Our eighth in a series of thought leadership reports, Impact, environmental and social signals in startups and scaleups, has been published in partnership with Beauhurst and funded by the UK Government, to provide detailed insights into impact driven companies across the UK.
Impact driven investment is becoming an increasingly popular theme within the UK ecosystem, with a number of high-growth companies choosing to align their strategies to this concept. ‘Impact Investing’ refers to investments made with the intent of generating a positive social or environmental impact, in cohesion with a financial return. This report delves into the varied components that constitute towards impact investing, the top recipients of this type of funding as well as its promising future landscape.
Investment into impact-driven companies has increased annually, since 2013. A significant rise was observed specifically between 2021 (£6.94b) and 2022 (£9.68b), due to higher levels of investment and other economic stimuli being paid into clinically focused companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Investment figures dropped for the first time in 2023 however, following an end to the pandemic in the UK, the year prior.
Nonetheless, industry projections from available data sources, predict that there will continue to be increased levels of funding driven towards impact driven companies between 2024-2028, as the UK’s impact economy is forecasted to grow to 12,600 organisations – by 2028. To date, the number of companies across the UK that fall under the umbrella of being ‘impactful’ has increased by 65.3%, since 2013.
London is currently home to the largest proportion of potentially impact driven companies, with more than 2,000 high-growth businesses headquartered in the capital. This can be attributed to the city’s large business population, financial support networks, and a number of other significant factors.
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