Scottish social enterprise agency Firstport pushes button on latest LaunchMe accelerator

Eight social enterprises from across Scotland have been announced as the latest participants in LaunchMe, the social enterprise accelerator programme.

One of the selected participants is Sean Kerr from Sustainable Thinking Scotland (STS), an environmental social enterprise based in Falkirk.

Delivered by Firstport, the social enterprise start-up agency, the initiative supports ambitious social enterprises to achieve scale by getting them investment ready and directly connecting them with investors looking for social as well as financial returns.

In addition to initial seed funding, selected participants have the opportunity to apply for grant funding on a co-investment basis.

The latest eight start-ups selected comprise a farming academy, a gym and wellbeing service for parents, a zero-waste retailer and wholesaler, a riding school supporting hard to reach groups, a support and training programme for women starting businesses, a community permaculture farm in Arran, a hair salon providing training and employment opportunities to young people, and an environmental consultancy delivering waste management, recycling and food production services.

LaunchMe is supported by the Scottish Government, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and Barclays. Previous participants include the Scottish Design Exchange and sandwich-shop chain Social Bite.

Since 2014, the accelerator programme has helped 29 social enterprises to grow and increase their impact with 13 of them going on to raise more than £1 million of private investment along with £1m of grant and institutional co-investment.

Josiah Lockhart, chief executive of Firstport, said: “This is the fifth intake into LaunchMe and, as with every previous round, we have been impressed and excited by the quality and ambition of the social enterprises that have applied.

“In the coming months, we will support these eight exciting propositions to get investment ready and connect them with our pool of social investors, so they can secure the capital they need to achieve their plans.

“LaunchMe participants from previous rounds have raised over £1m from private investment along with £1m of institutional and grant co-investment. We cannot wait to see what these participants go on to achieve.”

Stuart Brown of Barclays added: “Social enterprises are an increasingly important part of the economy, and they are bringing unique benefits to local communities.”