Evidence shows minority-owned suppliers struggle to comply with procurement requirements but that supplier diversity is associated with various benefits, including boosting innovation, driving transparency and supporting local economies). Therefore we will review and track the diversity of our supplier frameworks and de-bias our procurement processes (as we seek to do with our recruitment processes), and support minority-owned suppliers to comply with Nesta’s procurement processes.

To prevent well-documented bias against minority founders, we will adopt measures across our outreach and funding processes. We will publicise our commitment to investing in minority-owned businesses, diversify our networks, host optional information workshops,balance the number of open calls versus warm leads and diversify our decision-making panels.

Ethnic minority business owners are less likely to be involved in formal training and more likely to rely on family, friends and informal advice. To level the playing field, we will provide tailored services in addition to regular business support for minority entrepreneurs – in line with our future approach to investments and venture building.

All investees and suppliers above a certain threshold will be required to have an EDI policy, or provide evidence they are committed to developing and achieving their own EDI goals within a reasonable timeframe. Where appropriate, we may support investees, ventures and suppliers to develop their EDI policies.

To ensure that we are measuring EDI impact across our investment portfolio and Venture Studio, we will include EDI in our impact measurement frameworks and evaluation measures.