Cambridge Enterprise, the tech transfer office of University of Cambridge, has partnered business school unit Cambridge Social Ventures to launch a £100,000 ($132,000) seed impact fund, BusinessWeekly reported yesterday.
The fund aims to provide as much as £20,000 to five UK-based companies that will deliver benefits to society or the environment. It plans to reinvest any returns into forthcoming impact projects.
Cambridge Social Ventures is part of the university’s Judge Business School. Projects associated with the unit have obtained over £10m in funding since 2014, with women and ethnic minorities accounting for 60% and 30%, respectively, of entrepreneurs.
Belinda Bell, director of Cambridge Social Ventures, said: “There is an appetite for people to consider more deeply the impact that their investments make, and we are looking forward to working with Cambridge Enterprise to support university spinouts with social impact embedded at the core of a thriving business.”
