Our Impact — Sumerian Foundation

Inclusive Social Investment: unlocking opportunities

Our Inclusive Social Investing Impact Report shares learnings from our focus on “inclusive investing” in UK social enterprises led by women and/or Black, Asian and ethnically diverse founders. We’ve identified that these founders are experiencing a “trust deficit” in social investment and we recommend that investors change their approaches by:

Taking the time to build relationships
Providing pre-investment support
Focusing on the resilience of founders rather than just the growth of the social enterprise

Our early evidence shows this strategy leads to better repayment performance. While this “trust opportunity” needs to be further monitored and understood, there may be opportunities associated with inclusive investment that have not been previously recognised or appreciated!

Key Lessons from Investing for Impact in the UK

We believe social enterprises offer some of the most innovative, scalable and sustainable solutions to social inequality around the UK. Despite this, too many fail to get the support they need to achieve their impact potential. Our “Investing for Impact” approach – based on providing patient and flexible finance alongside mentorship and skills support – aims to help early stage ventures, particularly those led by women and Black and Asian people, access the right kind of support.

In our Investing for Impact report, the social enterprises we work alongside describe how our support helps them navigate the inevitable challenges they encounter in achieving viable growth and impact, and we share the lessons we have learned through responding to their needs.