Listening to Founders
Reports │ Listening to Founders – Designing Approaches for Investing in Social Tech
Our report, Listening to Founders – Designing Approaches for Investing in Social Tech, shares insights from impact tech ventures exploring the current funding landscape for social tech initiatives.
Despite record levels of investment into UK tech and social enterprises, early-stage social tech ventures continue to tell us that access to appropriate, aligned finance is their biggest barrier to growth.
To better understand the gap, we spoke directly to 23 founders from across the UK. Their message was clear: the current investment landscape, dominated by rigid venture capital models and short-term thinking, isn’t meeting the needs of purpose-driven tech ventures.
In our report, Listening to Founders: Designing Approaches for Investing in Social Tech, we share what we heard and what needs to change. From investor aversion to impact-focused business models, to a lack of patient, flexible capital, the report unpacks the key challenges and opportunities for reshaping how we fund the future of social tech.
The ventures we spoke with called for more:
Sustainable investment approaches, not just high-growth unicorn chasing
Revenue-based models that better match their financial realities
Mission-aligned investors who understand the dual value of tech and impact
Patient capital that gives ventures time to build systemic change
“This report validates what we’ve known for years – social tech ventures are being held back by misaligned funding models,” says Ed Evans, CEO of Social Tech Trust. “We’re committed to closing this gap so founders can access the capital they need to build a fairer society.”
Read the full report here.
