Kingston, Jamaica, February 10, 2025 – The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), through its Boosting Innovation Growth and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (BIGEE) programme has opened a six-week - Call for Proposals, from February 10th to March 19th for the Jamaica Business Fund (JBF). This is a grant fund product aimed at supporting groups of businesses, operating as clusters, where funding of up to US$250,000 is available for successful projects.

“In this the 7th cohort of the JBF grant funding programme, the DBJ remains committed to fostering sustainable economic growth and development of all Jamaicans. This cycle is targeting projects seeking to strengthen the climate resilience of micro, small and medium sized businesses, while simultaneously increasing their productivity through strategic investments in knowledge, equipment and technology, so that they may thrive in an evolving global economy” stated Edison Galbraith, Acting Managing Director of DBJ.

The JBF supports two types of groups, namely Horizontal Business Alliances and Vertical Business Alliances. For this grant product, a Horizontal Business Alliances represents a group of at least four companies that come together to improve their productivity and competitiveness through economies of scale. A Vertical Business Alliance describes a group consisting of an anchor firm (main buyer) and its suppliers seeking to implement a project that contributes to the improvement of productivity, thus improving the competitiveness of the value chain

Christopher Brown, Programme Manager, BIGEE at the DBJ explains; “Given the current challenges facing the Caribbean and the world, the Jamaica Business Fund prioritises climate resilient solutions, recognising that adaptation and mitigation innovations are essential for Jamaica’s sustainable economic growth. We encourage persons to apply by completing the application form online at www.thinkbigee.com, where the application window will remain open until March 19th.

Key features of this cycle of the JBF include a requirement for each cluster to have a minimum of four beneficiaries, submission of proof of counterpart funding (with the grant covering 70% of the total investment), and a focus on projects aimed at increasing productivity, expanding into new markets, boosting exports, or promoting import substitution. Since the inception of the JBF, the Government of Jamaica, has invested JM$957M across four cycles. In 2023, the DBJ replicated the model under its BIGEE programme and invested a further JA$513M across two cycles.

The DBJ is the executing agency for a Government of Jamaica, IDB and European Union funded programme known as Boosting Innovation, Growth and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (BIGEE) which is focused on growing the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems in Jamaica.

For further information, please contact:                                                                                                  Christopher Brown, Programme Manager, BIGEE                                                                                 Development Bank of Jamaica                                                                                                                               11a Oxford Road, Kingston 5                                                                                                                               Telephone 876-929-4000                                                                                                                    www.thinkbigee.com