Impact 12 will deploy equity and debt to finance the development of university social ventures able to deliver a beneficial social or environmental impact.

A consortium of 12 UK universities led by Oxford University Innovation (OUI), the tech transfer subsidiary of University of Oxford, has launched Impact 12, an impact investment fund tasked with supporting university social ventures. The vehicle has been developed by impact investor and responsible finance provider Social Investment Scotland (SIS) in partnership with University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Northampton, Coventry University and eight universities comprising the MICRA Project (Aston, Birmingham, Cranfield, Keele, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick). Impact 12 will start fundraising later this year with an initial target of £8m ($9.6m) and a 10-year life span. It will finance social ventures developed and nurtured within the participating universities, looking for initiatives able to deliver a beneficial social or environmental impact, rather than solely motivated by profit. SIS Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of SIS, will manage the fund’s strategy and portfolio. SIS plans to recruit a dedicated team of senior investment managers whose initial focus will be fundraising. The fund will deploy financing tailored to the ventures’ specific needs, including both equity and debt. It is set to build a portfolio composed of up to 15 social ventures from across the partner universities, targeting both seed and follow-on funding over the next 10 years. Impact 12 is aimed at meeting a need for early-stage finance among university social ventures, which often lack the financial support of traditional university spinouts or startups. Professor Louise Richardson, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, said: “I am delighted to see the growing emphasis on social ventures. Over the past three years, 11 companies targeting six of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals have emerged from the four Divisions of the University. “Combining applied research with sustainable economics they address some of the critical issues of the day. Impact 12 will align Oxford’s research and innovation expertise with the community experience of our partner institutions and advance the progress of social ventures far beyond Oxfordshire’s borders.”

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