Good Deals Bootcamp

The venture capital (VC) and investment ecosystem prioritises profit over social or environmental impact and funding practices overwhelmingly favour privileged groups, particularly white, male entrepreneurs. In the UK, there is a significant disparity in venture capital and investment funding when it comes to diverse and female-led teams. According to the British Business Bank, all-female founding teams receive less than 1p for every £1 of venture capital invested. In contrast, all-male teams receive 89p, and mixed-gender teams receive 10p. Despite some progress, the rate of change remains slow, with projections showing it could take over 25 years for all-female teams to reach even 10% of all VC deals​. Mainstream VC investment still tends to prioritise short-term profit, with only 18% of total VC funding in Europe directed to impact-driven startups in 2019. This has increased to 37% in 2023, highlighting growing interest but still lagging behind traditional investments. Most of the focus remains on scalable, profit-driven companies, particularly in sectors like tech and communications. (KPMG research). These imbalances protect wealth within narrow, privileged circles, neglecting the potential for broader, more equitable wealth distribution. Diverse founders and those with lived experience are often better positioned to address critical social and environmental challenges, but they lack access to the capital needed to scale their innovations. According to the Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) "Mission Critical: State of Social Enterprise 2023" report, social enterprises, many of which are led by diverse founders and those with lived experience, are often better positioned to address critical social and environmental challenges. These enterprises generate significant economic value—contributing £78 billion in turnover, approximately 3.4% of UK GDP. However, despite their potential for impact, they face considerable barriers to securing the capital needed for growth.

Our hack will focus on the crucial first step towards building a more inclusive and equitable venture capital (VC) ecosystem. Through a bootcamp which will both teach and gather insights from existing VCs and investors, with the goal of creating systemic changes in business financing that builds the foundation to create meaningful change across the sector in the UK and beyond. We will do this through a number of activities: Phase 1: Bootcamp We will complete a 8 week sprint culminating in a two-day bootcamp designed to equip investors with the knowledge and tools needed to embrace impact investment and build inclusivity in venture capital. The bootcamp will be delivered in partnership with Growth Studio (Startup Accelerator experts) and feature a diverse range of expert speakers, including leaders in impact investing, successful impact-driven founders, and inclusion. We aim to reach out to the sector, advocating for continued work to achieve long-term outcomes. Bootcamp activities will include: - Discussions about how to align financial returns with social and environmental impact, highlighting real-world examples. - Workshops on how to set up and structure a fund so it's more inclusive and considers impact as a core investing benefit. Explore long-term benefits to society and the environment that add value to financial returns as an investment thesis - Workshops that showcase case studies, profiling successful impact companies and diversity. How profits and impact can be measured and demonstrated. - Open discussions with VC’s, social investors and startups to explore and challenge norms and assumptions, how to overcome barriers and bias within the sector. This bootcamp will equip investors with actionable tools to drive both financial and social returns, laying the foundation for further systemic change. Phase 2: Research, Capacity Building and Advocacy (following work) The bootcamp will enable us to deliver a longer programme of work that generates deeper insights, builds capacity and advocates for a new approach across the VC and investing sector. - Conduct interviews and focus groups with marginalised founders, investors, and financial institutions to uncover the challenges and opportunities for reform in the VC ecosystem. - Host discussions with investors and partners to explore the benefits of diversity and identify actionable steps to address exclusionary VC practices. - Review existing research, including key reports such as the Adobawale Report on Social Investment and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Emerging Futures work, to map trends and highlight best practices. - Host events on inclusive impact investing, publishing insights through Pioneers Post. - Develop training programmes on financial literacy and investment readiness for underrepresented founders. - Create toolkits for investors to implement inclusive practices. - Deliver workshops for investors on integrating these practices, fostering both financial and social returns. These activities aim to drive systemic change and create an inclusive VC and investment ecosystem where underrepresented and impact founders can succeed.

Identification of Barriers We will identify specific systemic barriers that impact-driven and underrepresented founders face in accessing investment and venture capital, including bias in funding decisions and limited access to networks. Programme of Systemic Change The insights from this phase will provide actionable tools for VCs and inventors, enabling them to consider implementing more impactful and inclusive investments. This will lead to further work including promotional campaigns, events and resource toolkits designed to address the challenges on a deeper level. Network of Stakeholders By engaging a wide range of stakeholders (founders, investors, financial institutions), we will create a network of engaged participants ready to collaborate on solutions in the next phases. Phase 2 (Further work) In Phase 2, following the hack, we will develop events, practical toolkits and training programmes to empower investors and diverse and impact-driven founders. These toolkits will guide investors in adopting more inclusive investment practices, while the training programmes will focus on financial literacy, investment readiness, and business planning for underrepresented founders. Additionally, we will launch promotional campaigns and events aimed at raising awareness of systemic barriers and driving policy changes. Ultimately, Phase 2 will contribute to the development of a more inclusive venture capital and investment ecosystem, providing better access to capital for diverse and impact founders.