Arts and Culture Impact Fund LLP

The challenge

The UK’s arts, cultural and heritage institutions provide creative opportunities, jobs and valuable income for our communities; they also have the power to transform people’s lives, engage marginalised individuals and drive social change. However, they face a challenge in securing the limited amount of grants available from public and private sources.

Our approach

Nesta’s Arts & Culture Finance team brought together a mix of public, private and philanthropic investors - Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Better Society Capital, Bank of America, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Freelands Foundation and Nesta – to create the Arts & Culture Impact Fund. The fund is now managed by Figurative, following the organisation’s spin-out from Nesta in 2024.

The Fund

The fund combines concessionary and market rate capital to make affordable (4%-8.5% interest rates), flexible loans ranging from £150,000 to £1 million to arts, culture and heritage organisations that have a positive social impact on people and the communities they live in. It is the world’s biggest impact investment fund for the creative arts.

• Fund size

  £16 million

• Better Society Capital commitment

  £3 million