Social Tech Trust, the UK’s leading dedicated supporter of socially motivated tech ventures has received the backing of the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to set up the Social Tech Venture Fund.
The announcement demonstrates the Government’s commitment to encouraging greater access to capital to enable socially motivated tech ventures to grow and scale their social impact. It will address many of the challenges outlined in the Civil Society Strategy, with a focus on social transformation in three key areas; communities, health and financial inclusion.
In his keynote speech at DotEveryone’s Responsible Tech 2019 event, The Rt Hon Jeremy Wright MP, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport said, “While investment in UK tech continued to be the highest in Europe in 2018, social tech ventures can often find it challenging to raise appropriate capital at the right time. We need to encourage greater access to capital as these ventures scale and grow their social and environmental impact so we are supporting the foundation of a fund of up to £30 million of equity investment in social tech ventures. This fund will be run by the Social Tech Trust who have almost ten years of experience in supporting socially-transformative technology.”
Ed Evans, CEO of Social Tech Trust said, “We’re delighted that DCMS are demonstrating their support of this pioneering fund that will address the gap in the availability of equity investment, required to scale transformative purpose-driven tech ventures. This presents a fantastic opportunity for us to challenge tech to work harder for the good of society.”
In addition to supporting the set-up of the Social Tech Venture Fund, DCMS will also support the development of Social Tech Trust’s programme of technical assistance. This vital non-financial support will offer ventures access to the skills and expertise needed for their long-term growth and sustainability.
Social Tech Trust has over a decade of experience in supporting social tech ventures and are guided by a clear vision for social transformation to be the driving force behind tech. Their portfolio includes start-ups transforming the way society operates – from Feebris, a mobile health platform that uses Artificial Intelligence to enable non-medical users to diagnose and monitor complex health conditions in the community, to Tribe, a social action initiative that uses data to identify and up-skill members of the community in areas in need of care, to become paid community carers.
