Why Shared Learning Matters in Social Investment

At Growth Impact Fund, we maintain an open approach to learning with others because collaboration makes us stronger. This helps us build on existing sector knowledge, discover new opportunities for partnership, and share our own learning whilst seeking advice and challenge from peers. Ultimately, working with others makes us better learners and more effective investors.

This approach is particularly crucial when addressing systemic barriers in social investment that no single fund can tackle alone.

Our First Investor Learning Roundtable

We hosted our inaugural learning roundtable with organisations including Sumerian Foundation, Access Foundation, Big Society Capital, The Ubele Initiative, Kindred, BD Giving, Ufi, Social Investment Business, Resolution Ventures, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, TreeBeard Trust, Innovate UK, Nesta, Trust for London, and WCVA.

Our goal was creating an informal, safe space for mutual learning that would surface collective and practical commitments focused on inclusive investment-making. We selected four critical areas where Growth Impact Fund seeks improvement:

1. Sourcing more diverse under-represented businesses

    for social investment applications

2. Building effective referral networks

    across different parts of the sector for organisations without easy access to funders

3. Identifying additional costs

    associated with inclusive, equitable investment practices

4. Understanding better practices

    in DEI data collection for social investors

Key Insights from Our Roundtable Discussions

Sourcing Diverse Investment Pipeline

Our collective finding: Fantastic diverse-led social businesses exist across the UK. The limitation isn’t talent—it’s existing investment practices and relationships that prevent reaching diverse audiences.

At Growth Impact Fund, we’ve learned that the language and approach used to encourage applications remains a significant barrier. If we want different types of communities to feel they belong in social investment, our sector must change how we communicate and engage.

Building Effective Referrals

Critical insights emerged:

• Investors must recognise and limit the psychological impact of ‘rejections’ for diverse-led teams
• We often lack sufficient information or agreements between funds to make valid introductions across the sector
• Better coordination could transform how we support entrepreneurs through their funding journeys

Understanding the True Costs of Inclusive Investment

A crucial realisation: Many investors hide the ‘full costs’ of inclusive investment. Fundraising pressures push funds to appear cost-competitive with mainstream alternatives, when inclusive investment genuinely requires more time, resources, and support.

At Growth Impact Fund, we believe that if investors seek DEI outcomes, we should be willing to invest beyond ‘standard’ fund management fees. The sector needs clearer pathways for identifying and using grant subsidy within investment fund structures.

DEI Data Collection Challenges

The current reality: Everyone collects data differently, making sector-wide aggregation impossible. Simple standard measures would strengthen the case for continued investment in diverse-led organisations and place-based or DEI-focused investment funds.

Many investors lack confidence in storing, reporting, and making strategic decisions with DEI data. As we learned: perfect becomes the enemy of good.

From Discussion to Concrete Commitments

At Growth Impact Fund, we believe learning without action achieves nothing. To close our roundtables, we established collective commitments aimed at trialling new approaches and engaging wider stakeholders:

Our Four Sector Commitments:

1. Creating an ‘inclusive investing handbook’

    for investors to engage effectively within the sector and with investees

2. Costing and building a fund equity model

    to explore alternative payment schemes for DEI-focused investment

3. Developing a ‘good referrals’ prototype

    that creates more linked-up referrals from participating investors

4. Building a DEI ‘playbook’

    for the sector with standard datasets that could support a sector-level dashboard

Acknowledging the Challenges Ahead

At Growth Impact Fund, we recognise that sector collaboration isn’t without risk. Translating learning into action faces significant challenges:

Resource constraints: It will take ongoing experimentation and improvement across multiple funds—where will resources come from to support collective-level work?

Maintaining focus: Without appropriate representation, will learning get lost or misunderstood regarding how founders from different marginalised communities experience the investment sector?

Infrastructure investment: Who will invest in the ongoing infrastructure needed to support continued commitment to inclusive, equitable investment?

Leadership clarity: It remains unclear whose role it is to convene DEI and inclusive investment sector-wide. Which stakeholders with real sector power should lead this work?

The Bigger Picture: Building Movement, Not Just Funds

At Growth Impact Fund, we recognise that no single fund or learning roundtable will build an inclusive investment movement alone. Transforming the dial and dismantling the status quo requires time, meaningful sector partnership, and collaboration that isn’t limited by competition for funding or other barriers.

This roundtable represents one small step, but we’re committed to building momentum alongside others dedicated to DEI in the sector for something much bigger.

What This Means for Your Organisation

For social enterprises seeking investment: The commitments emerging from our roundtable should improve your experience accessing social investment through:

• Better referral networks when one investor isn’t the right fit
• More standardised and respectful data collection processes
• Greater investor understanding of inclusive investment costs and timeframes
• Improved sector-wide coordination reducing repetitive processes

For other investors: We invite you to join these collaborative efforts. At Growth Impact Fund, we believe that sharing learning, resources, and commitments strengthens the entire sector’s ability to support diverse-led organisations effectively.

For infrastructure bodies and policymakers: Our roundtable highlighted the need for investment in sector-wide infrastructure that supports inclusive investment practices. This isn’t just about individual fund performance—it’s about systemic change that requires coordinated support.

Looking Forward: Join Our Movement

At Growth Impact Fund, we’re grateful to everyone who travelled far and wide to join our conversation and share their experiences. This represents the beginning of ongoing collaboration, not a one-off event.

Future focus areas include:

• Expanding representation across entrepreneurs, investors, and stakeholders
• Exploring the wider topics that emerged from initial discussions
• Implementing and testing our four collective commitments
• Building infrastructure for sustained sector-wide change

Get Involved

If you’d like to participate in future learning roundtables, we welcome your involvement. At Growth Impact Fund, we believe that diverse perspectives and collaborative learning drive the sector forward.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur with lived experience of accessing social investment, an investor committed to inclusive practices, or a stakeholder supporting sector infrastructure, your voice matters in building more equitable social investment.

Ready to be part of the change? The Growth Impact Fund is committed to leading sector collaboration for inclusive social investment. Contact our investment team to explore how we can work together towards more equitable finance for organisations tackling inequality across the UK.