A Bedouin man writes the word Bedouin in Arabic in the sand. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Social Finance Israel (SFI) has launched a social impact bond to improve maths performance for high school students in the country’s Bedouin community.

The goal of the program, to be presented to the United Nations on Wednesday, is to raise the number of students matriculating in higher levels of maths in the town of Rahat from the current level of only 15 percent.

SFI is a non-profit firm established by Ronald Cohen and Yaron Neudorfer and cooperates with the government and business sector to create mechanisms for positive social impact. It has raised 45 million shekels ($12.7 million) in social impact bonds, also known as pay-for-success projects.

SFI raised 14.8 million shekels from seven investors, including Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank. The Education Ministry will pay back investors depending on the level of success.

Though still small, Israel’s impact investment market more than doubled in two years to over $260 million in 2018.

In 2016, together with UBS, SFI sold a $5.5 million bond to prevent Type 2 diabetes. The trial, focused on prediabetes, is in its second year. Initial results are due in late 2019.

Its first bond, for 8 million shekels, aims to reduce the drop-out rate among higher education computer science students.

“Based on the performance so far, it is estimated that investors will get their money back plus around 4 percent annual interest,” CEO Neudorfer told Reuters.

Projects in the pipeline include a program aimed at alleviating loneliness among the elderly and extracting families from poverty.

SFI is also working with crowdfunding investor OurCrowd to launch a $30 million fund to invest in impact-related startups.

Last year, such startups raised $1.6 billion, or 23 percent of all capital raised.

In January, Bridges Israel raised $60 million for an impact investment fund from investors including Israel Discount Bank and Psagot Investment House.