Project: Shift/BII/UnLtd New Fund – Feasibility Study

Grant: £19,500

Following last year’s report ‘Beyond Demand: the social sector’s real need for patient capital’, Shift has been working with Big Issue Invest and UnLtd to design a new patient capital fund, drawing on the findings from the research and the partner’s direct experience of making and receiving social investments. Shift and the other consortium partners will complete a feasibility research study covering three areas; the demand-side, the supply-side and the fund modelling. This grant will only focus on the first stage of this work – engaging with the demand-side. The consortium is working with members of the Diversity Forum in the development and future operationalisation of this fund to ensure a more inclusive investment process is designed from origination to disbursement.

The fund hopes to address the need for increased patient and flexible capital to support enterprises that are representative of the communities they serve or those that aim to improve equality, diversity and inclusion. This will include organisations whose leadership and management come from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds, women, disabled people and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The learning and insights gathered through this process will not only strengthen the design of this fund, but can also be used to inform the wider market about existing finance gaps and the types of products required.