Shortlist announced for new financial solutions for social enterprise

21/12/10

The shortlist of proposals which will be developed into financial products and services that could be made available by the Big Society Bank when it launches next April has been announced.

Twenty[1] projects have been selected by an external panel of social sector and financial market experts chaired by Sir John Gieve, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. The projects will receive up to £10,000 to help develop their proposals so they are ready for investment. They are:

• Abundance
  A radical new approach to financial services which will allow the public to participate more directly in funding social, environmental and community assets using a simple to understand regulated investment product.

• Big Issue Invest        
  Big Issue Invest are working with Mark Campanale for the development, market-testing and launch of a London AIM listed social investment fund that would invest in both UK exchange listed and early stage social purpose businesses such as healthcare, education and social housing.

• CAF Venturesome
  The CAF Impact Fund is the first UK retail impact investment product that invests directly in social purpose organisations.

• Charity Bank Limited
  Developing a standard, turnkey solution for charities to raise investment capital, unsecured and at scale from the growing social investment market.

• Community Finance Solutions, University of Salford   
  Community Finance Solutions is developing a new fund to support Community Land Trusts to develop affordable rental housing.

• Development Trusts Association     
  The Community Shares programme, a joint initiative between Co-operatives UK and the Development Trusts Association are developing a fund to support equity investment in community-owned enterprises.

• Ethex Ltd     
  A web-based meeting place for ethical investors and social enterprises, making it easy for individuals to invest in businesses with a social mission.

• Fair Finance
  Fair Finance is raising social and commercial capital to scale up its affordable credit service to tackle loan sharking and extortionate lending in London.

• Finance South East 
  A national mezzanine loan fund for social enterprises co-investing alongside business angels in an innovative and collaborative manner.

• Five Lamps 
  Seeking to move its successful financial inclusion activities on to a regional platform, growing the scale of lending to excluded individuals by securing a significant injection of social finance capital.

• Impact Assets, administered by The Calvert Foundation        
  Impact Assets is exploring how it can develop impact investing in the UK.

• Local Partnerships  
  A mutual and social enterprise spin-out fund to support independent, innovative and enterprising staff-led spin-outs from local public bodies with youth services as a priority investment area.

• London Rebuilding Society 
  A financially sustainable home improvement scheme to support the London element of the government target that 75% of vulnerable homeowners will live in decent homes by 2020.

• Natural Conclusion - Lincolnshire Community Foundation  
  A land and legacy project for Lincolnshire (to be cascaded UK wide) where the surplus from land-based social enterprises goes into grant pots for local communities.

• One Church 100 Uses                             
  One Church 100 Uses supports church congregations to explore more entrepreneurial, mixed use of church buildings. Borrowing is an important option for raising funds and they are developing appropriate loan products.

• Resonance 
  A £2m fund and investor club for underwriting asset backed community share issues with a target of unlocking over £10m from people investing in their own communities.

• Sidekick Studios     
  Sidekick Studios is developing Sidekick School, a technology incubator for social businesses.

• Shaftesbury Partnership                      
  The Franchising Works Licence Fund is a social investment fund that helps unemployed people start up franchise businesses by purchasing franchise licences on their behalf until their businesses are able to repay the loan.

• Social Finance Ltd   
  Social Finance is developing further social impact bonds.

• Social Stock Exchange Ltd    
  A public stock market for social enterprises, social purpose businesses and social instruments such as bonds to list and to allow social impact investors spanning the public and institutions to find companies and deals to invest in for outcomes that blend the financial with the social.

The projects will be reviewed by the panel in January 2011. The final selection of the financial products is expected to be announced in February.     

-End-

Notes to Editors:

For further information please contact:

Chani Hirsch on 020 7438 2601 / chani.hirsch@nesta.org.uk, or Jan Singleton on 020 7438 2606 / jan.singleton@nesta.org.uk

About NESTA

NESTA is the UK's foremost independent expert on how innovation can solve some of the country's major economic and social challenges. Its work is enabled by an endowment, funded by the National Lottery, and it continues to operate at no cost to the taxpayer. 

NESTA is a world leader in its field and carries out its work through a blend of experimental programmes, analytical research and investment in early-stage companies.

About UnLtd:

UnLtd is the leading provider of support to social entrepreneurs in the UK and offers the largest such network in the world. UnLtd resources over 1,000 individuals each year through its core Awards programme.

UnLtd operates a unique model by investing directly in individuals and offering a complete package of resources; from awards of funding between £500 and £15,000 to ongoing advice, networking and practical support.

UnLtd supports individuals who have their ventures firmly rooted in delivering positive social change. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (Harding and Harding 2008) found that there were 1.7m people leading social organisations in the UK, 238,000 trying to start one, and that 35% of all nascent (early stage) entrepreneurs were starting with social ventures.

• UnLtd Ventures - provides long term specialist support to a number of outstanding entrepreneurs
• UnLtd Research - leads on inspiring and informing action, policy and social change
• UnLtd Connect - brings together experienced professionals able to offer pro-bono support and those who are growing social ventures
• UnLtd Advantage - is the premier investment readiness programme for social entrepreneurs and those investing in them
• Live UnLtd - is transforming how society views young people and how young people view themselves
• UnLtdWorld.com - connects you to the people, tools and information you need to change the world

For more information about the support offered by UnLtd, please visit: www.UnLtd.org.uk

[1] Twenty two projects were originally selected; two have merged and a further one may now be withdrawn from the process.