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London Social Ventures

Collaboration, Impact, Ecosystem

We are a collaboration of leading London universities seeking to transform how entrepreneurship achieves social impact.

The challenge

Social ventures originating from a university’s knowledge base hold immense potential to generate significant social and economic impact. However, they often face difficulties in securing the necessary funding and support for growth. While the availability of resources for social ventures has increased, critical gaps and challenges still exist, making it difficult for them to access this support.

To create a sustainable, long-term solution, a robust pipeline of emerging social ventures must be developed—a process that requires time, careful nurturing and the development of collaborative partnerships.

The solution

London Social Ventures aims to launch several pilot programs focused on building a strong pipeline of university-based social ventures, while gaining deeper insights into the support they need to grow and achieve long-term sustainability. This new initiative, born from an innovative collaboration between London universities and partners, seeks to generate a critical mass of social venture activity. By doing so, it will lay the groundwork for a permanent solution that can support and nurture emerging university social ventures across the capital.

The future

London Social Ventures will focus on building a robust pipeline of social ventures emerging from London universities, supported by a city-wide network offering legal assistance, business model development, mentoring, and more. Through this, we aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of the support ecosystem required for social ventures and to map the scale and scope of the pipeline developing from universities.

This will allow us to demonstrate a proof of concept for our approach, while shaping a vision around the development of a longer-term solution such as the development of a fund as well as permanent infrastructure to support this work. As part of our journey we will also be sharing insights and learnings to a variety of stakeholders both across the UK and globally.

“I am delighted that this unique partnership of universities, companies, and local authorities has come together to harness our capabilities and experience to deliver a social venture pipeline that will benefit our communities for years to come.”

Professor Colin Bailey

President and Principal of Queen Mary University of London

Why social ventures?

Social ventures from universities are vital for London as they harness academic expertise to address social challenges, driving both innovation and positive change. These ventures can create jobs, promote sustainability, and improve quality of life, while also fostering a culture of entrepreneurship. Their potential to scale can have a lasting impact on London’s economy and communities.

“Having lived in East London for most of my life, I’ve seen first-hand how inequality has worsened. Social ventures can be a powerful tool in driving positive change and uplifting local communities.

There remains a pressing need to change how we support ventures, especially those led by founders from minority backgrounds or female founders, given the challenges around diversity. This project can be transformative in achieving that.

I’m hopeful that as London universities we can drive positive change, build lasting partnerships, and lay the foundations for a permanent and impactful organisation within the London social impact ecosystem.”

Amir Rizwan

Director of London Social Ventures

Why universities?

Social ventures set up by academics and students are going from strength to strength in Britain. They provide a bridge between world leading innovative research and the wider impact economy.

Social ventures are a means by which universities can achieve greater impact from their research, and a way for business partners, investors, and the public sector to meet their social impact ambitions by backing projects rooted in evidence and impact through a model geared towards generating revenue in order to be sustainable.

“We’re delighted to collaborate with other London universities and partners to see this important initiative get off the ground. UCLB is proud to have pioneered technology transfer for university social ventures.

Our social ventures have made real impact on causes as diverse as improving sustainable farming practices in developing countries, helping promote healthy eating to under-5s, and even creating paints from coal mine waste.

Early-stage social ventures, however, require pre-seed capital, access to public sector procurement and leveraging the local ecosystem, which London Social Ventures will seek to provide.”

Dr Steven Schooling

Managing Director of UCLB

Why London?

London faces stark inequality, with the wealthiest 10% earning nearly six times more than the bottom 10%, and over a third of children living in poverty. Homelessness has surged by 21% in recent years, highlighting the urgent need for new solutions. As a global hub for start-ups, London is witnessing rapid growth in social ventures that aim to tackle these challenges head-on. The city’s critical mass of corporates and non-university partners are increasingly focused on collaboration, supporting the rise of place-based approaches to address local issues.

 

Example of social venture

With 40 universities—one of the largest concentrations worldwide—London’s academic network is uniquely positioned to drive social innovation. Universities provide cutting-edge research and talent, helping to develop sustainable solutions and address inequalities, making this the perfect time to focus on social venturing. Together, these factors create a fertile environment for real change in London’s social landscape.

“I am delighted that this unique partnership of universities, companies, and local authorities has come together to harness our capabilities and experience to deliver a social venture pipeline that will benefit our communities for years to come.”

Professor Colin Bailey

President and Principal of Queen Mary University of London

Our team

Amir Rizwan

Director

Amir Rizwan is the Director of London Social Ventures and takes overall strategic responsibility for London Social Ventures. A proven impact investor with over 11 years of experience, Amir has worked at a range of organisations stretching from Better Society Capital to Macmillan Cancer Support and was responsible for developing Comic Relief’s social investment strategy. He has extensive experience in supporting social ventures to raise finance and of working with a range of investors to develop ways in which they can utilise impact investing to achieve both financial and impact goals.

William Russell

Social Venture Coordinator

Will leads our work to grow the social venture pipeline coming out of London universities and the programmatic design of our venture programme. He began his career teaching English in Salford and London before transitioning into the social venture space through the ‘On Purpose’ program. He has since worked in charity, social investment, and NHS settings, holding various roles supporting social entrepreneurs. Will enjoys the challenge of working with ventures that combine innovation, profit, and purpose.

Noureen Vadsaria

Project Manager

Noureen Vadsaria is a Project Manager for London Social Ventures, where she is leads on the administration and project management of London Social Ventures. With expertise in agile project management and social impact evaluation, she is passionate about sustainable growth and resilience in the UK’s social venture ecosystem, facilitating initiatives that empower marginalised communities, and drive meaningful social change.

Gemma Ashwin

Corporate Partnership Manager

Gemma leads on managing the strategic engagement of high-profile corporate partners, cultivating support and investment for the emerging social ventures for London Social Ventures. She has held several senior positions across multiple organisations within the corporate, government and non-for-profit sectors, leading on corporate fundraising and strategic business development. Gemma is passionate about accelerating innovative business growth and partnerships, delivering high-quality impact, value and financial sustainability.

Our partners

London Social Ventures is a collaboration led by Queen Mary University of London and UCL which includes London Metropolitan University, London Business School, King’s College London, University of London, Goldsmiths University of London, University of the Arts London, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, University of East London, and City University.

Other partners and investors include Barclays Eagle Labs, Sodexo, Central London Forwards, Royal Docks, RAD London, the London Borough of Newham, and the Federation of Small Businesses.

The initial funding comes from Research England.

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