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

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

It’s been a tough but rewarding year for me and the team at Nesta Impact Investments. We opened our investment fund in late 2012, backed by Big Society Capital and Omidyar Network, and pressure to find investments which were both socially innovative and commercial began.

One thing that surprised me was the relatively low number of approaches from charities and community interest companies – only about 15% of the total. I found this unusual because the voluntary and community sector play a massive role in the areas we’re investing: services for older people, education, employability, and community sustainability.

So why is it that charities and social enterprises think “impact investment” isn’t for them?