News Blog Careers Community Subscribe Search Home Invest Partner Influence Resources About Contact Our history Every journey has a beginning In this section Our values Our history Our endowment Our people Our customers Since 2002 we have worked with hundreds of social sector organisations to help them do more of what they do best. We began in 2002 as the Adventure Capital Fund, a partnership of several third sector organisations. This £2m fund was created by government to work out how to create sustainable community enterprises through social investment. By 2006 we had received £17m from the Home Office to invest into community enterprises as a mixture of grant and loan. Social investment continued to grow as government launched more similar programmes. In 2007 we set up Social Investment Business Ltd to bid for the retendering of the Futurebuilders Fund. Futurebuilders was set up by Cabinet Office to offer repayable finance to voluntary sector organisations and had been managed by a consortium since 2003. In 2008 we won that contract and took on management of the biggest social investment fund in the UK. In total, Futurebuilders disbursed £145m in grants and loans. The management of Futurebuilders was quickly followed up in 2009 by two further government funds we managed; the Social Enterprise Investment Fund (£98m) for the Department for Health and the Communitybuilders Fund (£70m) for the Department for Communities and Local Government. In 2011, we were endowed with the repayments from the Communitybuilders fund. This meant that we now had our own money to invest and provided the opportunity to partner with others. Social and Sustainable Capital was a start-up social fund manager but without the network to reach into the social sector. We invested in them and their first two funds which provided investment of £150k upwards. They now donate 51% of their profits to our parent charity and provide investment of £250k upwards, managing funds on behalf of ourselves, Big Society Capital and Santander. As well as managing our ongoing loan portfolio we now focus on two different areas; grant programmes to help charities and social enterprises get ‘investment ready’ and loan funds to test new ideas and meet specific gaps in the market. The Investment and Contract Readiness Fund, Big Potential and the Reach Fund are all programmes designed to help charities and social enterprises become more resilient, win contracts or gain investment. Meanwhile, the Liverpool City Region Impact Fund and the First Steps Enterprise Fund were both pilot projects to test out ideas such as location based funds or smaller sized investments. The landscape of finance and support has changed considerably in recent years, but we continue to pursue our goal of providing the money and support that charities and social enterprises need to improve people’s lives. Our track record and expertise put us in a great position to do this and we will work tirelessly to help more organisations do more of what they do best. Our impact Discover how our grants and loans have transformed organisations like yours View impact stories Our funds On the hunt for the right grant / loan for your organisation? Look no further See funds Find us online LinkedIn Twitter Facebook You Tube Contact us +44 (0) 20 3096 7900 enquiries@sibgroup.org.uk More contact info Useful links Funds Impact Subscribe News Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter to receive all the latest news and information. Subscribe Log in Data Privacy Policy Accessibility Site map Website by White Fuse The Social Investment Business is the trading name for the Social Investment Business Foundation, Registered Company No. 05777484 (England), Registered Charity No. 1117185 (England & Wales), The Social Investment Business Limited, Registered in England No. 06490609, VAT No. 927456693, Futurebuilders-England Limited, Registered in England No. 05066676 and Forward Enterprise FM Ltd, Registered in England No.11238102. Registered Office: CAN Mezzanine, Borough, 7-14 Great Dover Street, London, SE1 4YR. We use cookies to improve your experience using this website. Learn more