First awards from £10m fund will unlock new wave of techno-social enterprises

The first awards from the UK Government’s £10m Social Incubator Fund were announced last night by Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd.

Speaking at Nesta, Hurd revealed that Wayra UnLtd and Bethnall Green Ventures would be the first to receive backing.

Wayra UnLtd is a new partnership between UnLtd and Wayra, Telefonica's technology incubator. It will identify up-and-coming social entrepreneurs who use digital technologies, and “accelerate their entry to market” by providing investment and technical expertise in a purpose built Wayra UnLtd Academy.

Bethnal Green Ventures will launch its Social Innovation Camp to provide investment, mentoring and office space for start-ups who use technology to solve problems in three key areas – health and wellbeing of an ageing population, education and employability of young people, and environmental sustainability.

The £10m fund is designed to provide investment into ‘social incubators’, organisations that will offer a period of intensive support to social enterprise start-ups. It aims to help turn early stage ideas into successful businesses that change lives, by giving social entrepreneurs access to the resources they need to get their ventures off the ground.

Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd said: “There is no shortage of social entrepreneurs in the UK with the ideas, passion and talent to create successful businesses that improve lives. We also have a talented and growing technology community in the UK.  Increasingly we’re seeing these two come together, with innovative entrepreneurs and start-ups harnessing the power of technology to create real change for people and communities.”

In a joint statement, Cliff Prior, CEO of UnLtd, and Simon Devonshire, director of Wayra Europe, said they were “massively proud” to celebrate their new partnership. “Together we aim to address significant social issues through the use of digital technology combined with entrepreneurial talent.”

The Wayra UnLtd Academy will support 30 digitally-focused start-ups over two years, providing seed-funding; coaching and mentoring; work-space; a global network of Academies; fast-track access to influential decision makers; and the ‘potential to unlock the power of 300 million Telefónica customers globally’. 

Paul Miller, Partner at Bethnal Green Ventures, said: “Our aim is to provide investment and support to people who really understand social challenges so that they can build social ventures to improve the lives of millions of people. With this backing from the Cabinet Office, Nesta, Nominet Trust and Google Campus we’ll be able to do that for twenty new ventures a year, giving more people the opportunity to turn their ideas into reality.”

Bethnal Green Ventures claims to be Europe’s first accelerator for technology-based social ventures. It will receive £1.8m investment – from the Cabinet Office, Nominet Trust and Nesta – to back, over the next four years, up to 80 early stage technology start-ups tackling social and environmental problems. 

Bethnal Green Ventures will offer £15,000 investment  to 20 early stage social technology ventures per year, enabling successful applicants to concentrate full time on their start-up for twelve weeks.

During the programme, the ventures will take part in workshops and receive mentoring, legal and administrative support. The ventures will be based in a newly refurbished start-up space at Nesta, Chancery Lane, and will also have use of Google Campus in Shoreditch.

The accelerator programme also boasts a network of high profile mentors including Gavin Starks, CEO of the Open Data Institute; Blaine Cook, former lead developer at Twitter; and Eze Vidra, head of Google Campus.

Applications for the summer 2013 programme open on 6 March 2013 for early stage technology ventures seeking to tackle problems in health, ageing, education, employment, and sustainability. 

Matt Mead, Chief Investment Officer at Nesta, said they had been working with Bethnal Green Ventures for the last two years. He added: “In November 2012, Nesta announced the launch of Nesta Impact Investments, a venture fund to help scale social impact innovations; we hope that together with Bethnal Green Ventures and the programme partners we can help grow the impact that technology can have on social issues.”

Annika Small, CEO, Nominet Trust, said: “Technology has already transformed how we communicate, how we work, how we learn, and how we shop. At Nominet Trust, we are passionate about the potential of technology to redesign big social challenges. This is why we are delighted to support the Bethnal Green Ventures accelerator programme for tech start-ups working on things that matter.”

Round two of the Social Incubator Fund will launch in Spring this year and will be open to applications from newer social incubators. Those interested in applying for funding can register their interest at socialincubator@biglotteryfund.org.uk  by 15th March 2013.