Better Society Capital publishes 2024 Impact Report
- Better Society Capital (BSC), the UK’s leading social impact investor, publishes its annual Impact Report reporting significant progress against impact goals and highlighting developments towards channelling investment toward critical social issues across the UK.
- In 2024, BSC committed £68 million to tackling social issues and inequalities in the UK, alongside enabling 50 new co-investors to commit a further £400 million.
- Fund managers having received investment from BSC have enabled a further 250 impact-led organisations to tackle complex social issues such as housing, employment, education, health and financial inclusion.
18 February 2025 - Better Society Capital (BSC), the UK’s leading social impact investor, has today published its 2024 Impact Report, highlighting significant progress in meeting impact goals to channel investment toward critical social issues across the UK.
2024 Impact Highlights
In 2024, BSC committed £68 million to tackling social issues and inequalities in the UK, alongside enabling 50 new co-investors to commit a further £400 million.
With the support of an increasingly diverse group of investors, BSC reported a 7% increase in 2024 in the number of enterprises reached to more than 3,750, three quarters of which are targeting vulnerable or underserved groups of people in the UK.
Building the Market for Social Impact Investment
Across BSC’s four key areas for investment into UK social issues as part of their 2025 impact strategy, BSC saw significant progress against impact goals for impact venture, social lending, social outcomes contracts (SOCs) and social property in 2024.
- Impact Venture: BSC made £15 million in new investments, including £7.5 million to Ascension Fund III which aims to reduce social inequality by investing in scalable tech businesses which aim to improve financial inclusion and access to healthcare. Investments in impact venture startups reached a further 2.3 million people, growing the impact venture market size to over £820 million by the end of 2023.
- Social Lending: BSC committed £36 million to Just Transition initiatives through Community Energy Together and the Energy Resilience Fund. BSC helped to secure £43 million co-investment from Lloyds Banking Group for the Community Investment Enterprise Fund successor fund, managed by Social Investment Scotland.
- Social Outcomes: BSC gained Government support for a proposed £1bn social impact fund to tackle child poverty, supported by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. BSC reported a 27% increase in reach since 2023, supporting 70,000 individuals with complex needs through social outcomes contracts, which generated £507 million in fiscal savings.
- Social Property: BSC’s invested £16.8 million in affordable housing through Savills IM Simply Affordable Homes Fund, alongside £220 million in pension fund co-investment. BSC published research showing that impact investment into homelessness property funds has supported 3,300 people at risk of homelessness, including 1,607 children, saving local and central government £140 million. Further research found Resonance Homelessness Property Funds will have generated at least £312 million in public financial savings over the funds’ life.
Read the full Impact Report here.
Philipp Essl, Managing Director of Impact at Better Society Capital, commented:
“Behind the numbers in this report are real people and communities whose lives are being transformed by frontline organisations - from the 3,300 people housed through property funds to the 70,000 individuals supported through social outcomes contracts. We are continuously amazed by the social purpose organisations, fund managers, co-investors and partners we work with in their commitment to tackling pressing social issues across the UK.
“We are particularly excited to see that in certain parts of the market, more mainstream capital is coming in, with institutional investors now recognizing that addressing social challenges can generate both compelling returns and meaningful societal value. As advocates of this change, we're encouraged by the sector's progress in demonstrating that aligning investment with impact creates sustainable solutions to some of the UK's most pressing social challenges."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Better Society Capital’s Theory of Change illustrates how the organisation intends to help build an environment for more investment to flow to impact-led organisations, by addressing barriers that unlock more capital from asset owners. Learn more about BSC’s Theory of Change and its overall approach to impact and investor contribution here.
Press Contact:
Lauren Rae, PR and Communications Manager
E: lrae@bettersocietycapital.com
T: 07464799565
Ian Young, PR and Media Officer
E: iyoung@bettersocietycapital.com
About Better Society Capital
Better Society Capital is the UK’s leading social impact investor. Our mission is to grow the amount of money invested in tackling social issues and inequalities in the UK. We do this by investing our own capital and helping others invest for impact too.
Since 2012, we have helped build a market that has directed more than £10 billion into social purpose organisations tackling issues from homelessness and mental health to childhood obesity and fuel poverty, a twelve-fold increase in 12 years.