Innovation Exchange

We have long been arguing that Honest Brokers are one of the missing links in our social innovation system. This week, NESTA and OTS have unveiled a scheme that could help put this right. The Social Enterprise Access to Investment facility will help support social enterprises to access much-needed finance, and that is a good thing in its own right. But cleverly, the scheme will also offer ’success fees’ for intermediaries that are successful in helping social enterprises to access investment. That positions NESTA not only as a direct supporter of innovation but also as building the field of innovation intermediaries. That, I think, is a very good thing, and we will look to learn from it.