Create Equity, Social Investment Business (SIB) and The Ubele Initiative have reopened the Flexible Finance Fund after receiving additional funding from Access – the Foundation for Social Investment. The previous iteration of the fund supported 18 applicants with £3.8m of investment resulting in 26% of successful applications for the Recovery Loan Fund coming from Black and racially minoritised applicants.
Initial research by SIB identified an attainment gap for Black and racially minoritised led organisations to receive social investment. This blended fund aims to address the unique challenges faced by these organisations in securing flexible, sustainable funding to drive their social impact in improving people’s lives or the environment they live in.
Flexible Finance works through providing a flexible grant and support alongside a loan from the Recovery Loan Fund with the grant being up to 100% of the loan value (grant ranges from 50% to 100% of the loan value and is capped at a maximum of £200k) alongside direct support from The Ubele Initiative or Create Equity through the funding application process. The loan alongside the grant can range from £50k to £1.5m and be repaid over 1 to 6 years.
“We are delighted to be able to re-open this fund, which was specifically designed to address the historic underinvestment in Black and racially minority-led charities and social enterprises. This additional investment will add to the success of the fund so far, with demonstrable demand and reach to exactly the sort of ambitious organisations we want to back. We are equally pleased to be continuing our work with our partners Create Equity & the Ubele Initiative, without whom this work would simply not be possible.”
Nick Temple OBE, CEO – Social Investment Business
“Create Equity are delighted to re-partner with Social Investment Business (SIB) as part of the Flexible Finance Fund initiative. This renewed investment through blended finance marks an exciting opportunity to build on our success, expanding our impact beyond the many organisations we have already supported over the past two years. Together, we can empower more Black and Brown-led organisations to grow, adapt and flourish, with accessible, affordable finance alongside providing our expert support tailored to their needs during the application process.”
Debra Healy, CEO – Create Equity
“We are delighted to partner again with Create Equity and Social Investment Business on Flexible Finance. This is a unique offering for our communities and complements our existing work on Community Wealth Building and our national strategic intervention, Agbero 2100.”
Yvonne Field OBE, CEO and Founder – The Ubele Initiative
“To prevent funds from losing momentum, we have made a small number of top-up awards to existing partners who are nearing full commitment of their social investment funds. With the anticipated release of new Dormant Assets funds in 2025, this approach helps avoid the risk of key partners falling away or needing to limit demand. As such, we are pleased to support SIB, Create Equity and Ubele Initiative in continuing their Flexible Finance fund and partnership at this critical time. This will enable them to deploy further blended finance deals to Black and minoritised-led VCSEs and continue learning about partnership-based investment structures.”
Seb Elsworth MBE, CEO – Access – Foundation for Social Investment
To find out more about the fund and apply visit: https://www.sibgroup.org.uk/funds/flexible-finance/
