Big Society Capital had received £357m to invest in social enterprises by the end of last year, and has so far invested £84m, according to an annual review published today.
The figures show that at the end of last year the social investment wholesaler had invested £68m of its own money, but updated figures show this rose by almost a quarter in the first three months of 2016.
So far BSC has agreed to provide £261m, but most of this has not been drawn down.
Total equity was £344m, up £50m on last year, and total losses so far are £12.5m.
More than 280 charities and social enterprises have benefitted from investment.
Cliff Prior, who took over as chief executive of BSC in March, said in his introduction to the review: “We are at a pivotal point, as we move from the start-up phase of Big Society Capital, to being fully staffed and with the systems and capacity we need. We have supported over 30 intermediaries, covering loans to small and medium-sized charities and social enterprises, innovation, public participation, and getting to scale. In turn they have provided social investment into over 270 charities and social enterprises.
I see three areas where we can focus. Firstly, we need to start from the social issues and the organisations trying to tackle them, working from the ground up to see where and how social investment can play a part. Secondly, we need to get more people involved in social investment to support the issues they care about. And thirdly, we need to support charities and social enterprises to move from simple awareness of social investment to an understanding of when and how it might work for them.”
