# Big Issue Invest

> Big Issue Invest is a VC fund in London backing Charity and Non Profit. See 19 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Total investments: 19
- Last investment: May 2026
- Lead investor: 68%
- Fund size: $28M
- Last fund: Jan 2016
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/big-issue-invest
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/BigIssueInvest
- Website: http://www.bigissueinvest.com
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Issue-Invest/136934416413651

Big Issue Invest is a VC fund in London focused on Charity and Non Profit. Big Issue Invest is the UK's first 'social merchant bank,' by social entrepreneurs, for social entrepreneurs. As a social enterprise ourselves, we understand how good businesses can achieve great things." Nigel Kershaw - Chair, The Big Issue Group.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Big Issue Invest. Shizune tracks 5 team members at Big Issue Invest. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/big-issue-invest?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Grant | $49k–$130k |
| Debt Financing | $63k–$6.5M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Charity | 4 | 21% |
| Non Profit | 3 | 16% |
| Communities | 3 | 16% |
| Health Care | 2 | 11% |
| Media and Entertainment | 2 | 11% |

22 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Funding Round | 4 | 21% |
| Debt Financing | 4 | 21% |
| Grant | 2 | 11% |
| Seed | 1 | 5% |
| Series A | 1 | 5% |

7 stages tracked in total.

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Daniel Wilson-Dodd | Deputy Chief Executive | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/daniel-wilson-dodd |
| James Potter | Investment Director | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/james-potter-3c8b |
| John Gilligan | Director | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/john-gilligan-9233 |
| Mairi Johnson | Investment Committee Member | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mairi-johnson |
| Sarah Faber | Investment director | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sarah-faber-2045 |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ruka | Ruka is creating the go-to brand for Black women globally, when it comes to their hair. | $4.5M | Venture - Series Unknown | May 13, 2026 |  |
| Lightning Reach | Founded during the pandemic, Lightning helps people in financial hardship to receive super fast support and recover from shocks. The company works with charities and public sector institutions to accelerate support to people in financial hardship - providing a quick and secure platform to easily verify financial need and process grants within 3days instead of 5+ weeks. | $1.2M | Seed | Oct 19, 2023 |  |
| From Babies with Love | From Babies With Love is a social enterprise that supports abandoned and orphaned children around the world by manufacturing & selling organic baby gifts. | $130K | Grant | Nov 25, 2022 |  |
| OVO | OVO creates bold, imaginative, and surprising new versions of classic plays and stories. | $117.1K | Venture - Series Unknown | Sep 22, 2022 |  |
| World Media Initiatives | World Media Initiatives is a production company that stands out. | $61K | Venture - Series Unknown | Aug 11, 2022 |  |
| Phoenix Social Enterprise | Phoenix Social Enterprise is a charity and company limited by guarantee. Phoenix Social Enterprise as a Specialist Council of Voluntary Services to empower minority ethnic and other disadvantaged groups by building up their skills, ability and capacity | $48.7K | Grant | Jul 29, 2022 |  |
| Nickel Support | Nickel Support is a community interest company supporting neurodivergent adults and adults with learning disabilities. The organization has a simple vision, to ensure every trainee they support leads a more fulfilled and purposeful life. Employment is a key focus, but the organization supports trainees in all aspects of their lives. | $41.6K | Venture - Series Unknown | Jul 11, 2022 |  |
| Emmaus Bradford | Emmaus Bradford is a homeless charity that is currently raising funds to open the first Emmaus community in the city. | $65K | Debt Financing | May 31, 2022 |  |
| Emmaus | Emmaus Communities enable people to move on from homelessness, providing work and a home in a supportive, family environment. Companions, as residents are known, work full time collecting renovating and reselling donated furniture. This work supports the Community financially and enables residents to develop skills and rebuild their self-respect. | $63K | Debt Financing | May 31, 2022 |  |
| Arkbound Foundation | Arkbound Foundation is a nonprofit organization that aims to promote reading accessibility and diversity in the media sector. They manage initiatives that enable individuals from deprived backgrounds to start their individual media businesses, write to publishing standards, and break into the publishing and media industries. In collaboration withother organizations, they support and mentor emerging writers so they can create works that are widely read and that remove unfavorable perceptions. | $56.6K | Grant | May 25, 2022 |  |

10 of 19 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [The FSE Group](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/finance-south-east) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Joseph Rowntree Foundation](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/joseph-rowntree-foundation) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [BACKED VC](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/backed-vc) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Barrow Cadbury Trust](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/barrow-cadbury-trust) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Bridges Fund Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bridges-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [City of London](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/city-of-london) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## Similar investors

### Similar industry
- [Praxis](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/praxis-2) — VC Fund
- [New Media Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/new-media-ventures) — VC Fund
- [Social and Sustainable Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/social-and-sustainable-capital) — VC Fund

### Similar stage
- [Bpifrance](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bpifrance) — VC Fund
- [SFC Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/startup-funding-club) — VC Fund
- [HTGF (High-Tech Gruenderfonds)](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/high-tech-gr%C3%BCnderfonds) — VC Fund

### Similar country
- [SFC Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/startup-funding-club) — VC Fund
- [Fuel Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fuel-ventures-fund) — VC Fund
- [Business Growth Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/business-growth-fund) — VC Fund

## Featured in investor lists
- [Social VC Funds in Europe](https://shizune.co/investors/social-vc-funds-europe)
- [Art Investors in United Kingdom](https://shizune.co/investors/art-investors-united-kingdom)
- [Art VC Funds in United Kingdom](https://shizune.co/investors/art-vc-funds-united-kingdom)
- [Non Profit Investors in United Kingdom](https://shizune.co/investors/non-profit-investors-united-kingdom)
- [Non Profit VC Funds in United Kingdom](https://shizune.co/investors/non-profit-vc-funds-united-kingdom)
- [Non Profit VC Funds in Europe](https://shizune.co/investors/non-profit-vc-funds-europe)

## FAQ

### What does Big Issue Invest invest in?

Big Issue Invest invests primarily in Charity, Non Profit and Communities startups, most often at Funding Round and Debt Financing stage. Most of the 19 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United Kingdom. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Big Issue Invest's check size?

Big Issue Invest typically joins rounds of $49k–$130k at Grant and $63k–$6.5M at Debt Financing. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Big Issue Invest participates in.

### How do I contact Big Issue Invest?

Public channels for Big Issue Invest include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Big Issue Invest?

The team at Big Issue Invest includes Daniel Wilson-Dodd (Deputy Chief Executive), James Potter (Investment Director) and John Gilligan (Director). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

# About Shizune
Shizune.co is an investor database. Core features:
- 48,091 startup investors (angels, VCs, accelerators, and others)
- Email, phone, LinkedIn (for intros), socials, and other contact data
- Updated daily from public funding news
- CSV and Excel export

The User can access the full database FOR FREE after signing up: shizune.co