What ProPortion does

Proportion Global is a decentralised innovation and design agency headquartered in Amsterdam and registered as Proportion Enterprise BV in the Netherlands. Founded in 2009 by Thomas Schuurmans as Proportion Foundation and reincorporated in 2014, the company operates a vetted network of 250+ locally based Humanity-Centered Design (HCD) practitioners across 62 countries on four continents (Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the Middle East). Its core service is delivering design research, design sprints and prototyping, feasibility studies and piloting, inclusive business modelling, HCD training and mentoring, and creative entrepreneurship programmes to NGOs, social enterprises, governments, challenge funds, and impact investors working with low-income communities. The company's HCD methodology expands traditional Human-Centered Design beyond the individual user to encompass communities, institutions, ecosystems, and future generations, integrating systems thinking, social and behaviour change science, futures methods, and business modelling.

The company's product portfolio comprises six interconnected HCD service lines plus two platform assets. The Innovators Team platform, co-founded with GAIN, provides a multi-stakeholder co-innovation environment including social hub, e-learning modules, challenge tools, resource library, AI buddy, and a mobile app with offline capability. Proportion Global Academy offers a 6-week training-and-mentoring programme in HCD leadership for health leaders, launched with a cohort starting September 2026. An AI layer, built partly on third-party language model APIs, supports data synthesis, research question preparation, sprint prompt generation, and innovation action plan structuring across HCD phases.

Proportion Global generates revenue through two streams: professional services covering embedded design research and Technical Assistance delivered to challenge funds and impact investors (BII, Challenge Works, CFYE, SPRING), and a subscription/recurring stream via the Academy programme with tiered pricing based on organisation type and country income classification. Distribution is relationship-led via discovery calls, content marketing through 60+ case studies, embedded TA partnerships with development finance institutions, and community referrals across its practitioner network. Named clients include Plan International, IRC, Oxfam, GIZ, GAIN, BII, Challenge Works, SNV, Girl Effect, Palladium, Pact, Farm Radio International, SPRING Accelerator, CFYE, CABI, and ROAM. The legal entity remains privately held with no institutional investors, parent company, or public funding rounds disclosed beyond a USD 1M Google funding entry dated 2016.

Name

ProPortion

Legal name

Proportion Enterprise BV

Website

https://proportion.global

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Proportion Global is a decentralised Humanity-Centered Design agency headquartered in Amsterdam, operating a vetted network of 250+ local design practitioners across 62 countries to deliver design research, prototyping, feasibility, business modelling, and training services to NGOs, social enterprises, and impact investors working with low-income communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Design Consulting Services

NAICS

Specialized Design Services (5414), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Health Workforce Development & Capacity-Building (HLAJAKAM), Environmental Education, Capacity Building & Community Engagement (BPADALAO)

Keywords

• Human-centered design consulting
• Design research services
• Inclusive business modelling
• Social impact innovation
• Design sprint facilitation

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Technical Assistance Services: Embedded design research, field testing, and HCD coaching provided to portfolio companies and grantees of challenge funds and impact investors. Delivered as a TA partner alongside investment programs.
2. Design Research & Consulting: Direct engagement with NGOs, social enterprises, and governments for design research, design sprints, feasibility studies, and inclusive business modelling services.
3. Proportion Academy: 6-week training-and-mentoring journey in HCD leadership for health leaders. Pricing varies by country income classification and organization type (multinational, national NGO, SME/startup).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Proportion Global is a decentralised innovation and design agency that provides Humanity-Centered Design services—including design research, design sprints and prototyping, feasibility studies, inclusive business modelling, HCD training and mentoring, and creative entrepreneurship programmes—to NGOs, social enterprises, governments, challenge funds, and impact investors working on solutions for low-income communities. Deliverables are produced by 250+ locally-based HCD practitioners embedded in the same countries and regions as the communities served, supported by the co-founded Innovators Team digital platform and the Proportion Global Academy training programme.

Product overview

Proportion Global is a decentralised innovation and design agency offering a portfolio of six interconnected Humanity-Centered Design (HCD) services: Design Research, Design Sprints & Prototyping, Feasibility Studies & Piloting, Inclusive Business Modelling, HCD Training & Mentoring, and Creative Entrepreneurship. The core differentiator is delivery by 250+ local practitioners across 62 countries. The company also operates two key platforms: Innovators Team (co-founded with GAIN) for multi-stakeholder co-innovation, community building, and AI-augmented research support; and Proportion Global Academy for structured 6-week training programmes in HCD leadership for health. Technical Assistance services extend these capabilities to challenge funds and impact investors supporting portfolio companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Design Research Services Design research conducted by locally based practitioners working in the same country or region as the communities studied, combining empathy interviews, field observations, and stakeholder mapping with behavioural diagnosis and systems analysis to produce actionable opportunities for organisations designing solutions for low-income communities.
• Design Sprints & Prototyping Rapid co-creation sessions bringing communities, partners, and stakeholders together to facilitate concept development, rapid prototyping of service, digital, or physical solutions, and user testing with feedback and iteration cycles, reaching real users in days rather than months.
• Feasibility Studies & Piloting Market viability, technical feasibility, behavioural readiness, and financial sustainability assessments conducted in relevant communities, combining field research with business model thinking and foresight analysis to deliver evidence clients can act on and recommendations defendable to funders.
• Inclusive Business Modelling Business models for underserved markets built from community reality, covering value proposition design, unit economics, revenue stream modelling, and investor-ready pitch support stress-tested against sustainable community use beyond project end.
• HCD Training & Mentoring Blended learning, live facilitation, and follow-up coaching for NGO programme officers, frontline teams, and partner organisations to practice Humanity-Centered Design as an everyday discipline, delivered via the Innovators Team platform or embedded in organisational systems.
• Creative Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship programme training for youth employment, livelihoods, or women's entrepreneurship programmes, delivered by practitioners working in the same markets as participants with Innovators Team platform support for cohort social hub and peer learning.
• Technical Assistance for Challenge Funds & Impact Investors Embedded design research, field testing, and HCD coaching for companies and innovators backed by challenge funds and impact investors, reducing adoption risk and building capacity that outlasts investment cycles.
• Innovators Team Platform Multi-stakeholder co-innovation platform co-founded by Proportion Global and GAIN that hosts challenges, enables cross-sector collaboration, and preserves learning across programmes. Provides a social hub, e-learning modules, challenge tools, resource library, an AI buddy for data synthesis, and a mobile app with offline access.
• Proportion Global Academy 6-week training-and-mentoring journey for health leaders covering Humanity-Centered Design, systems innovation, design sprints, and responsible AI, combining live learning sessions, mentoring circles, AI-enhanced practice, and custom innovation action planning, with cohort enrollment and tiered subscription pricing by organisation type and country income classification.

Named customers15 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founded the Innovators Team platform - a multi-stakeholder digital co-innovation platform for hosting challenges, enabling cross-sector collaboration, and preserving learning across programmes. GAIN uses the platform to support governments in innovating social protection programs.
• Challenge WorkscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngaged Proportion to provide innovation support to AfriPlastics Challenge finalists across Africa. Also partnered on Mombasa Plastics Prize - youth entrepreneurship program to tackle marine plastic waste.
• Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrought Proportion in to build HCD capacity in cohort of companies working on youth employment. Expanded from Kenya/Nigeria to Lebanon, Sudan, and Egypt. 30 companies now actively apply HCD.
• SPRING AcceleratorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned Proportion to conduct design research alongside women-focused companies in their accelerator portfolio across Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Pakistan.
• Innovators TeamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founded platform (with GAIN) serving as shared digital backbone for organisations solving challenges online. Features include social hub, e-learning modules, challenge tools, resource library, AI buddy, and mobile app with offline capability.
• CorpsAfricaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on blended entrepreneurship programme for CorpsAfrica alumni across ten African countries, supporting participants to deploy seed funds with confidence.
• CABIminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDesign sprint in Ghana bringing together government regulators, university researchers, importers, scientists, and local end users to synthesise field insights into actionable opportunities.
• GrowthAfricaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcosystem partner engaged in co-creation of the Innovators Team platform, shaping platform features, user journeys, and branding.
• KIT InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcosystem partner engaged in co-creation of the Innovators Team platform for innovation in nutrition-sensitive social protection.
• AccentureminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcosystem partner engaged in co-creation of the Innovators Team platform, contributing to multi-stakeholder governance model.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Reboot: Design studio that applies human-centred design to governance, development, and social impact programmes, particularly in Africa. Competes for the same NGO and foundation RFPs as Proportion Global.
• Bop Consulting: European consultancy designing products, services and business models for low-income communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Closely comparable on inclusive business modelling and emerging-market delivery.
• Final Mile: Behavioural design consultancy applying HCD and behavioural science to global development and public health challenges. Highly comparable on methodology and customer base, though more focused on behaviour-change than Proportion's broader systems lens.
• IDEO.org: Social impact arm of IDEO applying human-centred design to poverty, health, and economic inclusion in low-income communities. Closest direct peer: same HCD methodology, same NGO/funder customers, same emerging markets footprint as Proportion Global.

Others

• Spring Impact: Consultancy supporting social enterprises and non-profits to scale impact, including capacity-building and measurement. Adjacent rather than competing: overlaps on capacity-building missions and overlapping funder customers, but does not deliver HCD field research.

Emerging players

• Brink: Innovation and design consultancy with social impact and emerging-market practices. Smaller and less community-embedded than Proportion but competes for similar funder and impact investor briefs.
• Sonder Design Collective: Boutique design and innovation studio focused on social impact, sustainability, and humanitarian programmes. Comparable scale and methodology, narrower geographic reach than Proportion's 62-country network.

Broad incumbents

• Dalberg Group: Global social impact advisory firm serving governments, INGOs, foundations, and impact investors across more than 90 countries. Overlaps Proportion Global on challenge fund and impact investor mandates but does not specialise in grassroots HCD delivery.
• Results for Development (R4D): Development-focused consultancy working with donors and governments on health, education, and inclusive growth. Competes for the same funder-side TA engagements but offers analytic/programmatic rather than grassroots HCD delivery.
• frog design (Capgemini Invent): Global design consultancy now part of Capgemini Invent with a dedicated social impact practice. Comparable design methodology and multinational client roster; broader commercial remit dilutes its focus on low-income-community delivery versus Proportion.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/373434576069868
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/proportion-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/proportion.global
• Xx.com/pportion

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ProPortion