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scaling what works

The Laerdal Scale Up Fund

About the Fund

Established in December 2025, the Laerdal Scale Up Fund is a USD 100 million commitment by the Laerdal family to support the expansion of proven programs addressing time-critical emergencies.

The Fund exists to accelerate progress toward the One Million Lives 2030 goal by helping solutions that already save lives reach far more people - turning early success into population-level impact. By catalyzing the expansion of programs that have demonstrated results at smaller scale, the Fund aims to multiply lifesaving impact where it matters most.

The Fund operates at arm’s length from Laerdal Medical and Laerdal Global Health, while sharing the same mission: helping save lives.

why the scale up fund?

Scaling what works

The Laerdal Scale Up Fund will support initiatives with proven results from smaller studies or pilots as they transition from innovation to large-scale implementation. The focus is on enabling multi-site or national expansion - where tens of thousands of lives can be saved.

At the same time, the Fund will support generation of evidence on impact, cost-effectiveness, and best-practice implementation models that governments can use to guide broader adoption and long-term sustainability.

The Fund aims to stimulate innovation by:

  • Strong program and implementation partnerships
  • New financing models
  • Truncating time to scale up by leveraging lessons learned from the Safer Births Bundle of Care program

Across global health, many programs save lives - but too few reach the scale needed to make a lasting difference. Promising solutions often succeed in pilots or small studies, yet struggle to expand due to limited funding, insufficient evidence for policymakers, or a lack of scalable implementation models. The Scale Up Fund aims to help address this gap.

Criteria for support
  1. Solid existing evidence
    Showing potential to save a large number of lives from time-critical emergencies (trauma, childbirth, cardiac arrest, drowning, sepsis, stroke, etc.)
  2. Innovative programs and/or implementation models
    Offering higher impact and/or cost-effectiveness than existing solutions
  3. Strong leadership and partnerships
    Preferably led by UN organizations or global medical associations within the WHO Acute Care Action Network
  4. Robust implementation plans
    Developed in close collaboration with national and local health authorities, with a clear pathway to sustainability if impact and cost-effectiveness targets are met
  5. Co-funding from other partners
    Enabling shared ownership and accelerated scale
  6. A rigorous evaluation plan
    To inform future large-scale adoption

Governance

Candidate programs will be assessed by an independent Board based on evidence of impact, scalability, partner commitment, and alignment with national and global health priorities.

The Fund operates at arm’s length from Laerdal Medical and Laerdal Global Health.