A learning platform for funders, builders, and field-shapers
working to make finance fit for purpose.
Paid courses
Virtual
In-person
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Who is IFI Academy for?
For everyone who's been figuring it out alone.
Funders, builders, advisors, researchers. If you're working to make innovative finance work in practice, this is for you.
Funders
Foundations, family offices, DFIs, and investors working to deploy capital through structures that go beyond what the standard toolkit allows.
Start With 201
Intermediaries
Advisors, legal and tax experts, fund designers, and ecosystem builders supporting both funders and enterprises to structure better deals and navigate the field.
Start With 101
New to Innovative Finance
Just getting started and need a strong, practical foundation in the structures, incentives, and processes reshaping how capital flows. Built for anyone entering the field, regardless of role.
Start With 101WHAT CAN LEARNERS EXPECT?
Real-world experimentation,
turned into practical tools for all to use.
Three levels of engagement. Start where you are and go as deep as you need.
Learn the fundamentals.
A foundational course bringing together perspectives and examples around building fit-for-purpose funding for impact. Three live, facilitated workshop sessions: to learn, question, and reflect alongside a community that's generously sharing what they've learned along the way.
Built for anyone entering the field, regardless of role. Practical, interactive, and grounded in real examples.
PRICE
$99
FORMAT
3 online
sessions
sessions
FREQUENCY
3 times
every year
every year
DURATION
1.5 hours
/session
/session
1
Structures
The tools being built to replace the standard toolkit: from recoverable grants and redeemable equity to revenue-based funding, and beyond.
2
Incentives
How to redesign the incentives inside an investment so behaviour formally aligns with the outcomes that matter.
3
Processes
The strategies that shift how decisions get made - from sourcing to governance to exit.
FOUNDATION · 101
Innovative Finance Fundamentals
A foundational course bringing together perspectives and examples around building fit-for-purpose funding for impact. Three live, facilitated workshop sessions—to learn, question, and reflect alongside a community that's generously sharing what they've learned along the way.
Built for anyone entering the field, regardless of role. Practical, interactive, and grounded in real examples.
1
Structures
Recoverable grants, redeemable equity, revenue-based funding, and beyond — the tools being built to replace the standard toolkit. Led by Aunnie Patton Power.
2
Incentives
Recoverable grants, redeemable equity, revenue-based funding, and beyond — the tools being built to replace the standard toolkit. Led by Aunnie Patton Power.
3
Processes
Recoverable grants, redeemable equity, revenue-based funding, and beyond — the tools being built to replace the standard toolkit. Led by Aunnie Patton Power.
PRICE
$99
FORMAT
ONLINE
FREQUENCY
3x/Year
Next Cohort
May 2026
Live Sessions
9am GMT
Duration
90mins per session
Join the next cohort →Go deeper on the questions that matter most.
Topic-specific cohort courses that go beyond frameworks into the live decisions practitioners are actually facing. Each combines pre-work, live sessions, real case study exploration, and peer discussion.
JUne 2026
Innovative Finance for Early Stage Investing
Structured approaches to deploying innovative capital at the earliest, riskiest stage of a venture's life.
Sign me up →September 2026
Impact-Enhancing Exits
Designing exit structures that preserve mission, protect stakeholders, and reward patient capital.
Join the waitlist →October 2026 · GINN
IFI Training Day
Three-hour in-person workshops exploring a range of topics on Innovative Finance. Practitioner-led, hands-on, and designed for people ready to go deep.
Join the waitlist →Engage in our immersive retreats.
Multi-day retreats curated to help you unpack complex funding challenges, stress-test your ideas in a safe environment, and build deep, lasting connections.
Express your interest →WHICH COURSES ARE COMING UP?
Pick your entry point.
Built for a global audience. Virtual courses run across different time zones. In-person intensives happen at locations around the world.
MONTH
Level
Course DETAILS
LOCATION
ENROLMENT
June 2026
201
Innovative Finance for Early-Stage Investing - Four Sessions - 15:00 GMT - 1.5 hours/Session
Virtual: Zoom
Sep 2026
101
Innovative Finance Fundamentals - Three Sessions - 16:00 GMT - 1.5 hours/Session
Virtual: Zoom
Sep 2026
201
Impact-Enhancing Exits - Four Sessions - 13:00 GMT - 1.5 hours/Session
Virtual: Zoom
Nov 2026
201
Innovative Finance for Early-Stage Investing - Four Sessions - 09:30 GMT - 1.5 hours/Session
Virtual: Zoom
Exploring other topics?
IFI Academy doesn't try to cover everything.
For adjacent areas, these are the organisations who've helped shape our thinking and whose work we trust.
Roots of Impact
The team behind impact-linked finance and the SAFI instrument. If you want to go deeper on outcomes-based structures after our sessions, this is where to go next.
roots-of-impact.org →Considered Capital
Training and resources for social entrepreneurs navigating alternative and mission-aligned funding. Helping founders find capital that doesn't quietly rewrite their priorities.
consideredcapital.io →Village Capital
Peer-selected investment and support for early-stage ventures solving real problems. A long-standing partner in thinking about what fair capital access actually looks like in practice.
vilcap.com →FAQS
Frequently Asked Questions Answered
Are the online sessions recorded?
What is the difference between the learning levels (101, 201)
What time zones are the virtual courses held in?
Do you offer scholarships?
How can my organization request an invoice?
What is the pricing for the courses?
This is very much a collective effort.
The curriculum belongs to the field. Tell us what you want to learn, what you'd like to teach, or what you think is still missing. Every submission shapes what comes next.
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