Triple I for Global Health Co-Hosted a Closed-Door Roundtable for Scaling Blended Finance

On August 25, 2026, Triple I for Global Health co-hosted a closed-door roundtable, "Scaling Blended Finance to Strengthen Health Financing in Asia," with Japan Impact Institute (JII), the global arm of the Japan Fundraising Association. The event was held as part of the AVPN Global Conference 2026 in New Delhi, India.   

This roundtable brought together stakeholders from across sectors to examine the financing mechanisms and enabling ecosystems needed for health projects to grow and scale. 

1.  Framing the Discussion 

The discussion began with a practical question: what actions are needed to build both effective blended finance mechanisms and a strong enabling ecosystem, so that the momentum around health businesses, impact investing and impact start-ups in Asia can translate into greater global-health impact? 

Participants considered not only capital, but also the conditions that make investment actionable: project development, policy and regulatory frameworks, procurement, partnerships, and local implementation. 

A central message was that the challenge is not simply a shortage of capital. There is also a shortage of health projects that investors can assess and finance, particularly in the space between public-sector regulation and fully commercial finance. 

2.  Identifying Gaps and Opportunities through Roundtable Dialogue 

Building on this framing, the roundtable explored the biggest missing piece in connecting promising health solutions with capital and support, and how stakeholders could address those gaps through blended finance and ecosystem building.  

The discussion pointed to the following interrelated priorities for making health opportunities more investable and scalable: 

• Build investable pipelines: combine technical assistance, reliable evidence and practical project preparation so that investors can assess opportunities and their risks. 

• Engage government from the outset: link successful pilots to public programs, budgets, procurement, insurance reimbursement and, where relevant, guarantees. 

• Bridge language and incentives: use facilitation and shared, proportionate metrics so that governments, donors, investors, NGOs and beneficiaries can work toward a common objective. 

• Strengthen coordination and trusted matchmaking: improve visibility of pipelines and connect capital, expertise and institutions without adding fragmented application and reporting burdens. 

• Plan for scale and sustainability early: consider the pathway beyond a pilot or initial investment, including government adoption, public-private partnerships, strategic acquisition, local or institutional capital and sustainable businesses. 

• Match capital to the stage of growth: sequence appropriate financing and support across a solution journey rather than assuming that one structure can serve every stage. 

Not every question was settled. Participants differed on whether the field needs more financial innovation or greater standardization -- noting that customizing every transaction adds time and cost -- and on whether guarantees or junior equity are the more useful form of catalytic capital. Views also differed on whether blended finance is better suited to health R&D than to service delivery. 

3.  Looking Ahead 

The discussion underscored that there is no single blended-finance model for health. Participants surfaced productive tensions between financial innovation and standardization; guarantees and other forms of catalytic capital; cross-sector collaboration and institutional mandates; and research and development versus service delivery. 

Triple I for Global Health and JII will refine the blended-finance and ecosystem model, test it through hypothetical country cases and consider practical stakeholder-engagement roadmaps. The roundtable is a starting point for continued collaboration across the region.