Yale Research Initiative on Innovation & Scale (Y-RISE)

What Yale Research Initiative on Innovation & Scale (Y-RISE) does

Y-RISE is a Yale University research initiative housed within the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies that develops evidence on how to scale anti-poverty and public health interventions in low- and middle-income countries. Founded in 2018 and led by Faculty Director Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak (with Executive Director Neela A. Saldanha), the initiative runs randomized controlled trials and field experiments focused on what it calls the "science of scaling," probing why proven interventions fail to expand and how to overcome adoption barriers across education, health, climate, and labor domains.

The initiative's core technical product is its research methodology and the resulting dataset set: a portfolio of RCTs and field experiments executed across Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Nepal, Nigeria, Malawi, and the Philippines. Notable research programs include the No Lean Season seasonal migration study, NORM masking interventions, bundled health services, soft-skills training programs, and climate adaptation work on safe drinking water. These are delivered through partnerships with implementation organizations (BRAC, IPA, J-PAL, Evidence Action), global health bodies (WHO), and government counterparts, and supported by data assets including the Cox's Bazar Panel Survey.

Y-RISE operates as a non-profit academic center rather than a commercial enterprise. Funding flows from philanthropic grantmakers and bilateral aid agencies — most visibly GiveWell ($1.35M in December 2022 and $1.35M in May 2024), the Gates Foundation (COVID-19 response support), and FCDO via partnerships such as STEG — augmented by Yale institutional support. Revenue is grant-contingent and project-based rather than contracted on a pricing or per-seat basis, and the customer base consists of funders and government/NGO implementation partners rather than end-consumers of a product.

Name

Yale Research Initiative on Innovation & Scale (Y-RISE)

Legal name

Yale Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale

Website

https://yrise.yale.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Y-RISE is a Yale University research initiative, founded in 2018, that uses randomized controlled trials to study how to scale evidence-based poverty, health, and climate interventions in low-income countries alongside partners such as BRAC, WHO, J-PAL, and IPA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New Haven

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Foundation Funding: Y-RISE is funded through grants from philanthropic organizations including GiveWell grants for core operations, government development agencies (FCDO through STEG), and private foundations
2. Institutional Support: Yale University provides institutional support as part of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Y-RISE is an academic research initiative at Yale University that identifies, tests, and scales evidence-based global development policy interventions. It conducts randomized controlled trials and field experiments to study how programs can be expanded from pilot to policy level, producing scholarship and policy guidance in partnership with governments and NGOs. Key programs include seasonal migration assistance, mask-wearing interventions, bundled health services delivery, soft-skills training for entrepreneurs, and climate adaptation water solutions.

Product overview

Y-RISE is a research initiative at Yale University, not a commercial product company. It advances research on the science of scaling policy interventions, organizing around five research networks covering political economy effects, evidence aggregation and external validity, spillover and equilibrium effects, macro/growth/welfare implications, and policy implementation and institutional capacity. The organization produces scholarship, policy guidance, and facilitates large-scale implementation of tested programs through partnerships with NGOs and governments. Key programs include the No Lean Season seasonal migration intervention, the NORM mask-wearing model developed during COVID-19, bundled health services delivery, soft-skills training for entrepreneurs, and climate adaptation water solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• No Lean Season Program A seasonal migration intervention that provides financial assistance to rural households in Bangladesh during the gap period between plantation and harvest seasons, increasing household expenditures by 30-35% and household income by 19%.
• NORM (Normalizing Mask Wearing) Model A community mask-wearing intervention combining distribution and behavioral encouragement strategies to substantially increase mask usage and reduce COVID-19 transmission; first randomized evaluation showing masks reduce COVID-19 spread in real-world settings.
• Bundled Health Services Research Research on delivering multiple health services (Routine Immunization, Vitamin A, Deworming, ORS/Zinc, Chlorine) in a single mobile team visit to rural populations, reducing transportation fixed costs and reaching populations living far from health centers.
• Soft-Skills Training for Small Entrepreneurs Personal initiative training programs for small and medium entrepreneurs that develop proactive entrepreneurial mindsets to increase profits and sales, with research examining scaling complexities across multiple LMIC contexts.
• Climate Adaptation - Safe Drinking Water Market-based solutions research for providing safe drinking water in coastal Bangladesh through identifying, training, and financing small entrepreneurs to establish sustainable water businesses addressing salinity-contaminated water.

Quantifiable outcome

• Seasonal migration program increased household food and non-food expenditures by 30-35% and household income by 19% in Bangladesh
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• World Health Organization (WHO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 March 2023Yale University and WHO launched an innovative partnership to scale up Behavioral Sciences for Better Health initiative. This partnership focuses on applying behavioral science insights to health interventions at scale, with Y-RISE faculty director Mushfiq Mobarak involved in the collaboration.
• BRACcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Science of Scaling Lab (SOS) is a collaboration between BRAC (one of the world's largest NGOs), BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), and Y-RISE. The partnership combines BRAC's implementation capability, BIGD's contextual knowledge and research capacity, and Y-RISE's expertise on scaling complexities. Currently undertaking projects in climate change, mental health, and entrepreneurship.
• Structural Transformation and Economic Growth (STEG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerY-RISE is a member of the STEG consortium, a research initiative funded by FCDO that aims to understand structural change, productivity, and growth in low- and middle-income countries. Other members include Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Oxford University, University of Notre Dame, African Center for Economic Transformation, and University of Groningen. Y-RISE researchers focus on the role of electrification in structural change.
• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIPA partnered with Y-RISE faculty director Mushfiq Mobarak to conduct a large-scale RCT in Bangladesh on mask-wearing that was the first randomized evaluation showing masks reduce COVID-19. Also partnered on understanding effects of scaling soft-skills training to entrepreneurs in LMICs, and studies on latrine adoption.
• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJ-PAL is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 170 affiliated professors, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations. Over 400 million people have been reached by programs scaled up after being evaluated by J-PAL affiliated professors. J-PAL has been researching scaling up evidence-informed programs for more than a decade.
• Evidence ActioncoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerEvidence Action works with Y-RISE to replicate, test, and scale the No Lean Season program that encourages rural to urban seasonal migration to counter seasonal poverty. This is described as a prime example of Y-RISE's work in scaling effective interventions.
• International Growth Centre (IGC)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerY-RISE collaborates with IGC in supporting governments of Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone to generate evidence-based COVID-19 policy responses. IGC supports research on economic growth in developing countries.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI): IFPRI is a larger, established development research institute conducting policy-oriented research on agriculture, food security, and rural development with comparable field-experiment methodology.
• World Bank Development Research Group: The World Bank's in-house research arm conducts large-scale development economics research and directly engages policymakers. It is a much larger incumbent operating in the same evidence-to-policy space Y-RISE targets.
• RAND Corporation: RAND is a large policy research organization with deep experience running field experiments and translating research for government clients; comparable in mission to apply rigorous evidence to policy, though with a much broader sectoral scope.

Direct peers

• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA): IPA designs and evaluates field experiments in development economics and is a direct implementation partner of Y-RISE (e.g., co-led the Bangladesh mask RCT with Mushfiq Mobarak). Comparable mission, methods, and target geographies.
• Structural Transformation and Economic Growth (STEG): STEG is a consortium of which Y-RISE is a member, funded by FCDO to study structural change in low- and middle-income countries. Directly comparable scope (development macroeconomics, scaling) and funding base.
• Evidence Action: Evidence Action is a direct implementation partner that scales programs tested by Y-RISE researchers (notably No Lean Season). It operates at the implementation/scaling end of the same pipeline Y-RISE studies.
• BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD): BIGD is a co-founder of the Science of Scaling Lab with Y-RISE and BRAC. It focuses on governance and development research in Bangladesh, with deep contextual knowledge that complements Y-RISE's scaling methodology work.
• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL): J-PAL is the closest peer to Y-RISE: a global research network running randomized evaluations of development policy interventions, with 170+ affiliated professors and 400M+ people reached. Y-RISE is positioned as a scaling-focused complement to J-PAL's evaluation work.
• International Growth Centre (IGC): IGC partners directly with Y-RISE to support governments in Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone on evidence-based COVID-19 policy responses, and runs similar development economics research on growth in LMICs.

Emerging players

• GiveDirectly: GiveDirectly is a GiveWell-backed cash-transfer organization that frequently appears alongside Y-RISE-funded research. Less directly comparable in research model, but shares funding ecosystem and development-impact mission.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/YaleRISE
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yale-research-initiative-on-innovation-scale-y-rise

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Yale Research Initiative on Innovation & Scale (Y-RISE)