Jessica Brown, Connect Fund Manager, and Maarten Rooney, Singlify CEO

£50,000 investment enables new social fintech Singlify to provide an end-to-end investment management system for social investors

Social enterprise Singlify was set up by a group of social entrepreneurs to build software applications for social investment finance intermediaries, grant making trusts and foundations, micro-finance lenders and impact investors. Singlify combines the agility and focus of a technology start-up with the social conscience and mission of a social enterprise. Singlify will be building their applications on the Salesforce platform.

Connect Fund, a social investment infrastructure fund managed by the Barrow Cadbury Trust in partnership with the Access Foundation, to date has awarded £1.9m of grants but this is the first investment which will eventually lead to them taking an equity stake in the company. This Connect Fund investment will enable them to develop their application and take it to market.

Maarten Rooney, CEO of Singlify, said:

“Social investors need access to the best in class technology that will enable them to run their operations more efficiently and effectively. Our Investment Management System will help them manage their entire investment portfolio, covering applications, assessments, loan scheduling and social impact reporting with a single software application. By developing an application specifically for this market, we can provide them with an excellent product at a great price. This will allow our customers to focus on what they do best – making investments in charities and social enterprises to help solve some of society’s biggest problems, while we concentrate on building the systems to support this invaluable work.”

Sara Llewellin, CEO of Barrow Cadbury Trust said:

“We are delighted to be able to invest in Singlify. Barrow Cadbury Trust has a long history of supporting mission-driven social investment and this is an excellent opportunity to invest in a practical solution which addresses a problem for social investors. This is the first time the Connect Fund has made an equity investment in a social enterprise and we hope it will improve the infrastructure of the social investment market.”

Singlify’s Investment Management System is currently being piloted by a small number of launch customers and will be available for general use by January 2019.

Find out more about Singlify’s platform:

• Pioneers Post Innovation Focus article
• Salesforce Accelerate Spotlight podcast and video
• Good Finance blog – 5 Tips for Start-Up Success