Arts & Culture Impact Fund

The Arts & Culture Impact Fund is a £16 million social impact investment fund designed for socially driven arts, culture and heritage organisations registered and operating in the UK. The fund provides affordable repayable finance ranging from £150,000 to £1,000,000 that can be used to acquire new assets, improve built infrastructure, develop new ventures or scale up existing revenue streams. The fund brings together a mix of public, private and philanthropic investors including Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Better Society Capital, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Freelands Foundation and Nesta. The fund builds on the success of the Arts Impact Fund, a pilot initiative launched in 2015 to demonstrate how impact investment could transform the arts and cultural sector. The fund offers both secured and unsecured finance with repayment terms available until May 2034 and interest rates ranging between 4% and 8.5%. The fund sets out to provide organisations with appropriate and bespoke repayable finance, develop the financial resilience of borrowers, support organisations to better monitor and evaluate their social impact, attract additional investment into the sector, and promote the wider positive impact the arts, culture and heritage have on society.