by 1 August for the current round.

Our grants

The Vision Catalyst Fund (VCF) is at an exciting new phase of its development and now has an initial £1m to offer in grants for vision programmes. We are looking for catalytic programmes that offer the most effective ways for eye health services to reach scale, whether through market shaping for eyeglasses, developing public health services to tackle other eye diseases and conditions, or both. 

Grants ranging from £15,000 to £200,000 are being offered, with a focus on programmes that meet our level of ambition to scale up access to vision across lower and middle-income countries. The number of people needing access to vision is increasing, so we are looking for approaches and collaborations which go beyond current models and have a viable plan for sustainability through the private sector or government.

Powered by alternative finance 

The funding for these grants has come from an Eye Health Accelerator Bond developed through a partnership between the VCF and P1 Capital. This simple financial product empowers an investor to deploy at least 4% of their 8% return from a bond towards eye health programmes through the VCF. David and Molly Pyott are our first investors and have made this first round of Eye Health Accelerator Grants possible. The VCF aims to offer more and larger grants as investment in the bond grows in the coming year.

How to apply

We invite potential partners to submit a concept note to us by 7 July 2023 by email, after which we will invite those meeting our criteria most closely to submit a full proposal by 1 September 2023. Further information and guidance, including the concept note format to download, can be found here. 

Glasses and lens donations, in partnership with the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation, are also open for expressions of interest. Proposals from eligible applicants are due by 1 August for the next round. We are looking for catalytic, multi-year programmes that focus on system change and explore new ways to increase access to eyeglasses at scale. Please click here for more details and to submit an expression of interest. 

Photo by Fachri Padmaridho courtesy of the IAPB and #LoveYourEyes Photo Competition held for World Sight Day 2022.