NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, December 5, 2014

Social Finance announced today, at a White House Pay for Success Summit inChicago, grant awards totaling $4.0 million from Omidyar Network and The Pershing Square Foundation to support its operations over the next three years. The flexible funds will be used to expand Social Finance’s transaction and advisory teams, as well as accelerate the flow of Pay-for-Success (PFS) financing (or Social Impact Bond) transactions in the United States. The grants represent funding renewals from Omidyar Network and The Pershing Square Foundation, which were founding supporters of Social Finance.

The funding comes as interest in PFS has increased dramatically across the nation. PFS financing is an innovative funding model that drives government resources toward social programs that prove effective at providing results to the people who need them most. The model enables federal and state governments to draw in greater resources to tackle social problems by tapping private investments for the up-front costs of the programs. PFS ensures that taxpayer dollars are being spent only on programs that actually work. As interest in these projects has accelerated, so too has demand for experts that can evaluate PFS feasibility for various interventions, structure transactions, and manage performance.

Social Finance’s CEO and Co-Founder, Tracy Palandjian, emphasized the value of this funding to the organization’s ability to support the growth of the PFS market. “The flexibility of this financial support is critical,” she stated. “It will allow us not only to strengthen our internal infrastructure but also to pursue high-quality projects, including those that might not otherwise get off the ground due to lack of funding. Our ability to work on high-impact projects in various geographies and issue areas will go a long way toward positioning PFS for long-term success and ultimately helping people in communities across the U.S. gain access to better services. We are grateful to our partners at Omidyar Network and The Pershing Square Foundation for their stewardship and guidance since our early years.”