SIS Community Capital invests £400k in seven social enterprises

Seven social enterprises based in Scotland which are all making significant social and environmental impacts within their local communities have secured investment of between £25,000 and £100,000 from a group of twenty seven private investors. Full information on all the investees can be read here.

SIS Community Capital was the UK’s first social investment tax relief fund, allowing individuals to invest in a fund which provides both tax relief and also a social return on investment, by supporting the development of social enterprises. Tax relief for investors is provided in the form of a 30 per cent relief on their investment from their income tax liability.

The fund provides investees with affordable unsecured finance over a six year term, enabling them to develop their business and focus on delivering social impacts before repayments of the loan capital begin. Loans from the new fund are structured to allow social entrepreneurs to generate income and use cash flow to build revenues paying interest only in the first three years at an affordable rate of just six per cent per annum.

Alastair Davis, chief executive of Social Investment Scotland, said: “SIS Community Capital is a great example of how we can use social investment tax relief to open up a new source of capital for social enterprises. We’ve seen a huge amount of interest from investors, who have been keen to become part of a new and innovative way of helping to support and grow Scotland’s thriving social enterprise sector. Using the funding from SIS Community Capital, these seven social enterprises will now have the time to develop their businesses and focus on increasing their social impacts, before loan repayments begin.”