Social Finance

What Social Finance does

Social Finance is a UK-headquartered not-for-profit organisation, founded in 2007 and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (No. 497568), that designs, structures, and manages outcomes-based financing vehicles and advisory mandates to address complex social problems. It pioneered the world's first Social Impact Bond at HMP Peterborough in 2010 and has since built a portfolio spanning criminal justice, end-of-life care, employment support, loneliness, homelessness, and children and young people's services, organised around four Communities of Impact: Children & Young People, Health & Social Care, Employment & Skills, and Housing & Homelessness.

The organisation generates revenue through managed services on social investment funds (notably the £12m Care and Wellbeing Fund, 2015-2025, and the £36m Macmillan End-of-Life Care Fund), advisory mandates for foundations and government, programme management for outcomes-based contracts, and running national scaling programmes such as IPS Grow. Its technology stack centres on an internal Data Platform, Power BI dashboards, Python-based data pipelines (pandas, NumPy), Excel financial modelling with scenario and sensitivity analysis, proprietary frameworks such as Routes to Scale and the System Change Roadmap, and purpose-built reporting tools including the IPS Grow reporting instrument. Distribution is sales-led through direct partnerships with UK government departments, NHS Foundation Trusts, local authorities, charitable foundations, and impact investors; the international arm, Social Finance International, extends this model to East Africa (Nairobi) and Colombia (Bogotá).

Social Finance operates with a matrix of Communities of Impact and Communities of Expertise, employing 120+ professionals across economics, financial analysis, policy, data, social science, engineering, and Human Centred Design. Strategic direction is governed by a board co-chaired by Lela Kogbara, with Caroline Gadd appointed as Chief Executive in August 2025 after serving as Interim CEO. Long-standing anchor partners include Macmillan Cancer Support (since 2015), Better Society Capital, the Ministry of Justice, and major UK charitable foundations such as the Health Foundation, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, and Motability Foundation.

Name

Social Finance

Legal name

Social Finance Limited

Website

https://socialfinance.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Social Finance is a UK not-for-profit, FCA-authorised social investment organisation that designs and manages Social Impact Bonds and outcomes-based contracts for government, NHS trusts, and foundations across health, employment, criminal justice, and social care.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Impact Investing Advisory

NAICS

Finance and Insurance (52), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Social Assistance (624)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Impact & Inclusive Finance Funds (FSANAJAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Impact Investing & Social Finance (Funds, CDFIs, Microfinance) (BPAGALAA), Impact Investment & Social Finance Programs (BPADAOAJ), Charitable Giving & Philanthropic Trust Advisory (FSAEAKAH)

Keywords

• Social impact bonds
• Impact investing advisory
• Outcomes-based financing
• Social investment funds
• System change consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Social Investment and Impact Investing Advisory: Social Finance designs and manages social impact bonds and outcomes-based contracts where investors provide upfront funding and government pays upon achievement of specified social outcomes. They also provide advisory services to foundations, charities, and government on impact investing strategy and portfolio architecture.
2. Programme and Fund Management: Oversees funds such as the £12 million Care and Wellbeing Fund and £36 million Macmillan End-of-Life Care Fund, providing wrap-around support, technical assistance, and performance management for social investment programmes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Social Finance is a not-for-profit organisation that designs, structures and manages social impact bonds (SIBs), outcomes-based contracts and social investment funds. It partners with government, the NHS, local authorities, charities and impact investors to mobilise capital against measurable social outcomes across children and young people, health and social care, employment and skills, and housing and homelessness. The firm also provides strategic advisory, fund management, impact measurement and human-centred design services, and operates programmes such as IPS Grow, Reconnections, the Macmillan End-of-Life Care Fund and the Care and Wellbeing Fund.

Product overview

Social Finance is an advisory and consulting organization, not a software product company. Its offerings comprise multiple programmes, frameworks, and service capabilities rather than a unified software platform. The core work includes Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) / Social Outcomes Contracts as financing instruments, with advisory services across four Communities of Impact (Children & Young People, Health & Social Care, Employment & Skills, Housing & Homelessness). Key programmes include IPS Grow (national employment support scaling), the Reconnections loneliness programme, Neighbourhood Transformation Funds with Macmillan, the Macmillan End-of-Life Care Fund, and the Care and Wellbeing Fund. Supporting capabilities include Human-Centred Design Services, a Routes to Scale Framework, System Change Roadmap, and The Analyst Programme (TAP) for talent development. Technology offerings are limited to an internal Data Platform for data management across projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IPS Grow: The national programme that Social Finance set up to expand Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services across England, helping people with mental health conditions find and retain employment.
• Social Finance International

Products and services

• Social Finance UK Advisory Services Advisory and consulting services tackling complex social challenges through outcomes-based finance, impact measurement, data integration, cross-sector partnerships and investment fund development across Children & Young People, Health & Social Care, Employment & Skills, and Housing & Homelessness. For government, NHS, local authorities, foundations and impact investors.
• Social Impact Bonds and Social Outcomes Contracts Outcomes-based financing instruments designed and managed by Social Finance where investors provide upfront capital for social interventions and government or commissioners repay only when specified outcomes are achieved. Pioneered by Social Finance in 2010 and replicated across 35 countries.
• IPS Grow National programme scaling Individual Placement and Support (IPS) employment services across England, supporting people with mental health conditions or other barriers into fair, high-quality work. Funded by government and includes a reporting tool for monitoring outcomes.
• Social Finance International International arm of Social Finance providing advisory and technical assistance on outcomes-based contracting and social impact investment to governments, development banks and foundations outside the UK.
• Macmillan End-of-Life Care Fund £36 million social investment fund developed with Macmillan Cancer Support to reshape NHS palliative and end-of-life care. Uses a non-profit model where outcomes payments are capped at service delivery costs and has funded nine sites including the RIPEL service in Oxford (11-day reduction in hospital use).
• Care and Wellbeing Fund £12 million social investment fund (2015-2025) overseen by Social Finance testing social investment in health and social care, co-invested by Macmillan Cancer Support and Better Society Capital with development funding from the Health Foundation. Funded 14 projects and led to the creation of the Macmillan End-of-Life Care Fund.
• Neighbourhood Transformation Funds Social investment model developed with Macmillan Cancer Support to shift NHS care from reactive hospital-based services to proactive community-powered integrated teams. Supports up to six trailblazer sites (starting with West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust) and helps local groups form Community Interest Companies with outcomes-based funding.
• Reconnections Social Impact Bond Social Impact Bond addressing loneliness and social isolation among older people. Commissioned by Worcestershire County Council and NHS CCGs and operated 2015-2020, supporting 1,500 people over five years with modelled £1,700 savings per participant over 10 years.
• REACT (Responsive Emergency Assessment and Community Team) Palliative and end-of-life care service launched in Bradford in 2022 through Social Impact Bond funding, combining emergency department in-reach with a community rapid response virtual ward. Achieved a 21-day reduction in hospital use for patients in the last year of life and saved 22,374 bed days.
• Routes to Scale Framework Proprietary strategic planning framework helping organisations understand, target and plan for lasting impact at scale, spanning systems change, movement building and operational scaling. Published as a public framework and used in Social Finance's foundation advisory work.
• System Change Roadmap Practical tool that breaks ambitious system change goals into manageable workplans with prompts for meaningful progress at each step, used by Social Finance in its work with government and system partners.

Quantifiable outcome

• 9% reoffending reduction achieved through Peterborough SIB, exceeding 7.5% target
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, supporting and core.

• West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Trailblazer programme partner for Neighbourhood Transformation Fund. Up to six sites prepared for rapid social investment, supporting local systems to redesign community health and care services.
• Strategy UnitsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partner in Trailblazer programme with West Hertfordshire NHS Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support for Neighbourhood Transformation Funds.
• Marie CuriecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partnership for REACT service in Bradford - Responsive Emergency Assessment and Community Team for palliative and end-of-life care. Unique partnership with Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
• Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partnership for RIPEL service (Rapid Integrated Palliative and End-of-Life) in Oxford. Four connected RIPEL services mobilised in 2022 through Macmillan End-of-Life Care Fund.
• Sobell House Hospice CharitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partnership in RIPEL services in Oxford alongside Macmillan, Social Finance and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
• Independent AgecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Reconnections brand and IP transferred to Independent Age in 2020 for replication and roll-out. First Reconnections service in east London boroughs of Barking & Dagenham and Havering ran Jan 2020 - Dec 2021.
• The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Commissioned Your Life Line 24-hour palliative and end-of-life support service in London Borough of Hillingdon through Care and Wellbeing Fund. 90% of service users able to die at home.
• Macmillan Cancer SupportcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Long-standing strategic partnership since 2015 in health and social care. Macmillan was first national charity to show outcomes-based contracts can drive sustainable new models of care. Partnership includes Care and Wellbeing Fund, Macmillan End-of-Life Care Fund (£36m), and Neighbourhood Transformation Funds.
• Age UKcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Partnership to develop Reconnections, UK's first Social Impact Bond targeting loneliness. Age UK Hereford and Worcestershire delivered the service with local voluntary sector partners.
• St Giles TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Delivered One* Service under Peterborough SIB alongside Ormiston Families, Sova, MIND, TTG Training, YMCA and John Laing Training.
• Government Outcomes Lab at OxfordsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for research on Social Impact Bonds and outcomes-based contracts. GO Labs produced excellent paper on Peterborough SIB 14 years on.
• Community Interest Companies (CICs)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial Finance supports local groups to form CICs for Neighbourhood Transformation Funds, giving neighbourhoods ownership, route to attract further investment, and ability to reinvest savings.
• Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance LabsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMadeline Goldie previously fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Government Performance Lab supporting governments to use data for child welfare improvement.

Scale indicators18 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Young Foundation: UK think-and-do tank developing innovative public services and social enterprises. Comparable on system change methodology, co-design with communities, and advisory to public sector commissioners.
• New Philanthropy Capital (NPC): UK charity think tank and advisory firm helping charities and foundations measure impact and design strategy. Comparable on the advisory-to-foundation side of Social Finance's work (e.g., Motability Foundation strategy support).
• Big Society Capital (now Better Society Capital): The UK's largest social investment wholesaler, co-investing in social enterprises alongside partners including Social Finance (joint anchor of the £12m Care and Wellbeing Fund). Directly comparable on outcomes-based finance, SIB design and UK social investment intermediation.
• Impetus: UK venture philanthropy organisation that builds, funds and scales evidence-based programmes addressing disadvantage. Comparable on outcomes measurement, scaling frameworks, and the social investment/charity-funder mix.
• Instiglio: Colombia-based (with Bogotá office) non-profit that designs and implements outcomes-based financing and impact bonds in Latin America. Highly comparable on SIB design, outcomes contract structuring, and advisory for government commissioners.
• Bridges Fund Management: UK impact-focused private asset manager (Bridges Impact+ funds) with extensive SIB co-investment experience. Comparable as a fund manager designing and deploying impact capital and outcomes-based contracts in UK health, homelessness and criminal justice.

Broad incumbents

• Brookings Institution - Government Performance Lab / Results for America: Brookings' Government Performance Lab and Results for America operate US outcomes-based contracting and Pay for Success work, the North American counterpart of Social Finance's SIB origination and government advisory practice.
• Acumen: Global non-profit impact investor using patient capital and advisory for businesses tackling poverty. Comparable as a mission-aligned fund manager and advisory organisation, although focused on investee enterprises rather than SIB origination.
• NESTA: UK innovation foundation that operates programmes (e.g., Impact Investing) overlapping with Social Finance's outcomes measurement and scaling work. Comparable as a mission-led grantmaker and innovation intermediary advising public services.

Regional players

• Social Ventures Australia: Australian non-profit social enterprise, impact investing and SIB enabler. Comparable operating model to Social Finance but focused on Australia rather than the UK, making it a regional peer in the same outcomes-based finance niche.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/social-finance
• Xx.com/socfinuk

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments3 records

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Frequently asked questions about Social Finance