EfD Joins Ground-breaking UK Social Investment Fund!
Why This Opportunity Mattered
Like many working in international development, we are acutely aware that poverty exists not only in the countries where we traditionally work, but increasingly in high-income countries as well. The proliferation of food banks, rising homelessness, and weakening family support networks in the UK paint a stark picture. Whilst the state and voluntary sector work to address these challenges, resource constraints and bureaucratic inefficiencies limit what can be achieved.
When the opportunity arose to make an early investment in the Resonance Enterprise Investment Fund, we recognized a rare chance for a small charity like EfD to support a sustainable, scalable initiative that could make a meaningful difference. Our £100,000 commitment—made subject to sufficient other funds being raised—helped accelerate the fund to its first close, ultimately enabling the full £10 million vehicle that closed in December 2025.
A Proven Partner with Innovative Approach
Resonance has a successful track record using innovative asset-backed finance to address poverty-related challenges in low-income areas across the UK. What impressed us was their ability to attract social finance from multiple stakeholders whilst working effectively with local government and non-government partners to implement sustainable, cost-effective pro-poor solutions. They achieve value for money by leveraging funds from financial institutions, social finance, and grants—an approach conceptually similar to models we understand from international development finance.
The Resonance Enterprise Investment Fund represents an evolution of their work: moving beyond property-focused investments to develop early-stage social enterprises and increase the flow of patient capital to financially sustainable ventures that improve lives for disadvantaged beneficiaries.
A Strategic Partnership for Social Impact
The £10 million fund provides flexible finance to high-impact social enterprises across England, initially focusing on the South West, West Midlands, and North West regions. It addresses some of the UK's most pressing challenges, including reducing economic inequality, improving health and wellbeing, and supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy.
EfD joined an impressive consortium of impact-first investors, including:
- The Ceniarth UK Foundation – an impact-first single-family office focused on improving livelihoods in disinvested communities
- Unity Trust Bank – the UK's leading ethical bank with over 40 years of social impact lending
- Access – The Foundation for Social Investment – providing substantial grant funding to enhance affordability for borrowers
- British Business Bank – supporting the fund through its Growth Guarantee Scheme, which provides a 70% government-backed guarantee
Alignment with Our Core Mission
Whilst Enterprise for Development has traditionally focused on sustainable healthcare and agri-businesses in Africa, this investment represents a natural extension of our charitable objectives: the relief or prevention of poverty and the advancement of health.
The REI Fund supports social enterprises working directly with underserved communities in areas of high deprivation. These enterprises create employment for people facing significant barriers to work, deliver essential health and social care services, and improve livelihoods through community-led initiatives. The parallels with our work in Africa are clear: identifying and supporting sustainable, high-impact enterprises that generate tangible benefits for those on lower incomes.
The types of social enterprises supported by the fund demonstrate these tangible community benefits:
- Small social enterprise breweries expanding to create employment and support for adults with learning disabilities and autism
- Domiciliary care teams providing specialized end-of-life care
- Community wood projects training people experiencing long-term unemployment whilst providing access to reused materials
- Sports retailers employing people facing barriers to work, including those experiencing homelessness or disability
An Innovative Financing Model
What particularly attracted us to this investment is Resonance's blended finance approach. The fund combines:
- Community Investment Tax Relief (CITR) for investors
- The Growth Guarantee Scheme – providing substantial risk coverage
- Access Foundation grant funding – reducing the cost of capital for social enterprises
- Flexible finance products – including launchpad loans, patient loans, revenue share agreements, and equity options
This sophisticated structure enables the fund to provide affordable, patient capital to social enterprises that struggle to access conventional finance—precisely the market gap we see in our African portfolio companies. The fund's focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion throughout its investment process, combined with its commitment to flexible, tailored financing, reflects best practice in development finance.
Looking Ahead: Lessons for Development Finance
If this innovative financing model proves successful in the UK—and early indications are promising, with Resonance having made over 123 investments through their earlier funds—there may be compelling rationale for replicating similar approaches in other settings where social enterprises struggle to access appropriate growth capital.
Key lessons we hope to extract and share through our Knowledge Centre include:
- Blended finance structuring – how to effectively combine grants, guarantees, and tax incentives to create affordable capital
- Flexible product design – tailoring finance to meet diverse social enterprise needs at different stages of development
- Risk management – using guarantees and layered capital structures to mobilize additional investment
- Stakeholder collaboration – working effectively with government, NGOs, and private sector partners
- Impact measurement – tracking social outcomes alongside financial returns
The experience of backing social enterprises addressing poverty and health challenges in a developed economy context may offer valuable insights that could strengthen our approach to supporting sustainable enterprises across sub-Saharan Africa. Models that work to catalyse social finance and de-risk early-stage investments are universally relevant.
A Continued Commitment to Impact
This investment in the REI Fund does not represent a shift in EfD's core focus. Our primary commitment remains supporting sustainable healthcare and agri-businesses in Africa that generate benefits for those on lower incomes. Rather, it reflects our belief that effective development finance models can transcend geography—and that we have an obligation to learn from and contribute to innovative approaches to poverty alleviation and health advancement wherever they occur.
Our participation was made possible through additional resources specifically designated for this purpose, ensuring no diversion of funds from our African portfolio. We view this as an investment not only in UK social enterprises but in our own learning—lessons that may ultimately benefit the communities we serve in Africa.
We look forward to working with Resonance, our fellow investors, and the social enterprises this fund will support. Together, we are demonstrating that patient, flexible capital—structured appropriately—can generate both meaningful social impact and sustainable financial returns.
For more information about the Resonance Enterprise Investment Fund, visit resonance.ltd.uk. To learn more about Enterprise for Development's work supporting sustainable healthcare and agri-businesses in Africa, explore our strategy, healthcare, and agriculture pages.