RFP/KFW/AP/2026/00014

Annex 1: Terms of Reference (TORs): Procurement of Service; Production of Sector Explainer Videos

1) Background

Accelerate Prosperity (AP) is a joint initiative of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) in Central and South Asia. It aspires to work towards a society that is powered by innovative and successful young entrepreneurs. Through its services, AP extends tailored training, advice, and technical assistance to aspiring and existing entrepreneurs to help them launch or expand their innovative business ventures. It also extends tailored financing to start-ups and SGBs to help them unlock external investments by improving their bankability and investment readiness.

2) Program Overview

Start-up Pakistan is a project financed by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and implemented by Accelerate Prosperity. The initiative aims to scale up Accelerate Prosperity’s existing model of technical support and financing for businesses. It will expand into new geographies and across exciting sectors such as education, health, tourism, and green economy, prioritizing digitization and environmental sustainability.

3) Purpose of the Assignment

AP is seeking to procure the services of a qualified video production firm or creative agency to produce a series of sector explainer video series. These videos will serve as a flagship knowledge product, high-quality, visually rich, and backed by research and insights, designed to help entrepreneurs understand the business landscape, economics, and entry opportunities within the priority sectors aligned with AP’s 2026 incubation and acceleration programs, and KfW priority sectors.

Each video will conclude with a direct call to action encouraging viewers to apply to AP’s incubation and acceleration programs, making the series a dual-purpose asset: a genuine public good that delivers sector intelligence to a broad audience, and a targeted outreach mechanism that channels sector-relevant, business-motivated entrepreneurs into AP’s formal support programs.

Beyond public distribution, the videos will serve as the foundation for structured program packs and advisory content modules on the Virtual Accelerate platform, enabling entrepreneurs enrolled in AP’s digital components of the programs to access sector-specific guidance as part of a structured learning journey. The completed episodes will additionally be shared with National Incubation Centres (NICs) and other ecosystem support organizations across Pakistan, for use as sector-specific advisory and entrepreneur training material within their own programs. The assignment will cover the end-to-end production of these videos, from content structuring and scripting in collaboration with AP’s Programs and Data & Insights teams, through filming, editing, and delivery of all final assets ready for distribution across AP’s digital platforms and partner networks.

4) Rationale

AP’s incubation, acceleration, coaching, and financing opportunities are competitive and capacity-constrained. While they deliver significant impact for selected entrepreneurs, a large population of aspiring entrepreneurs across Pakistan remains beyond the reach of structured, high-quality business advisory. Many of these individuals have capital, skills, networks, or a viable idea, but lack the structured sector intelligence needed to make confident decisions about where to direct their effort and resources.

Existing public content on entrepreneurship in Pakistan tends to be either motivational rather than analytical or highly technical and inaccessible to non-specialist audiences. There is a significant gap in the availability of content that is simultaneously rigorous, practical, and visually digestible: content that walks an entrepreneur through a sector with clarity, providing the global context, Pakistan-specific dynamics, real business economics, and concrete starting points.

The Sector Explainer video series is designed to fill this gap. Drawing on AP’s institutional knowledge, its relationships with entrepreneurs and ecosystem experts, and its deep understanding of the KfW priority sectors, each episode will function as a structured sector brief in video format, giving entrepreneurs the clarity they need to evaluate an opportunity before allocating resources.

The specific goals of this project are:

• Strengthening the entrepreneur pipeline: High-quality, sector-specific content at the awareness stage enables entrepreneurs to make more informed decisions about the opportunities they pursue. Entrepreneurs who engage with the series before applying to AP programs arrive with greater baseline understanding, reducing the foundational coaching burden and enabling faster progress through the program. This directly improves the quality and sector-relevance of AP’s applicant pool.
• Targeted program outreach at scale: Each episode will close with a direct call to action inviting viewers to apply to AP’s incubation and acceleration programs. Because the content is sector-specific and analytically framed, it naturally self-selects for motivated, research-oriented entrepreneurs who are a strong fit for AP’s programs, making this one of the most relevant and effective outreach mechanisms available to AP.
• Extending impact at scale: A video knowledge product is a scalable, reusable asset. Once produced, a single episode can reach thousands of entrepreneurs compared to in-person delivery alone. By sharing the series with NICs and other ecosystem support organizations for use in their own entrepreneur training and advisory programs, AP further multiplies reach without additional production cost. The series has the potential to compound in value over time as episodes accumulate, viewership grows, and partner organizations embed the content into their programming.
• Alignment with KfW sector priorities: The 2026 program cycle prioritizes specific sectors under the Start-up Pakistan project. Producing sector explainer videos aligned to these sectors ensures that AP’s public-facing knowledge outputs directly reinforce the program’s thematic investments, supporting coherence between AP’s programming and its communications.
• Positioning AP as an ecosystem knowledge hub: A consistently produced, research-backed video series builds AP’s credibility as a thought leader in Pakistan’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. This strengthens AP’s relationships with donors, government, and private sector partners, increases organic visibility for its programs, and supports long-term institutional positioning as a leading enterprise development organization in the region.

5) About the Sector Explainer Videos

We are producing a series of total 6 videos, each episode in the series is a 6-8 minute sector explainer video built around a structured analytical framework. The objective of each episode is to equip the viewer with a well-organized, data-grounded understanding of a sector and the business opportunities within, and to direct aspiring and working entrepreneurs towards AP’s programs as their next step. The defining features of the format are as follows:

• Research-backed content: Each episode is grounded in sector research, market data, cost and revenue benchmarks, and expert insight. Content is developed in collaboration with AP’s Programs and Research teams and, where applicable, validated with sector operators and ecosystem experts before scripting.
• Data-driven visual design: A central feature of the format is its visual presentation of complex information. Motion graphics and structured on-screen visuals carry a significant share of the analytical content in each episode.
• Practitioner and expert voice: Episodes are presented by a credible host or narrator, with supporting contributions from sector operators, manufacturers, or domain experts where applicable.
• Integrated call to action: Every episode closes with a clear and specific call to action directing viewers to apply to AP’s incubation or acceleration programs. The call to action is framed in the context of the episode’s sector, speaking directly to an entrepreneur who has just engaged with the content and is considering their next step. This transforms each episode into a program outreach touchpoint, reaching motivated and sector-aligned potential applicants at the moment of highest intent.
• Companion resources: Each episode is accompanied by a downloadable structured data deck covering CAPEX tiers, unit economics, value ladder, and additional resources. The video serves as the accessible entry point to a broader knowledge package.
• Short-form cuts for social distribution: Each full episode is accompanied by a total of three,  (60 to 90-second) highlight reel formatted for social media, designed to drive traffic to the full episode, the companion resources, and AP’s program application pages.
• Platform-optimized delivery: Episodes are produced and formatted for distribution via YouTube, AP’s social media channels, and the Virtual Accelerate e-learning platform. All assets include platform-ready thumbnails, captions, metadata, and subtitles.

6) Scope of Work

The selected firm or agency will be responsible for the following activities across the full production lifecycle:

Pre-Production:

• Review sector briefs, research materials, and content outlines provided by AP’s Programs and Data and Insights teams for each episode.
• Develop detailed scripts for each episode incorporating an agreed upon framework and a sector-specific AP program call to action, and submit for AP review and approval prior to filming.
• Design storyboards and motion graphics plans for the visual components of each episode, including data visualizations, charts, and on-screen frameworks.
• Coordinate all filming logistics including scheduling of presenters and sector expert contributors, equipment, and crew. Accelerate Prosperity will support in identifying the entrepreneurs and sector experts where possible, but it remains the primary responsibility of the firm to identify relevant people to feature in the videos, discuss with focal person at Accelerate Prosperity, and proceed after approval.

Production:

• Film all presenter footage, expert contributor segments, and required b-roll for each episode.
• Ensure broadcast-quality audio and professional lighting throughout.
• Capture all supplementary footage required to support the post-production motion graphics and data visualization layers.

Post-Production:

• Edit each episode to full-length final cut (6-8 minutes), incorporating motion graphics, title cards, lower-thirds, animated data visualizations, and all required on-screen text elements.
• Integrate a scripted and visually designed call-to-action segment at the close of each episode, directing viewers to AP’s incubation and acceleration programs.
• Produce three 60 to 90-second short-form cutdown of each episode for social media distribution in both horizontal and vertical formats.
• Produce English subtitles (.SRT format) for each episode, and Urdu/English voiceover where specified by AP.
• Design a custom branded thumbnail for each episode and all reels/YouTube shorts.
• Prepare YouTube-ready video descriptions and recommended metadata for each episode.
• Deliver all files in agreed formats and transfer the raw footage archive to AP upon completion in a hard drive to be purchased by the service provider.

Publishing:

Below is a proposed posting strategy to ensure the messaging gets the best reach possible, by leveraging the firm’s following and using that to direct traction towards Accelerate Prosperity’s pages.

7) Deliverables

The contractor will submit the following deliverables, subject to AP review and approval at each stage:

• Approved scripts for all episodes, inclusive of call-to-action segment, prior to commencement of filming.
• Approved storyboards and motion graphics plans for each episode.
• Full-length edited video file for each episode (minimum 1080p resolution, MP4 format).
• Three short-form social media cutdown for each episode (60–90 seconds; horizontal and vertical formats), so a total of 18 reel format videos.
• English subtitle file (.SRT format) for each episode.
• Custom branded thumbnail for each episode (minimum 1280 x 720 pixels, JPG or PNG).
• YouTube-ready descriptions and metadata for each episode.
• Raw footage archive transferred to AP upon final delivery.
• A brief production completion report summarizing the process, key decisions, and recommendations for each production cycle.

8) Qualifications and Experience

Interested firms or agencies must demonstrate the following:

• A minimum of three years’ experience in professional video production, with demonstrated capacity for documentary-style, educational, or knowledge-product video formats.
• A portfolio of at least three comparable productions — specifically short-to-medium length explainer, advisory, or branded documentary videos that combine presenter footage with substantial motion graphics and data visualization.
• In-house capacity for motion graphics design, including animated charts, infographics, and data visualizations.
• Ability to produce bilingual content in English with subtitles or voiceover.
• Full production capability including professional camera equipment, lighting, audio recording, and a post-production editing suite.
• Prior experience working with development sector organizations, research institutions, or entrepreneurship programs is a significant advantage.
• Strong project management and communication skills with the ability to manage iterative content review and approval processes.
• An established digital audience with demonstrated reach to aspiring entrepreneurs, former employees of high-growth startups, and small to medium enterprise owners and operators. Firms must provide audience analytics dashboards from their digital platforms (YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, or equivalent) as evidence of audience composition in the technical proposal.
• Demonstrated digital platform reach sufficient to ensure the produced content reaches the intended audience at scale. Platform reach metrics (total followers, average views, engagement rates) must be submitted as part of the technical proposal.

9) Contract Duration:

2 months

10) Location:

The firm will not be required to travel from our side. If necessary, they may be invited to the Islamabad office for discussions and final review of the videos. Any need for travel will depend on the firm’s proposed production approach, as agreed upon by Accelerate Prosperity.

11) Reporting Line:

Marketing Lead, Accelerate Prosperity, Pk

12) Payment Terms:

• 30% payment will be made within thirty (30) days from signing of the contract and submission of a detailed work plan, approved by Accelerate Prosperity.
• 30% payment to be made upon publishing of 2 videos
• 40% payment to be made upon publishing of the remaining 4 videos and submission of an analytics report and all documents/files for the project. 

13) Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on Quality and Cost-based Selection:

• Technical expertise and experience of the applicants, including the services delivery proposal (80%)
• Financial competitiveness (20%)

14) Proposal Submission Requirements

The bids are to be evaluated on the following grounds, meeting the following criteria which are mandatory.

Applicants must ensure the submission of the complete set of required documents. Applications with missing documents will be considered incomplete and, therefore, ineligible for consideration by Accelerate Prosperity.

Kindly send your proposal along with samples/portfolios in a USB in sealed envelope or, as an alternative, bidders may submit a QR code within the sealed envelope, linking to the complete electronic documents.

The technical and financial bid should be submitted separately in a sealed envelope.

14.1. Mandatory Requirements:

• The applicant firm must provide a certificate of company/firm registration with SECP/relevant regulatory authority and an active taxpayer status.
• The applicant firm is required to sign the RFP document along with annexes, and it should be submitted along with the proposal.

14.2. Technical Proposal:

• The Applicant Firm must submit a company profile demonstrating a minimum of three years of experience in professional video production, with specific evidence of work in documentary-style, educational, or knowledge-product video formats. The profile should reference prior contracts or assignments relevant to the qualifications defined in Section 8, and the firm should provide copies of previous contracts or assignments as per the requirements.
• The firm must provide QR codes linking to a minimum of three sample productions as per the criteria defined in Section 8, with particular attention to motion graphics, data visualization, and explainer or advisory video formats, embedded directly in the proposal document.
• The firm should provide complete profiles, and CVs of the team proposed for this project, i.e. host, research team, script writer, video editor, animator, graphic designer, and any other supporting team members. The CVs demonstrate the team’s technical capacity, including their years of experience, their work on similar projects relevant to this proposal, and the quality of projects they have delivered.
• The firm must submit digital platform analytics dashboards from all active channels, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn, demonstrating: (i) that its existing audience comprises aspiring entrepreneurs, former employees of high-growth startups, and small to medium enterprise owners, ecosystem enablers, and (ii) total reach, average views per video, and engagement rates across platforms, evidencing capacity to distribute content to the intended audience at scale.
• The firm must describe its proposed production approach/methodology, quality assurance process, content review and approval workflow, and provide a week-by-week production schedule for the first episode cycle.

14.3. Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal should be submitted using the attached financial proposal format on company letter head with a valid signature and stamp.

15) Intellectual Property and Content Rights

All content produced under this assignment, including but not limited to video files, scripts, storyboards, motion graphics, raw footage, and associated production materials, shall be the sole intellectual property of Accelerate Prosperity upon full payment of the contract value.

The contracted firm is granted a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish and distribute the produced content on its digital platforms, for the purpose of maximizing reach to the intended audience. This license does not confer ownership and may be revoked by AP with 30 days written notice.

The firm may not remove, archive, restrict access to, or unpublish any episode from its digital platforms during the contract period and for a minimum of 24 months following final delivery, without prior written consent from AP. Unilateral removal of published content by the firm shall constitute a breach of contract.

Upon contract completion, the firm shall transfer all raw footage, project files, and production assets to AP in full, retaining no copies without AP's written approval.