Diversity Funding

There are many ways your business can raise capital for a new part of the business to grow or to start a new venture. We are familiar with Un Ltd they provide specialist support for social entrepreneurs whenever they are on their journey to help them grow as social leaders. Inclusion is very important to us.

Committed to 50% of our awards going to Black, Asian and minority ethnic social entrepreneurs, and/or disabled social entrepreneurs across our funding programmes.

They feel the need to address the imbalance of equity across the funding landscape, making sure we use our resources to support those who are marginalised to thrive and make a difference.

Combining cash and coaching to help nurture ideas and grow impact. It doesn't matter what stage of development your social venture is at. It can be an idea on paper. Or a social venture in practice already. We can offer financial support of up to £15,000 depending on how far you are in your journey.

Thousands of people work to improve their community and not just their bank balance. They act on a hunch. They start a social venture. And they tackle the problems they care about through a sustainable business model.

These are the people they support. Often they have first-hand experience of the problem they seek to solve. They want to create jobs, develop innovative products and services, and help others to live full lives.

To receive support, you will need to complete an application. Below, we have outlined the support you can receive dependent on whether you have an idea, are early stage, or are an established social venture looking to grow.

Criteria

We can support you if you are:

• Aged 16 and over
• Living in the United Kingdom
• Willing to participate in a learning experience
• Working to benefit people living in the United Kingdom
• Have a real social impact
• Fulfil a clear need and demand
• Have clear outputs and goals

Your ideas and ventures are not eligible if they:

• Are part of your paid employment where you are an employee
• Involve political or religious campaigning
• Involve activities outside the law or against public policy, or anything that encourages ethnic, religious or commercial disharmony
• Are mainly for the benefit of the social entrepreneur and/or others to achieve academic qualifications

Download Application Guidance

Download Application Questions

2021 Application Deadlines

Start your venture

You have an idea or are in the early stages of development

To help you make your idea for social change a reality we can typically offer support of between £500 and £5,000.

You are a social entrepreneur who wants to create social impact. You are ready to establish your venture, or have been running for less than a year, to tackle an issue that you are passionate about working to solve. You are dedicated to your idea and ready to make things happen.

Alongside giving you funding to build your social venture, they will give you access to training and events, and assign you a dedicated Social Entrepreneur Support Manager (one of our experts in helping social entrepreneurs to start and grow). The Social Entrepreneur Support Manager will be there to coach you and support you to achieve your goals.

• A package of support tailored to suit you
• Support from an UnLtd Social Entrepreneur Support Manager and our teams
• Specialist advice from relevant experts
• Access to resources to help you get up and running
• Funding to support essential start-up costs (except wages)
• Access to UnLtd Connect, our network of skilled experts for advice and mentors

Grow your venture

You have an established organisation

To support you to grow and make a bigger difference we can offer our support and up to £15,000 funding.

You are running a social venture that is already making a positive difference to people's lives. You have compelling evidence of your impact. You might want to continue to grow to achieve your ambitions, or want further support to make sure your idea is financially sustainable.

This award is designed to help you to get to the next stage. It gives you up to £15,000 to help you grow, as well as expert, tailored advice to help you to achieve your ambitions. Alongside the funding, you get a unique package of support including one-to-one coaching from a dedicated Social Entrepreneur Support Manager (one of our experts in supporting social entrepreneurs), training, mentoring and access to networks of other passionate people doing good.

• 12 months mentoring and tailored support from an Social Entrepreneur Support Manager, providing advice on operations and growth strategies
• Expert advice including access to workshops and masterclasses
• Up to £15,000 funding to support wages and living costs
• Connections to investors, corporate partners and other successful entrepreneurs, helping you to develop your networks

About you

• You have identified a social issue and developed a business model that works to solve it
• You are committed to, and have a track record of, delivering local, regional or national social impact at scale
• You are experienced, ambitious and capable of growing your venture
• You have a realistic growth plan
• You are committed to working full time in your social venture

About your venture

• Your venture is at least one year old and ideally less than five years old
• Your venture is dynamic and ready to grow to local, regional or national scale and has a logical and appropriate plan to deliver this
• You have a compelling performance to date and/or a logical and appropriate plan for rapid growth to reach local, regional or national scale
• Your principal objective for the year ahead is not to secure (significant) investment and your target beneficiaries are predominantly based in the UK