Substance

What Substance does

Substance is a Manchester-headquartered research and technology company founded in 2005 (legal entity Substance 2005 Limited) that builds data infrastructure and evaluation services for organisations in the social purpose, charity, and sport-for-development sectors. Its core product is Views, a cloud-based data collection, management, and impact measurement platform with modules for contacts, projects, sessions, questionnaires, consent, mapping, finance, evidence, and reporting. Views is offered in three subscription tiers (Starter, Plus, Premium), with Premium adding external forms, consent management, mapping, task management, postcode lookup, 3,000 SMS credits annually, and a bundled 2-hour consultancy session. The platform hosts a Views API that has been integrated with third-party systems, most notably Limbic's AI therapy assistant for Mind's Supported Self-Help programme.

The company operates four complementary revenue streams: tiered Views SaaS subscriptions (annual or multi-year licences); bespoke Research and Consultancy engagements covering sport, physical activity, and outdoor recreation; Social Value assessments using established SROI methodologies, including a UEFA-validated model co-developed with nine European universities; and Programme Management, exemplified by the Chances programme — the world's first sports-based social outcomes partnership, coordinating 41 partners, 16 delivery organisations, and 21 co-commissioning local authorities with funding from Big Issue Invest, Sport England, and the Life Chances Fund. Other notable clients include Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, Liverpool FC Foundation, Leeds Rhinos Foundation, Manchester United Foundation, Premiership Rugby, English Football League, StreetGames, Greenhouse Sports, BBC, Cefas, RNLI, and KNVB.

Go-to-market combines consultative direct sales for enterprise engagements (sports foundations, charities, local authorities, government research commissions) with a self-service PLG path through the tiered Views subscriptions. Distribution channels are direct (UK and selective European), supplemented by content marketing, case studies, sector events, and thought-leadership publications. Substance is privately held with no disclosed external institutional investors and is founder-led from its Beehive Lofts headquarters in Ancoats, Manchester, with a registered office at Jactin House in the same neighbourhood.

Name

Substance

Legal name

Substance 2005 Limited

Website

https://substance.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Substance is a Manchester-based research and technology company providing the Views data management and impact measurement platform alongside research, consultancy, and social value services to UK and European charities, sports foundations, and government bodies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Software Subscription (Views Platform): Views platform is offered in tiered subscription models (Starter, Plus, Premium) with varying feature sets and storage limits. Revenue generated through annual or multi-year software licenses with tiered pricing based on functionality requirements.
2. Research and Consultancy Services: Custom research projects, consultancy engagements, and evaluation services tailored to each organization's specific needs. Includes social impact and valuation assessments, programme evaluations, and data analysis.
3. Social Outcomes Contracts: Chances programme uses an innovative payment-by-results model where upfront finance is provided by social investors and only repaid when commissioned outcomes are achieved. This includes education, training, reduced offending outcomes, and physical literacy improvements.
4. Programme Management: Day-to-day implementation, contract management, outcomes tracking and evaluation of social programmes like Chances. Revenue generated through programme design and management fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Substance provides the Views software platform for social impact measurement and data management, combined with research and consultancy services for organizations seeking to evidence their social value. The company delivers outcomes-focused research, evaluation, and programme management for charities, sports foundations, and public sector bodies.

Product overview

Substance is a research and technology company offering a portfolio of products and services for organisations in the sport, physical activity, and social impact sectors. The core product is Views, a data management and impact measurement platform available in three tiers (Starter, Plus, Premium). Views enables organisations to collect and analyse participant data, manage contacts, track sessions, generate reports, and measure outcomes. The platform is complemented by professional services including Research and Consultancy, Social Value assessments, and Social Impact programme management. Substance also delivers the Chances programme, the world's first sports-based social outcomes partnership, which uses the Views platform for outcomes tracking.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Views: A smart, intuitive data management platform which makes managing data and measuring impact easy. Built for charities, non-profits and social purpose companies.
• Views Premium
• Chances

Quantifiable outcome

• £10.49 social value generated per £1 invested (Leeds Rhinos Foundation)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability2 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting, delivery partner, integration and infrastructure.

• UEFAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Substance worked with UEFA and nine European universities to develop a Social Return on Investment (SROI) model using football participation data from 25 European countries and drawing on over 100 peer-reviewed research articles. This model helps governments and sports associations evaluate the social benefits of football.
• KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association)supportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024KNVB used Substance's SROI model to calculate the €5.23 billion social value of amateur football in the Netherlands, demonstrating the sport's significant contribution to societal well-being including health improvements and social cohesion.
• Sport EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2020Sport England commissioned physical literacy outcomes for the Chances programme, paying out when participants increase their participation in and understanding of physical activity and sport. This was the first time Sport England commissioned outcomes through a Social Outcomes Partnership. Sport England also invested in the programme as part of their strategy Uniting the Movement.
• Life Chances Fund (DCMS / The National Lottery Community Fund)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2020The Life Chances Fund (funded by Department for Culture, Media and Sport and administered by The National Lottery Community Fund) co-commissioned education, training, and reduced offending outcomes for the Chances programme as part of the social outcomes contract.
• Cefas (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Substance and Cefas have delivered the Sea Angling Diary Project since 2016. Cefas commissions the research on behalf of UK governments to report on recreational catches and economic/social value of sea angling. Substance developed the online diary tool, mobile app, and provides research analysis and data summaries.
• Arsenal in the Communitydelivery partnerOthersDelivery partner for the Chances programme in the London Borough of Islington. One of 16 delivery organizations using sport and physical activity to support disengaged young people. Case study participant Riley Butler achieved significant life improvements through this programme.
• Aston Villa Foundationdelivery partnerOthersDelivery partner for the Chances programme in Birmingham city working with Birmingham Children's Trust.
• Middlesbrough FC Foundationdelivery partnerOthersDelivery partner for the Chances programme working with Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, and Stockton Borough Councils plus Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland.
• Newcastle United Foundationdelivery partnerOthersDelivery partner for the Chances programme working with Newcastle City Council, North Tyneside Borough Council, and Northumberland County Council.
• Palace for Life Foundationdelivery partnerOthersDelivery partner for the Chances programme in the London Borough of Lambeth.
• Wigan Athletic Community Trustdelivery partnerOthersDelivery partner for the Chances programme in Wigan Borough.
• Limbic (AI Therapy Assistant)integrationTechnology or IntegrationViews integrated with Limbic AI therapy assistant for Mind's Supported Self-Help programme. Limbic hosts the therapy assistant on Mind's website where people register for the service, with data flowing to Views referral tool for local Mind practitioners.
• RackspaceinfrastructureTechnology or IntegrationThird-party hosting service provider for Views platform and client data storage.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Bonterra (Social Solutions / Apricot): Bonterra's Apricot case management platform serves large nonprofits and social service organisations. While it covers a broader case management footprint than Views, it competes for the same impact tracking and outcome measurement budgets at mid-to-large charities.
• Salesforce.org (Nonprofit Cloud): Salesforce.org offers a nonprofit CRM and program management suite used by many of the same foundations and charities that buy Views. It is a broad incumbent with deeper resources, though less tailored to sport and social outcomes measurement workflows.
• Benevity: Benevity is a corporate purpose and employee giving platform used by large employers and their nonprofit partners. It overlaps with Substance at the corporate/charity impact reporting boundary, though its primary GTM is corporate buyers rather than sports foundations.

Regional players

• Semble: Semble is a UK-based cloud platform for social enterprises and charities to manage beneficiaries, programmes, and outcomes. It is comparable to Views as a UK social impact SaaS, though it targets a slightly more operational case management use case than sport foundations.
• New Philanthropy Capital (NPC): NPC is a UK charity think tank and consultancy that produces impact analysis and research for funders and charities. It is comparable to Substance's research/consultancy arm in the UK social impact sector, though it does not sell SaaS.

Direct peers

• Penelope (by Bonterra): Penelope is a case management and outcomes tracking SaaS for human services nonprofits, with features for intake, goal tracking, and outcomes reporting. It is comparable to Views in serving social purpose organisations that need to evidence outcomes to funders.
• Sopact: Sopact provides a cloud-based impact data management and SROI/impact measurement platform for nonprofits and social enterprises. It competes head-to-head with Views on data collection, stakeholder surveys, and impact reporting, with a similar vertical focus on social purpose organisations.
• Fluxx: Fluxx (which acquired Upshot) offers grant management and impact reporting software for foundations and nonprofits. Its combined grantmaking + outcomes platform addresses adjacent buyer personas to Substance's local authority and foundation customers.
• Upshot: Upshot is a UK-based SaaS platform for charities and social enterprises to collect outcomes data and produce impact reports. It overlaps directly with Views in the nonprofit impact measurement segment, including a comparable self-serve pricing model and sector templates.

Emerging players

• EvalEngine: EvalEngine is an outcomes management and impact evaluation platform for nonprofits and funders. It targets a similar buyer as Views (programme managers and grantmakers) but is smaller and more US-focused, making it an emerging rather than direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/substance
• Xx.com/SubstanceViews
• Facebookfacebook.com/Substance-100075989796658

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Substance