Driving Innovation in Adult Social Care: Introducing The Adult Social Care Impact Launchpad

What is the LSV Impact Series?

LSV exists to support research-backed ideas and innovations to have impact in London and beyond. We believe social ventures can be a powerful route to achieving this impact, but only if they’re supported to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world application. Our venture programmes guide innovators in developing their ideas into viable, mission-led ventures. But we’ve also identified a critical gap: opportunities for real-world piloting. That’s where our new LSV Impact Series comes in, designed to create these opportunities by leveraging our connections across London’s impact ecosystem to link up ventures with pilot partners who can provide the settings, feedback, and collaboration needed to test, learn, and grow their impact.

Our first initiative in the Impact Series will focus on adult social care and is being delivered in partnership with Care City, a community-focused innovation organisation working across health and care in North East London. With over a decade of experience working directly with residents, carers, staff, and local partners, Care City brings deep sector knowledge and proven expertise in implementing innovations in real-world care settings. 

Together, we aim to facilitate meaningful collaboration between practitioners and academics, translating research into practical solutions that work in real-world care settings.

“At London Social Ventures, we exist to help research-backed ideas move from promise to real impact. This partnership with Care City gives ventures the chance to test their solutions in real-world adult social care settings, learning directly from people and professionals to create approaches that improve lives and can scale across the system.” Amir Rizwan, Director of London Social Ventures

Why adult social care?

Adult social care is meant to help people maintain their independence and well-being, particularly those with disabilities, illnesses, or age-related needs. It touches all our lives: today, unpaid carers take on around £184 billion worth of essential care support annually, and by 2040, nearly one in five adults will live with a major illness. Adult social care should support us to live our lives in the place we call home, with the people and things we love, doing what matters to us, whatever our age or stage of life. With social care high on the national agenda and growing recognition that new approaches are needed, there’s both urgency and opportunity for innovations that can work within the complex networks of homes, communities, and local services where care actually happens.

“The need for bold and radical ideas and solutions in social care is needed more than ever. We are thrilled to be working with LSV on the Adult Social Care Impact Launchpad to help design, test, learn and scale impactful ideas in social care to transform the experience for people who draw on care and support for themselves or someone else.” Matt Skinner, CEO of Care City

What are we focusing on?

Through our work with Care City, we’ve identified six areas where innovation can have the greatest impact on people’s lives and on the adult social care system. These are the points where the right ideas – tested and adapted in real-world settings – can help people stay well, live independently for longer, and ease pressure on overstretched services.

• Prevention: Helping people stay active, connected and mentally stimulated to avoid avoidable decline and costly interventions.
• Independence: Supporting mobility and daily living so people can remain at home and part of their communities.
• Prediction: Using data and early warning systems to spot risks, such as falls or health crises, before they happen.
• Productivity: Reducing admin for care workers and improving coordination so more time is spent on care, not paperwork.
• Hospital Discharge: Making sure people get the right support when leaving hospital to recover safely at home.
• Assessment & Planning: Helping teams quickly access information and adjust care as people’s needs change.

How to get involved?

We’re inviting submissions from academics, researchers, and PhD students at London universities whose innovations can help people stay well, in the place they call home, for as long as possible. We’re particularly interested in:

• Research-backed solutions with working prototypes that address one of our challenge areas, even if they haven’t yet been piloted; or
• Products or tools that have been successfully piloted in another sector but show strong potential to address a social care challenge within our defined areas.

The application process is quick and easy: just submit a short, 10 minute expression of interest form via our website here before August 11th. Our team will review these applications and schedule structured conversations with shortlisted applications to understand your solutions further. If successful, your pilot will take place between September 2025 and February 2026. 

Want to hear more about The Adult Social Care Impact Launchpad from the LSV and Care City team? Join one of our information sessions on the 28th July or 4th August. You can sign up for these information sessions, read more information about the initiative and submit an expression of interest on our website by clicking here. 

LSV Impact Series: What comes next?

By working closely with people who draw on care, unpaid carers, and frontline professionals, selected teams will explore what works, what doesn’t, and how their solutions can be embedded into everyday adult social care practice. This first initiative in the LSV Impact series offers a rare opportunity to learn, adapt, and generate the evidence needed for wider adoption, entirely focused on innovations aligned with our six priority areas. 

And this is just the beginning. Through future partnerships and pilots, the LSV Impact series will continue creating space for ventures from London’s universities to test and refine their ideas in real-world settings, shaping practical, scalable solutions that create lasting impact in London and beyond.

If you would like to be kept up to date with the latest news at London Social Ventures as well as join our mailing list please do get in touch as we would love to hear from you.