Our approach: Listening, Equity, Connection

Our investment model is built on three principles — listening to founders, advancing equity, and creating connections — to back ventures shaping a fairer, more resilient future. 

At Social Tech Ventures, how we invest matters just as much as what we invest in. Capital is powerful. It shapes what gets built, who leads, and which futures are made possible. That’s why we’ve built our approach around three core principles: listening to founders, advancing equity, and creating connections. 

These aren’t marketing statements. They are the result of 15 years of practice, research, and conversations with hundreds of founders, through our foundation, Social Tech Trust.

Together, they define a different way of thinking about investment, one that is designed to align capital with mission and ambition with care. 

Listening to founders 

Good investment starts with listening. We’ve asked founders, operators and investors to understand what isn’t working in early-stage impact funding. What we heard was clear: the dominant model of venture capital is misaligned with the realities of building social tech. 

Founders told us they need capital that works with their business models, not against them. They need support that respects their lived experience and the complexity of the challenges they’re addressing. They want relationships with investors who understand that growth can take many forms. 

We built our model in response. This includes flexible instruments such as revenue-based finance and deferred equity, as well as founder-led decision-making on their growth path. It also means understanding that not every impactful company needs to become a unicorn to succeed. 

“Rather than simply offering "valuable advice" the team rolled up their sleeves and actively helped us with customer introductions, which led to our first big B2B contract with Vodafone and a huge revenue boost.” - Stan Karpenko, CTO, GiveVision

Advancing equity 

Our investment strategy actively looks for ventures that are building more equitable systems, not just products. Using our Equality Transformative Tool, we look for three things: intent, influence, and intervention. Is the venture tackling the root causes of inequality? Are they shifting power? Are they designing for systemic change? 

We also look at how founders run their organisations. Do they centre the voices of those with lived experience? Are they building inclusive teams and cultures? Are they willing to reflect and adapt? 

These are not boxes to tick. They are indicators of long-term impact and resilience. Ventures that embed equity from the start are more likely to build products people trust, teams that stay, and models that last. 

Creating connections 

We know from experience that funding alone doesn’t grow a company. Ecosystem matters. Relationships matter. Visibility matters. 

Through our long-standing work at Social Tech Trust, we’ve built an extensive network across accelerators, universities, public services, and purpose-led investors. We use this network to help founders find their first customers, meet aligned co-investors, and join a community that understands their mission. 

For many founders, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, these connections open doors that would otherwise stay closed. That’s why we see them as core to our investment strategy, not a side benefit. 

“Learning about social innovation with Social Tech Trust and having access to Microsoft’s resources and reach have transformed how we think about our place as a true ‘catalyst for change’ across the agrifood sector.” - Benjamin Turner, CEO, Agrimetrics

Why this approach matters 

There is no shortage of ambition in the social tech space. What’s missing is capital that understands it. We invest early and flexibly in ventures that are solving urgent problems in health, climate and financial resilience.  

These companies are often overlooked by traditional venture funds. We believe that’s a missed opportunity. 

By listening to founders, advancing equity and creating meaningful connections, we’re building a fund that backs the future we want to see: inclusive, resilient, and built for public good.