Bringing Investors and Local Decision Makers Together

Last week, Impact Investing Institute hosted a joint event with Southampton Forward and Southampton City Council to bring together local decision makers and investors. Together, we explored the role that place-based impact investing can play in mobilising more capital to create a thriving economy and community in Southampton.

Southampton Forward have started building and are working to further strengthen the strong coalition of community organisations, local partners and stakeholders who are invested in the city and are united in their goal to drive sustainable social, economic and cultural change in Southampton.

It was a great opportunity to learn about Southampton’s long-term vision and ambitions for the city, and also tour key sites including Old Northam Road and the Cultural Quarter.

Investors shared their thoughts and experiences on what makes a place investable, what the main barriers to investing are, and shared successful examples of place-based impact investing.

Some key learnings from the session:

The value of early and long-term engagement between place and investors 
Different types of capital are required to address different challenges 
Impact is a strong unifier of vision and aspirations for a place

We learnt a lot from our conversations on the day and we are excited to continue to support Southampton on their journey. Our ambition is to further build our understanding of what it means for a place to build a long-term place-based impact investing approach and inspire more places to follow.

Impact Investing Institute