Purposeful Businesses
Your company uses its commercial skills to purposefully create a better world. We want to invest in that vision.
Disrupt more than the market
Looking to create an impact in the West of England and neighbouring regions? Our investment aims to help you build towards:
- A sustainable planet
- An ethical economy
- A equitable society
You don't need to sideline your purpose
Businesses often adapt to get investment. Under the weight of pressure to deliver on short-term returns, they can end up loosening their grip on their mission, values and vision for long-term impact.
As a result, places, people and the planet risk being shortchanged. And everyone misses out. But there’s another approach to investment – one that we’ve seen work for founders, investors and our region.
How our investment might work for you
Our finance aims to create more than a financial return. Here’s what makes us different.
Build long-term and sustainable impact
We’ll invest in your business for the short, medium or long term and give you access to specialists in finance, business strategy and marketing to support the difference you’re making.
Keep your purpose central
We’ll keep listening to you as your ambitions develop and we’ll help refine your strategy as obstacles emerge, so no matter how big you grow, you stay authentic to your vision.
Find new partners and customers
We’ll try to aid your growth where possible with potential connections to regional leaders and investors in our network. We can also find you board support if it’s appropriate.
Be part of a healthy, regional economy
We’ll connect you where we can with other relevant businesses, charities and social enterprises that we’ve invested in, so that together your impact can multiply.
What kind of investment is available?
The exact figure we can offer will depend on the project type as well as the experience of your leadership team. As for the terms, we design these on a case-by-case basis to give you optimum support and the best chance of long-term success.
Who is our investment for?
If you have a locked-in mission and a place-based strategy for the West of England and neighbouring regions we want to hear from you. We’ve invested in multiple themes across EdTech, EnviroTech, Transport, Medical engineering and net-zero Infrastructure. As far as we’re concerned, there’s no sector that is off the table.See our current Funds and especially our Net Zero funds under development for the Western region.
We have a fairly simple process, common to most investors:
Stage 1: Onboarding
We send you an Introduction Form in which you tell us all about your organisation and your proposal. If we agree that you are in alignment with us, and we can potentially invest, we progress to the next Step. Note that in addition to the basics noted above, we will only invest if you have proven revenue streams for your proposal.
Stage 2: Leadership, Staff & Business Plan
This is where we ask for a lot of information, getting into the nitty-gritty of your proposal and your organisation. We strongly prefer teams of more than one director. We look for experience, good governance, skillsets and leadership in executing your proposal. You will need to show us Annual Accounts, Management Accounts, Business Plan (or detailed Pitch Deck), Financial Model, any legal permissions you need, market research, any sales contracts, invoicing etc., or any other information we request which supports the proposal.
Stage 3: Independent review (Investment Advisory Committee)
Our Bristol-based panel takes a very close look at your proposal through the lens of the investment paper that our team write for them as a distillation of Stage 2. If they agree with our team that investment is a good idea, we progress to the next stage; if not, we can go back to Step 2. They may also request amendments or special conditions.
Stage 4: Independent decision
(FCA Approval): This is where we seek final approval for the proposal. By this time, we believe it is fully shaped for investment; however, the Financial Conduct Authority investment committee have the final say.
Stage 5: Investment Offer and Legals
If Stage 4 produced an approval, we will issue Heads of Terms and start drawing up the legal agreements. There is usually some negotiation at this stage, and fulfilment of any preconditions.
Stage 6: Drawdown
of the investment agreed in Stage 5 comes last and you launch into delivering on your proposal; we ask for reporting as time goes on, telling us periodic financial and impact information. We stay in touch as your investment partner.
