Investors

We have relationships with a growing number of social investors who are looking for both a financial and social return. UnLtd Advantage acts as a initial filter for social investors, sourcing and assessing high potential social entrepreneurs.

The people at Advantage work to understand the needs and language of both social investors and social entrepreneurs. As a result, we are able to bridge the gap and connect the right social business opportunity with the most appropriate source and style of social investment.

Here are some views from the sector about the importance of investment readiness in this emerging market.

There has been an exciting surge in the availability of growth funding for scalable, ambitious social enterprises. But for many businesses, the path to scale and growth is less clear. Professional, expert, experienced investment readiness support is a vital ingredient if the sector is to continue to grow, develop and mature.

Sarah McGeehan, Young Foundation

There is an imbalance between the large number of investors seeking access to high quality social businesses and enterprises (SBEs) and the number of investable SBEs on the other side. Investor readiness programmes are an essential ingredient in addressing this imbalance.

Rod Schwartz, ClearlySo

Work towards investment readiness is a key ingredient of successful social enterprises and charities. Yet it remains a largely misunderstood and overlooked need in the market.

Paul Cheng, CAFOnline

It's like that old saying – want to get to know someone, walk a mile in their shoes. To raise social investment money (loans, equity) you have to at least put on the hat, if not the shoes, of what it's like to be a potential investor. The word partnership is overused in the third sector, but in investment terms, it is a useful concept. It isn’t just about your mission anymore. How do you fulfil what an investor wants and help them achieve their mission? What you offer has to makes sense in terms of your enterprise, as well as make sense to the investor. Few of us have experience of figuring this kind of stuff out, in our third sector day jobs. Very few. That's where UnLtd Advantage comes in. They have the skill set, knowledge, experience and contacts to help get our social enterprise growth ideas into things that investors can put money into, and get it back out again.

Danyal Sattar, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation