Strategic Partnership · Global Multilateral Scale
A strategic partnership with the Islamic Development Bank — powering innovation programs across 57 member countries
When one of the world’s largest multilateral development banks needed a platform to run strategic innovation and entrepreneurship programs at global scale, they partnered with Gohorto—and built a shared operating model for institutional-grade innovation across 57 member countries.
The Islamic Development Bank: five decades of transforming lives across the Muslim world
Founded in 1975 under the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral development finance institution serving 57 member countries across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and beyond—from Indonesia to Morocco, from Kazakhstan to Senegal.
IsDB is AAA-rated by S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch, with $150 billion in authorized capital. Its mandate spans infrastructure, education, healthcare, trade, and economic development—and behind that institutional weight is a singular commitment: turning financial resources and technical expertise into real improvements in the lives of the 1.8 billion people who live across IsDB’s member countries.
- Founded 1975, headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 57 member countries across four continents
- AAA credit rating from S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch
- $150 billion in authorized capital
- 1.8 billion people across IsDB member countries
- Empowering people across member countries
- Building partnerships with governments, ecosystems, and donors
- Driving innovation, entrepreneurship, and inclusive growth
- Operating in line with Shari‘ah principles
- Joint initiatives like BINA (with LPRD and SESRIC)
- Multi-country youth entrepreneurship competitions
- Capacity-building and incubation programs in member countries
- Programs serving fragile states and conflict-affected regions
- Recently launched Tadamon 2.0 — empowering communities and NGOs
- Regional hubs (e.g., Türkiye, Africa, MENA)
- Member-country governments and ministries
- Universities, technoparks, and research centers
- Implementing partners, NGOs, and SESRIC
A strategic partnership rooted in a shared mission
There are very few institutions in the world with the reach, the credibility, and the mandate of the Islamic Development Bank. With $150 billion in authorized capital, AAA ratings from the three major global agencies, and a presence spanning four continents, IsDB is not just a bank—it is a development ecosystem in its own right, encompassing five specialized entities and direct engagement with heads of state, finance ministers, and private-sector leaders across the Muslim world.
In 2020, IsDB chose Gohorto to power its strategic innovation and entrepreneurship programs. That decision was not procurement—it was the start of a long-term partnership built on a shared conviction: that innovation, entrepreneurship, and partnership are the most durable engines of socio-economic development.
What it means when IsDB chooses your platform
How Gohorto powers the partnership (capabilities)
Entrepreneurs from Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Türkiye, and beyond apply through unified, structured funnels—with country-specific configuration where needed—giving the IsDB team a single view of the full applicant pool across all geographies.
IsDB, SESRIC, LPRD, and local implementing partners each operate within their defined scope inside Gohorto’s review architecture. Different partners see different stages. Scores and decisions are documented, traceable, and defensible—essential for multilateral governance.
Every participant’s journey through the incubation program is tracked—milestones, mentor sessions, training completion, pitch readiness. Program managers see the entire cohort in one dashboard. Outliers get flagged. Nothing falls through the cracks.
IsDB’s programs connect entrepreneurs to a global network of business mentors, technical experts, and investor partners. Gohorto structures the network—managing profiles, matching expertise to need, logging every session, and ensuring relationships are tracked end-to-end.
BINA’s demo day connects top graduates with real investors and seed funding. Gohorto tracks which startups have reached investment-readiness, documents pitch preparation, and creates a clean profile of each graduate team—ready to hand to the funding partners on demo day.
When IsDB delegates, SESRIC officials, and member-state representatives attend program events, they arrive with the data already in hand. Gohorto automatically captures every program KPI across every cohort—turning a reporting cycle that used to take weeks into one that takes hours.
Engineered to operate consistently across environments where infrastructure, connectivity, and institutional capacity vary—so entrepreneurs in Libya, Syria, and Palestine get the same structured, high-quality experience as those in Türkiye or Jordan.
Each regional hub and program operates independently—with its own branding, criteria, and partners—while IsDB leadership keeps one strategic, cross-portfolio view.
Results: what global-scale innovation program management looks like in practice
- 57 member countries reachedEntrepreneurs across the IsDB network can access innovation programs through Gohorto.
- 5+ countries per BINA cohortA single cohort runs from one Gohorto workspace—Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and beyond.
- 3 institutional partners coordinatedIsDB, SESRIC, and LPRD operate inside one shared program system, with clear roles and traceable decisions.
- 100% of program outcomes trackedFrom first application to final demo day—every milestone, evaluation, mentor session, and funding outcome is logged and reportable.
- Fragile states, professional programsReliable, consistent program delivery in countries where infrastructure, connectivity, and institutional capacity cannot be taken for granted.
- A replicable model across 57 countriesA structured, documented, platform-supported program design that can be replicated in new countries, sectors, and partnership configurations—without rebuilding from scratch.
These outcomes are not theoretical. They are the operating reality of a partnership that runs strategic innovation programs at institutional grade across the developing world.
Innovation as a force multiplier — together
By co-investing in shared infrastructure for intake, evaluation, partner management, and reporting, IsDB and Gohorto remove the operational overhead that has historically limited how much innovation a multilateral institution can support—turning manual coordination into a continuous, data-driven workflow.
What this partnership means for the global innovation landscape
For decades, the world’s largest development institutions ran programs on a mix of spreadsheets, custom-built legacy systems, and consultant-managed processes. The idea that a purpose-built, modern SaaS platform could meet the governance, accountability, and operational standards of a multilateral development bank was, at best, an aspiration. The IsDB–Gohorto partnership proves it is a reality.
When an AAA-rated multilateral bank with $150 billion in authorized capital and accountability to 57 governments chooses Gohorto to run its strategic innovation programs, it sets a new standard for what purpose-built platforms can achieve—and it sends a signal to every development institution, national government, and international NGO still managing entrepreneurship programs from spreadsheets.
The development sector is undergoing a fundamental shift. The organizations that will drive the most impact over the next decade are not the ones with the biggest budgets—they are the ones that can convert budgets into programs, and programs into outcomes, with the least operational friction. Together, IsDB and Gohorto are building exactly that.
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