RFP/KFW/AP/2026/00027

Annex 1-Term of Reference (TORS)

Procurement of Consultant for Investment Support Fellow

1.     Background

Accelerate Prosperity (AP) is a joint initiative of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) in Central and South Asia. It aspires to work towards a society that is powered by innovative and successful young entrepreneurs. Through its services, AP extends tailored training, advice, and technical assistance to aspiring and existing entrepreneurs to help them launch or expand their innovative business ventures. It also extends tailored financing to startups and small growing businesses (SGBs) to help them unlock external investments by improving their bankability and investment readiness.

2.     Program Overview

Start-up Pakistan is a project financed by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and implemented by Accelerate Prosperity. The initiative aims to scale up Accelerate Prosperity’s existing model of technical support and financing for businesses. It will expand into new geographies and across exciting sectors such as education, health, tourism, and green economy, prioritizing digitization and environmental sustainability.

3.     About the Position

The Investment Fellow will support the Investment Team in sourcing, evaluating, executing, and monitoring investments, while contributing to portfolio management and post-investment support for startups and small growing businesses.

4.     Scope of Work

• Support the Investment Team in deal sourcing, screening potential businesses, providing investment readiness advisory to prepare eligible businesses for financing and preparing investment documentation, analyses and recommendations.
• Assist the Investment Team in conducting due diligence and business evaluations, including commercial, operational, financial, market, and risk assessments.
• Support the execution of approved investment transactions through to disbursement, including preparing disbursement documentation, coordinating with clients and disbursement partners, assisting investees in fulfilling conditions precedent, facilitating the execution of legal agreements and collateral requirements, and supporting the monitoring of AP investments.
• Support portfolio monitoring activities, including risk identification, compliance tracking, and E&S monitoring in line with AP's monitoring framework and ESMS policy.
• Support the investment team in providing post-investment support to investee businesses by coordinating technical assistance and addressing business needs related to strategy, operations, marketing, regulatory compliance, and growth

5.     Deliverables

• Number of businesses supported through investment readiness training & advisory and progressed into qualified investment pipeline.
• Number of complete investment case packages prepared for assigned businesses including due diligence reports, financial models, Information Memorandums (IMs) and transaction structures.
• Number and value of approved investment transactions successfully executed through fulfilment of conditions precedent, completion of legal & disbursement documentation, perfection of security, coordination with clients & financing partners and disbursement of funds.
• Number of portfolio businesses supported through timely portfolio monitoring, risk classification, E&S monitoring, post-investment technical assistance and portfolio monitoring reports

6.     Qualifications and Experience

The Interested applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Minimum of a bachelor's in finance, accounting, or business.
• Relevant professional qualifications/certifications such as ACCA, CFA, FMVA, etc. (preferable)
• Minimum 1 year of relevant hands-on experience in investments, investment advisory, due diligence, transaction advisory, or other relevant disciplines.
• The consultant must demonstrate relevant experience in financial modelling skills, technical knowledge of the investment cycle, and Experience in projects related to entrepreneurship, business development, SMEs, etc.
• The applicant must have excellent writing and reporting skills and must be computer-literate (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).

Soft Skills:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Urdu.
• Strong presentation skills.
• Highly proactive and passionate about work.
• Capable of producing high quality results within often tight deadlines.
• Ability for multitasking and working under pressure.
• Ability to distill large volumes of data in short periods of time.
• Intellectual curiosity and demonstrated record of professional development/growth.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work through complex models to determine the key assumptions, implicit caveats and limitations.
• Demonstrated ability to work cooperatively with all levels of management.

7.     Contract Duration

The contract duration will be 6 months. The contract can be extended based on performance and budget availability.

8.     Location

This is a hybrid role. The Consultant will be based out of Accelerate Prosperity's office in Islamabad/Lahore/Karachi/Gilgit, with the flexibility to work remotely where appropriate. The role will require travel, as necessary, for due diligence site visits, meetings with founders and management, investment readiness advisory, and post-investment monitoring activities.

The duty travel expenses will be covered by Accelerate Prosperity, subject to approval of the reporting manager and the applicable travel policy of AP.

9.     Payment terms

• The payment will be made on a monthly basis, subject to approval of the deliverables.
• Payment shall be made upon satisfactory completion & submission of the agreed deliverables and approval of the designated Investment Manager and CIO.
• Payments will be made within thirty (30) days from the date of submission of a complete and accurate invoice along with approved deliverables.
• All payments shall be subject to applicable taxes, deductions, and withholding requirements under the prevailing laws of Pakistan.

10.  Reporting Line

The consultant will report to the designated Investment Manager with overall oversight by the CIO at Accelerate Prosperity Pakistan.

11.  Proposal Submission Requirements

Interested individual consultant must submit the following:

• The individual consultant must provide a copy of their CNIC and an active NTN number.
• The individual consultant must submit a CV and cover letter that demonstrate relevant experience and expertise in the field as mentioned above in point 6.
• The individual consultant is required to sign the RFP document and annexes, and it should be submitted along with the proposal.
• The financial proposal should be submitted using the attached financial proposal format with a valid signature.