An unprecedented OECD survey of more than 140 foundations working for development revealed that philanthropies targeted the health and reproductive sector above all else. With contributions of USD 12.6 billion between 2013 and 2015, foundations ranked third in the leading sources of funding for health and reproductive health, just after the United States and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) provided 72% of health-related funding, and the main recipient regions were Africa and Asia, where most philanthropic funding targeted infectious disease control. Yet, even when put together, philanthropic funds and official development assistance (ODA) still fall far short of the trillions needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (OECD, 2018b, 2018c). SDG 3, for example, aims to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” by 2030. According to the World Health Organization, low- and middle-income countries will need an additional USD 3.9 trillion in funding over 15 years to achieve this goal (Stenberg et al., 2017). The sheer scale and complexity of global health challenges are increasingly pushing foundations to explore less conventional ways of partnering, funding and implementing programmes on the ground. Innovative finance and digitalisation are two novel approaches to finance and deliver healthcare in developing countries.