The research conducted in preparation for the Innovation Lab identified five core challenges in financing responses to refugee crises, namely the speed of the arrival of financing, the sustained duration of financing, the use (shape) of financing, the incentivisation of host countries through financing, and the increasing global frequency and severity of crises placing further demand on current humanitarian financing. In this strained financing context, the role of innovative finance has become increasingly important. Innovative financing for responses to refugee crises could include the development of new financial mechanisms, or the adaptation and application of non-traditional mechanisms (particularly those from capital and insurance markets) to meet humanitarian and development financing needs.