In many underserved regions, there’s no shortage of innovation. What’s missing is the right kind of support.

Over and over, we see tech startups doing the hard, patient work of building infrastructure – platforms, systems, and tools that could serve thousands. Yet, when it comes to funding, the money flows elsewhere.

It goes to short-term programs. To NGOs running isolated training workshops. To one-off business grants that feel good on paper but fall apart after the ribbon-cutting photos are taken.

Meanwhile, the startups building the actual foundation of digital inclusion, like Siuhuu, are left without support to solve regional problems at scale.

🚨 The Funding Model Is Broken

Let’s be clear: most donor and development funding is not designed to support startups building platforms or infrastructure. It’s designed for visibility and short-term wins.

Here’s what that typically looks like:

  • A small business gets $5K to create a website or run a digital campaign.
  • An NGO offers a two-day e-commerce training.
  • A pilot project gets funded for six months, with no plan for sustainability.

These efforts check the box. But they don’t build momentum. And they definitely don’t solve the deeper problems around access, infrastructure, or digital capacity.

Worse – they create a cycle where:

  • Entrepreneurs rely on grants instead of systems.
  • Every new business has to start from scratch.
  • The real builders – the ones trying to scale solutions, can’t get the funding they need to keep going.

🧩 Where Siuhuu Fits In – and Why It’s Struggling to Get Funded

Siuhuu isn’t another e-commerce business. It’s a regional digital backbone – built to connect, empower, and grow hundreds of Pacific-based businesses in a way that reflects the real challenges of the region.

What it’s doing:

  • Solving the payments problem for local sellers.
  • Making Pacific products visible to global buyers.
  • Creating shared infrastructure that helps any small business go online and stay online.

What it’s not getting?

Funding.

Despite doing the heavy lifting – solving problems at scale, building a sustainable business model, and providing the kind of infrastructure everyone says they want – Siuhuu is still hustling for survival.

Why?

Because it doesn’t fit into the traditional grant model. It’s not an NGO. It’s not a one-time project. It’s long-term infrastructure. And right now, there’s barely a playbook for funding that – especially when the founder, despite being a Pacific Islander, doesn’t currently reside in the region. Even though Siuhuu is solving real, on-the-ground problems in the Pacific, this detail alone can be enough to disqualify it from support.

💡 Why This Needs to Change

We don’t need another round of digital literacy workshops. We need platforms that work, and last.

Funding should go to:

  • Startups building shared digital infrastructure, not just individual business websites.
  • Solutions that are market-driven and scalable, not just grant-funded.
  • Tools that solve structural problems (like access, logistics, and payments), not just symptoms.

Organizations like Siuhuu are doing what governments and donors claim they want: building ecosystems, creating sustainable jobs, boosting exports, and empowering communities. But they’re doing it without the support they need – or deserve.

✊ Let’s Fund What Actually Works

If we want real change, we need to start funding outcomes, not just activities.

We need to stop rewarding temporary fixes and start backing the builders who are laying down long-term solutions. That means rewriting the criteria, rethinking what “impact” looks like, and putting money where the momentum already exists.

Startups like Siuhuu aren’t just businesses. They’re infrastructure.

And until we support them accordingly, we’ll keep spending millions on short-term solutions – with little to show for it five years down the line.