Nesta invited other foundations and government funders to participate in a discussion about the range of financial tools and approaches we use to support innovation. Too often, funders tend to stick to one or two methods and miss out on other possibilities. We want to share and learn from others about the different approaches: the successes and failures.

To support the launch of our Funding Innovation practice guide, we hosted an event to delve deeper into the many ways Nesta has experimented with using money to achieve results, from stage-gate grant funding to matched crowdfunding, from grants which convert to repayment, equity or loans, and from challenge prizes to impact investing.

By offering practical advice and case studies on these different methods, we want to demonstrate the breadth of funding tools and approaches funders could use and encourage greater experimentation.