Ecosystem

At the heart of connecting capital to the organisations improving people’s lives are the fund managers, social banks and other intermediaries, like crowdfunding platforms. We invest through these intermediaries and support them to raise more capital, deliver more investments, and create more impact. ​

The scale of the UK’s social problems is far larger than the capital we have to address them. Just tackling the shortage of housing for homeless people in the UK, would require an estimated £24 billion. Therefore we must unlock much larger pools of capital by working systematically with different types of asset owners, from individuals to institutional investors, to spur new types of investment and scale more proven models.

A diverse range of financial products is vital for a successful investment ecosystem. We support fund managers to design and develop financial products that bring together the needs of enterprises and investors to deliver impact.

Many entrenched social challenges call for new approaches to tackle them, and innovative investment products to finance them. To capture new ideas and drive innovation, we work closely – and in different ways – with a range of partners, who put their critical expertise and resources towards solving these challenges. This lets us test and learn from new approaches, so we can then scale the enterprise solutions and investment models that deliver most impact.

We want to unlock the greatest impact, by helping to create a supportive policy environment in which social impact investment can help improve the way public services are delivered and tackle significant social issues. We do this by working with and influencing government at every level. ​

We want a high-quality and equitable investment ecosystem that supports social enterprises, charities and social purpose organisations to improve people’s lives across the UK. Therefore, we aim to develop structures and practices that are diverse and inclusive as well as effective at delivering impact.

The global pandemic is the greatest challenge we’ve faced in generations. The impact is being felt across the world, as people fear for the health and economic wellbeing of their loved ones and themselves. It leaves social enterprises, charities and social purpose organisations facing an unprecedented challenge.