The Blended Finance Podcast

Episode 22: Financing Resilience, Inclusion, and Development with Karanraj Chaudri

In this episode, we speak with Karanraj Chaudri, Regional Specialist at UNDP Asia-Pacific and Sustainable Finance Advisor at UNDP in India, about the evolving role of blended and innovative financing mechanisms in advancing climate and development outcomes. From private sector engagement and SDG financing to climate-smart agriculture credit and resilience-focused investments, the conversation explores what it takes to move beyond one-off transactions toward long-term market development and scalable sustainable finance ecosystems.

Episode 21: From Pilot to Scale: Outcomes-Based Financing in India with Manjula Singh

In this episode of The Blended Finance Podcast, we speak with Manjula Singh, Executive Director, India at the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). Drawing on over 25 years of leadership across health, education, skilling, and gender, Manjula reflects on her career journey and shares insights on outcomes-based financing in India. The conversation covers the Skill Impact Bond, CIFF's investments in girls and women, the role of philanthropy in OBF, and what it will take to move from successful pilots to genuine scale.

Episode 20: Parametric Insurance, Blended Finance, and Climate Resilience with Charlie Langdale

In this episode, we speak with Charlie Langdale, CEO of Humanity Insured, to discuss how insurance can serve as a tool for climate resilience rather than just risk transfer. From its origins at COP26 to on-the-ground projects protecting displaced communities, farming households, and urban workers across 20+ countries, Charlie walks us through the practicalities of making parametric insurance work for people who have never had a financial safety net. The conversation explores what blended finance and concessional capital can unlock, where parametric insurance hits its limits, and what needs to change in policy and funding to reach the 3.6 billion people living on the climate frontline.

Episode 19: Learning, Building, Executing: Two Years of TBFC

This special anniversary episode of The Blended Finance Podcast features TBFC partners Aparna Dua, Nirav Khambhati, and Tushar Thakkar reflecting on two years of building The Blended Finance Company. The conversation covers highlights from the past year, insights from working across the blended finance ecosystem, lessons from early hypotheses, and the importance of execution-focused approaches.

Episode 18: Building Systems & Mobilizing Capital with Nachiket Mor

Join Nirav Khambhati for a masterclass in development finance with Nachiket Mor, one of India's foremost thinkers on institutional design and capital mobilization. Discover how the Gates Foundation's vaccine guarantees worked without ever being called, why the government's role in blended finance goes far beyond providing capital, and what principles drive institutions that achieve both impact and financial viability. With insights spanning from airline guarantees under UDAN to income-contingent lending for medical education, this episode reveals how smart capital deployment can transform entire sectors.