Big Society Capital has valued the social investment market for charities and social enterprises at £6.4bn, eight times as much as it was worth almost a decade

While the market was worth £833 in 2011, this grew to £6.4bn by 2020, says Big Society Capital’s annual market sizing report.

Figures for the early stage of the pandemic show that the market grew by more than a quarter (26%) between 2019 and 2020, during the early stages of the Covid-19 health crisis.

This included the setting up of the Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund by Big Society Capital and Social Investment Business.

Social property funds account for the largest portion of the social investment market, the figures also show.

Meanwhile, social lending accounts for 43% of the market, a three-fold increase since 2011.

“Social enterprises and charities have been a fundamental lifeline for many of the millions who were furloughed, made redundant, or isolated from their regular social networks and support,” said Big Society Capital chief executive Stephen Muers.

“They became frontline services for the nation and have played an important role in the recovery.

“Despite this, the mainstream funding challenges persist for many of these organisations, so it comes as highly welcome news to see the burgeoning growth of social impact investment from the private sector, alongside increasing investment from both local and national government.

“But this is only a fraction of what we believe is possible over the next few years.”

He added that Big Society Capital aims to “at least double” the size of the market, so it is worth between £10bn and £15bn by 2025.

Big Society Capital is a social impact organisation that has supported £2.2bn in investments.

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