Social Enterprise Investment Fund

The Social Enterprise Investment Fund (SEIF) aims to support social enterprises deliver innovative health and social care services and products as well as to invest to help social enterprises to become sustainable in the longer term.

Capital Growth Fund

The aim of the Capital Growth Fund is to provide capital investment to social enterprises to help them to deliver health and social care services, enable them to grow, and become more sustainable.

Capital Grants

These are given to help meet all or part of the costs of tangible resources. Capital grant funding is only available for capital expenditure. Examples of the types of expenditure that qualify are –

• Property or land purchase
• Some fees relating to capital projects including solicitors, architects and surveyors
• Property renovations and refurbishments
• Purchase of vehicles
• Equipment for delivery of services e.g. fixtures and fittings
• IT equipment

The minimum amount on offer is £50k and the maximum capital grant you can apply for is £150k. Please see here for more information about our current Capital Growth Fund which includes capital grants and loans.

The other products in the SEIF portfolio are -

Debt Based Products

Debt products are typically offered to support a step change in growth for existing organisations and can encourage those organisations to manage finance more effectively as a tool for ensuring sustainability. An organisation will never be offered more than it can realistically afford to repay and a repayment plan is designed to take account of organisational needs.  Repayment is expected as per the terms of the individual offer of investment. The likely minimum loan amount will be £50k and the maximum £1m. 

Standard Loans

Standard loans are given at a fixed interest rate which is reviewed after 3 years. Loans can be given for up to 25 years and may include repayment holidays and/or the rolling up of interest during the early years of a loan.  Loans will cover either capital asset costs (for example building purchase, construction or refurbishment), development capital (funding needed to support an organisation through the early stages of a scheme before it can generate income or to support growth through the implementation of a merger or acquisition) or working capital (organisations who are growing but are struggling with cash flow and require bridge funds between need and future income). Revenue and capital grants may be available as an element of a loan offer.

Performance Products

The performance suite has been designed to allow for the schedule of repayment to be based on an investees ability to perform in the future with an eye to incentivising good performance. The minimum amount on offer is £50k and the maximum is £1m. Performance products are most suitable to an organisation that is launching a new product or service and therefore has a longer or uncertain time to profitability.

Convertible Agreement

Typically offered to investees who are involved in a Right to Request, Right to Provide or Other Spin Out.  A convertible agreement allows for the investment in the future of an organisation which is not yet formally constituted and therefore unable to take on a loan. The SEIF would aim to convert the product from grant to a repayable loan at a point in the future when the investee incorporates into a new social enterprise.

Performance Related Agreement

Performance related agreements identify a point in the future where repayment is expected given successful performance but not guaranteed. An example of this would be the funding of an organisation to do work that was paid based on results.  The agreement would always assume success and incentivise the organisation accordingly.

Revenue Participation Agreement

This investment allows the SEIF to enter into an agreement with an investee whereby there is opportunity to recover funds through a share of future revenues. This type of agreement works best when an investee is developing a product or service with unlimited purchasers.  

Repayable Grant

There may be situations where the repayment of a grant is unlikely but may be possible. The grant agreement identifies events in the long term which might trigger a repayment i.e. sale of a building, unexpectedly high income levels, etc. The repayment of the grant is not expected but is provided for in the agreement to invest.  This is sometimes referred to as a grant with a claw back.