Social Impact Investing

Venture Capital
Bridges Ventures CDV Funds
financial First Investor
Investor
Multiple Investors
Equity
Impact Investment
Fund
Bridges Ventures
CDV Funds
Deal
Simply Switch
Area of Impact
Sustainability & Regeneration
Geography
United Kingdom
15% projected IRR + 165% IRR
“Bridges Ventures
believes that
market forces and
entrepreneurship
can be harnessed
to create social and
environmental benefits.
We aim to continuously
innovate to find new
ways of delivering our
investors with this
combination.”
Michele Giddens
Executive Director
Bridges Ventures
Multiple Investors
••
Bridges Ventures’ investors range from institutions such as banks (HSBC, Cooperative Financial Services, Lloyds
TSB, Barclays and Citigroup) and pension funds (such as Universities Superannuation Scheme and West Midlands
Local Authority Pension Fund) through to wealthy individuals, families, trusts and endowments
Bridges Ventures CDV Funds (http://www.bridgesventures.com)
••
Bridges Ventures is a private sector, mission-driven investment company that specialises in funds that can deliver
financial returns and make a positive social or environmental impact
••
Bridges Ventures has launched two venture funds that invest in ambitious entrepreneurial businesses that have
at least one of the following two characteristics:
--
Regeneration–businesses located in the most deprived 25% of the UK
--
Sustainable Business–businesses whose social/environmental impact is intrinsic to what they do
••
The first £40MM venture fund was raised in 2002. Based on the track record of that fund, Bridges Ventures
raised a second fund of £75MM in 2007, which beat its original target of £50MM and was over-subscribed
••
The venture funds invest in early stage, later stage and property-backed businesses
••
Bridges Ventures utilises a three-stage process to target, maximise and report upon social and environmental
impact
--
Social Screen–Setting clear social impact of location or sector, then use strictly commercial criteria to select
amongst those companies that pass the social screen; looking for winners commercially that do good
--
Engagement–Working with the portfolio companies using Bridges Social IMPACT Scorecard to find ways to
improve their community and environmental impact while increasing the value of the business
--
Reporting–Reporting back to investors on the social and environmental impact of the companies as well as
financial and commercial performance
Simply Switch (http://www.simplyswitch.com)
••
In late 2002, Bridges Ventures invested £125K of early-stage capital in Simply Switch, an online and telephone
based provider of comparative information for utilities suppliers. Follow-on investments resulted in a total commitment
of £345K
••
Simply Switch was sold to The Daily Mail and General Trust for £22MM in 2006, returning £7.5MM to Bridges
Ventures and resulting in a money multiplier of 22x and an IRR of 165% to investors
••
Simply Switch located itself in a Bridges Ventures target area, creating 80 new jobs in the local economy
••
Simply Switch helped raise £500K for charities where it had established an affinity relationship
••
By being the first provider to offer its service both online and over the telephone, Simply Switch made it easier
for those without resources to go online to save money on their bills
Impact
social/environmental impact
••
1,300 jobs created or sustained; 500 in target areas and 163 taken out
of unemployment
••
Almost all investments in the most deprived 25%; 58% in the most
deprived 10% of the UK
••
Multiplier effect of £3 of additional spending in deprived areas for each
£1 invested by Bridges Ventures and £2.13 of Gross Value Added
financial impact
••
Bridges Ventures has invested over £51MM in 37 companies
••
Follow-on investments have been made in over 70% of the
portfolio
••
Exit returns to date range from 29-165% IRR and from 2x to
22x money multiples
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