Nesta Impact fund deploys £2m in first investments

Greg Gille
@unquotenews
22 January 2014

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Nesta Investment Management has made its first social impact investments, deploying £2m across four businesses.

The first round of investments saw the fund backing UK businesses Oomph!, Ffrees Family Finance, Movellas and Sherston Software.

Launched in October 2012, the £25m Nesta Impact Investments fund is backed by Big Society Capital – which contributed £8m – and Omidyar Network. Its goal is to back organisations tackling issues such as elderly care and education, balancing social impact and potential returns for investors.

Established in 2011, Oomph! designs and runs group exercise classes, targeting care homes and community initiatives. The company works with care providers Bupa, Hallmark and Ideal Care Homes.

Ffrees Family Finance is a digital current account designed to help users save as they spend, by allowing them to earn points when they purchase through the account from a network of selected providers. The customers can eventually redeem the accrued points as cash. The company also offers advice on saving plans.

Launched in 2012, Movellas is a creative story-sharing community for teenagers. With 200,000 users per month, the community allows users to share and read stories for free, with several of its contributors having landed publishing deals.

Sherston Software is a provider of educational software designed with a gaming element in mind, in order to engage children more effectively. The company is also developing new assessment technologies.