Big Issue Invest

Big Issue Invest (BII) is the social investment arm of The Big Issue Group. We are defined by our philosophy: A hand up, not a hand out. Like The Big Issue, we aim to help people to help themselves by backing business-like responses to social problems with self-help and prevention at their core. Our mission is to back sustainable social enterprises and ventures that help tackle poverty and inequality. BII has a track record in social investment and a reputation for innovation. Our chair is Nigel Kershaw OBE, a leading social entrepreneur and advocate for social enterprise. We are staffed by a team of experienced professionals with both investment and social sector experience. BII provides finance in the range of £20,000 to £3 million to social enterprises with a clear social purpose. We can provide debt finance, growth capital and early stage venture finance through a series of investment vehicles. To date we have invested over £30 million in hundreds of social enterprises with positive impacts in the key impact areas of job creation, childcare, education, homelessness, physical and mental health within some of the UK’s most disadvantaged communities.