# Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

> Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is a VC fund in London backing Non Profit and Charity. See 6 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Total investments: 6
- Last investment: Dec 2022
- Lead investor: 33%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/esmee-fairbairn-foundation/?originalSubdomain=uk
- X (Twitter): https://www.twitter.com/esmeefairbairn
- Website: http://esmeefairbairn.org.uk/

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is a VC fund in London focused on Non Profit and Charity. The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation is an independent grant-making foundations in the UK.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Grant | $245k–$1.4M |
| Debt Financing | $6.5M–$23M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Non Profit | 4 | 67% |
| Charity | 3 | 50% |
| Communities | 3 | 50% |
| Art | 1 | 17% |
| Events | 1 | 17% |

10 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grant | 2 | 33% |
| Debt Financing | 2 | 33% |
| Seed | 1 | 17% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 17% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United Kingdom | 5 | 83% |
| United States | 1 | 17% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Coventry City of Culture Trust | Coventry City of Culture Trust is a social organisation. | $245.2K | Grant | Dec 01, 2022 |  |
| LEEDS 2023 | LEEDS 2023 is for everyone. Creative events are going to take place all over the city, in every district, for everybody. Culture is everywhere in this city and it can actually change people’s lives so we want to celebrate it, in all its forms, in all our communities. And you’re all invited to be a part of it. | $1.4M | Grant | Jan 20, 2022 |  |
| Five Lamps | Five Lamps aims to ?transform lives, raise aspirations, remove barriers and offer choice to families, business and communities?. They are a charity that supports the community by re-investing any profit back into the business. They are also known as a social enterprise, registered charity and community development finance institution. | $6.5M | Debt Financing | Jul 30, 2018 |  |
| HCT Group | HCT Group is a social enterprise in the transport industry. Their story starts in 1982 with the formation of Hackney Community Transport, providing low cost minibuses for local community groups – a service they provide to this day.In 1993, with traditional grants under threat, they came to the realisation that the best way to become asustainable social enterprise was to become an effective enterprise. They began to compete for commercial contracts in the marketplace to ensure they could continue to provide community transport.HCT Group service users This approach has seen HCT Group grow from a handful of volunteers and a couple of minibuses, with a turnover of £202k in 1993 – to a large scale social enterprise with 800 employees, ten depots spread across London, Yorkshire, Humberside, the Southwest and the Channel Islands, a fleet of 500 vehicles and a 2013/14 turnover of £43.7m.Their commercial track record spans a wide range of services – from London red buses to social services transport, from school transport to Park and Ride, from community transport to education and training. They now deliver well over 20 million passenger trips on their buses every year. You can find a full breakdown of the services they provide across the group here. | $23.3M | Debt Financing | Jun 19, 2018 |  |
| Framework Housing Association | Framework is a specialist charity providing housing, support, training, care, resettlement and employment for thousands of homeless and vulnerable people each year in the East Midlands and parts of South Yorkshire.For a homeless person, getting a secure roof over their head is a crucial first step –finding somewhere that is safe, dry and warm.However, to tackle homelessness effectively it is not sufficient simply to put a roof over someone’s head, and our work does not stop there. The underlying economic, social, medical and emotional circumstances which contributed to an individual’s situation must also be addressed: we passionately believe that having someone who cares and can offer appropriate support is equally important in helping people on the journey from homelessness to independent living. | $11.8M |  | Jan 11, 2016 |  |
| Nudge Community Builders | Nudge, a community benefit society, owns and develops activities in underutilized or atypical urban locations. | $730.6K | Seed |  |  |

6 of 6 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [City Bridge Trust](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/city-bridge-trust) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Social and Sustainable Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/social-and-sustainable-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Barrow Cadbury Trust](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/barrow-cadbury-trust) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Big Issue Invest](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/big-issue-invest) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [British Council(BIRAX)](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/british-council) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Charity Bank](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/charity-bank) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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### Similar stage
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## FAQ

### What does Esmée Fairbairn Foundation invest in?

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation invests primarily in Non Profit, Charity and Communities startups, most often at Grant and Debt Financing stage. Most of the 6 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 Esmée Fairbairn Foundation's check size?

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation typically joins rounds of $245k–$1.4M at Grant and $6.5M–$23M 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 Esmée Fairbairn Foundation participates in.

### When did Esmée Fairbairn Foundation last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Esmée Fairbairn Foundation closed in Dec 2022. Shizune tracks 6 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### 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.

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