The document discusses challenges in designing social investment, including a lack of funding for ventures between initial product and scale, skills gaps between funders and ventures, and opaque funding criteria. It proposes asking "how" questions to address these challenges, such as how to stretch funding to earlier stages, facilitate skills sharing between funders and ventures, and create more flexible repayment options for ventures without assets. The goal is to improve social investment opportunities.

1. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

2. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

3. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

4. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

5. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

6. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

7. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

8. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

9. 9
Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

10. 10Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

11. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

12. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

13. 1. The middle stage gap
2. (ventures struggle to fund themselves
when they have an initial service or
product, but aren't yet ready to move
towards scale or rapid growth)
3. Lack of skills crossover between funders
and ventures
4. Ventures feel funding criteria and
decisions are opaque
5. Wasted time on applications
6. Language barrier for 'not social
enterprise'
7. (some ventures are excluding themselves
from sources of funding they perceive as
'not for them' because they don't consider
themselves to be social enterprises)
8. Understanding different funding routes
upfront
9. Repayable finance seen as too risky for
ventures
Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

14. Creating
opportunities
by asking ‘how’
of the system
Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

15. 1. How might we… stretch the boundaries of the stage at which ventures can be funded?
2. How might we… facilitate funders to make greater use of skills from ventures?
3. How might we… help social ventures understand the outcomes of funding applications in order
for them to learn and develop?
4. How might we… remove overlapping processes for the application stage of funding
opportunities?
5. How might we… attract ‘not social enterprise’ to the social finance landscape?
6. How might we… enable ventures to understand and consider different funding routes rather
than just the one that is most familiar?
7. How might we… create more flexible repayment options for ventures that do not have assets
like a building?
Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

16. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

17. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

18. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

19. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

20. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

21. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

22. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

23. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

24. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

25. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

26. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

27. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

28. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

29. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

30. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

31. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

32. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

33. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

34. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

35. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

36. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

37. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

38. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

39. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

40. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

41. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

42. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

43. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

44. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson

45. Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson