Social Investment Fund for London

Our social investment funding provides accessible, flexible and long-term repayable finance for social change across London.

City Bridge Foundation’s £22 million Social Investment Fund is designed to support organisations creating social impact across London. We use repayable finance to help enterprises tackle injustice and inequality — particularly in communities most affected by systemic and structural barriers.

Social investment complements our grant-making and aligns with our Standing with Londoners funding policy, which focuses on advancing climate and environmental justice, access to justice, racial justice and economic justice.

The Fund is not a grant programme and does not provide start-up or pilot funding.

Social investment is the use of repayable finance to help social purpose and impact-focused organisations achieve a clear social mission.

Unlike grants, social investment is expected to be paid back. We structure our investments so that financial returns are balanced with the achievement of strong, positive outcomes for Londoners.

We offer a range of investment options to meet different organisational needs and business models:

• Debt arrangements involve providing repayable finance, such as loans, where the organisation commits to repaying the amount borrowed over time, usually with interest.
• Equity-type arrangements, on the other hand, involve investing funds in exchange for a stake in the organisation, where returns are linked to the success and growth of the enterprise.

Our aim is to provide flexible finance that helps organisations scale impact, improve their resilience and enable long-term sustainability.

The Fund is overseen by our Funding Committee and managed by our funding team.

All social investments must clearly and demonstrably align with City Bridge Foundation’s Standing with Londoners funding policy. This is a core threshold requirement. We can only consider investments that further at least one of our four justice priorities:

• Access to justice
• Climate and environmental justice
• Racial justice
• Economic justice

Meeting the criteria of the Social Investment Fund is not in itself sufficient to secure investment. Decisions are made at the sole discretion of City Bridge Foundation and may be subject to conditions.

Each investment must be targeted to generate both:

• a clear social return for Londoners, and
• a financial return that enables the recycling of charitable capital

Where alignment with our justice priorities is weak, indirect, or incidental, we will not progress an enquiry — regardless of organisational quality or delivery track record.

You can find general information about social investment at the Good Finance website.

We invest directly into social purpose organisations, and indirectly via impact funds aligned with our aims.

We can only invest in organisations that:

• Have a clear social mission with demonstrable London benefit
• Have at least one year of operating and trading history
• Are already generating income (e.g. contracts, trading, service delivery)
• Can demonstrate measurable public benefit
• Have a viable business model and repayment plan
• Are committed to environmental sustainability, equity and inclusion
• Pay at least the London Living Wage
• Are willing to engage in impact reporting and ongoing improvement

We can consider non-charitable organisations where:

• The mission aligns clearly with our funding priorities
• Private benefit is incidental and proportionate
• Our capital is not unduly subordinated to other investors
• The investment does not generate dividends for private shareholders

We do not invest in individuals, sole traders, or organisations without a delivery team and governance structure in place.

We particularly welcome enquiries from organisations led by communities historically marginalised from accessing capital, including Black and minoritised ethnic group-led organisations, disabled-led organisations, LGBTQ+-led organisations, and those with lived experience of economic injustice.
 

We can fund activities that support growth, resilience or asset development, including: such as:

• Purchase, renovation or fit-out of premises
• Working capital to deliver contracts
• Equipment, vehicles or digital infrastructure
• Scaling of established trading activity with strong social outcomes
• Blended finance models alongside grants or other investors

We do not provide social investment to:

• Start-ups, pilots or early-stage concepts
• Organisations without a clear route to repayment
• Ventures with no trading history
• Activities with unclear social impact or limited London benefit
• Purely grant-funded models seeking repayable finance
• Speculative or high-risk venture capital propositions

If you would like to discuss a potential social investment, please book an initial 20-minute call. You will receive an automatic confirmation of your booking.

Organisations exploring whether social investment may be suitable for them, or wishing to understand our Social Investment Fund in more detail, are welcome to book an initial call.

This is not the appropriate enquiry route for those seeking grant funding. When grant funding is available, it will be clearly signposted on our Funding page. 

You can also email Nkechi Adeboye, Social Investment Analyst and Relationship Manager.

Email Nkechi: nkechi.adeboye@citybridgefoundation.org.uk

Please note: We are unable to assess proposals or provide funding decisions via email alone.

If you would prefer to call, please dial 020 7332 3710, Monday to Friday, between 8am and 6pm. 

Your call will be answered by the City of London Corporation’s contact centre. They will pass your message on to us. 

We are grateful for the work of our appointed advisors who support us to deliver our vision.

• i‑for-change
• Sumerian Partners
• Triodos Bank NV