Big Society Capital unveils plans to double UK social impact investing market by 2025
Melanie May | 16 September 2021 | News
With today its tenth anniversary, social impact investing firm Big Society Capital has launched its latest organisational strategy, which includes the objective of helping to at least double the UK social impact investing market by 2025.
Big Society Capital’s aim is to support the market to grow to £10 to £15 billion by 2025. It put the market at around £5.1 billion at the end of 2019.
In its strategy, Big Society Capital will focus on investing in and attracting new capital across four priority investment areas: impact venture, social lending, social outcomes contracts; and social and affordable housing. This is a consolidation of the firm’s existing work in these markets, which has seen it support the social and affordable housing market in growing from its infancy 10 years ago to now being worth more than £2 billion, while in the impact venture space its capital has reached 130 startups.
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In addition, Big Society Capital will continue to work with partners in the innovation strand of its work, where it works with frontline organisations and investors to create new social impact investment solutions.
Since its set up in 2012, Big Society Capital has committed £780 million as well as £2 billion alongside partners to supporting more than 1,500 social enterprises and charities. Its latest strategy groups the social challenges being tackled by this capital under four new headings: housing, financial inclusion, health and wellbeing, and community resilience.
It plans to continue working with social investors, fund managers, advisers and frontline organisations to help it achieve its goals of growing the market. As such, it welcomes new partners with anyone interested in social impact investment invited to get in touch.
Stephen Muers said:
“Big Society Capital is proud to have supported the social impact investment market in its recent successes – from growing from £830 million in 2011 to £5.1 billion in 2019, to staying resilient amidst months of uncertainty.
“It is an extremely significant time for social impact investing. The pandemic has highlighted the need for sources of capital to address entrenched social challenges and inequalities. We are seeing more investors than ever – from individuals to private institutions and public bodies – wanting to achieve social impact alongside financial returns. Big Society Capital has an important role to play in seizing this opportunity as we build on our track record of supporting the market – and we look forward to working with partners to take this movement to the next level.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.