This publication contains top tips from Nesta Impact Investments for social entrepreneurs raising investment.

Raising investment is difficult, there is no doubt about that. In Silicon Valley less than 1 per cent of business plans that are read by a VC go on to receive investment. At Nesta Impact Investments we receive hundreds of business plans every year, we probably meet with about 20 per cent of these businesses, and we have gone on to make nine investments in the last two years – so less than 2 per cent. For an entrepreneur raising investment this must be quite a scary statistic.

The process of raising investment can be daunting. However, if you find investment from a partner that shares your vision and values it can be a winning formula to achieving scale and realising the potential of your business. 

Nesta Impact Investments has put together this collection of tip tips for social entrepreneurs seeking to raise investment. It covers topics such as developing an impact plan, pitching to investors, what to do once you’ve raised that investment, and more.  Hopefully this provides a useful insight into how impact investors think, and ultimately how to survive the process of raising impact investment.  

Authors
Joe Ludlow, Matt Mead, Eibhlin NiOgain, Isabel Newman, Katie Mountain, Mireya Alvarez