Funding round led by Mercia will drive expansion in social value sector

Social Value Portal (SVP), the UK’s leading platform for measuring and monitoring social impact, has secured £8.5m in a Series B funding round led by Mercia with support from existing investor Beringea.

This investment will enable SVP to tap into growing demand from the public and private sectors, and launch a new Social Value Academy to help educate business leaders and embed social value into business decision making and delivery.

Founded in 2014 by Guy Battle, former lead sustainability partner at Deloitte, SVP enables organisations to attribute a financial measure to the social good they deliver to communities, people, and the environment. It also helps them identify opportunities to increase their positive impact.

The company, which is based in London with an office in Manchester, today supports more than 16,000 users, from UK public sector bodies such as the NHS and Met Office to global corporates such as Accenture, Vodafone and Fujitsu. SVP is used by over 100 public sector buyers nationwide and is supported by the Local Government Association.

In total, it has enabled users to track over £17bn of social value, up from £2bn at the time of its Series A in 2020. It is also on course to hit its pledge of helping organisations deliver £100bn of social value by the end of 2026.

Measurement of non-financial impact has become increasingly important as organisations face greater regulation and scrutiny of the public, investors and other stakeholders. Since 2012, the Social Value Act has required UK public sector bodies to evaluate ‘economic, social and environmental well being’ as part of public tendering processes, and social value can account for up to 30 per cent of the total weighting when awarding tenders.

Guy Battle, founder and CEO of Social Value Portal, commented: “These are really exciting times for our business and we are delighted that Mercia has invested in us alongside Beringea to help us scale and support more organisations to deliver a positive contribution to society and the planet. This investment will allow us to continue to improve and innovate, making it easier for members to provide more social good.”

Mercia was investing from its Northern Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and its EIS funds. Adam Watts, software investor at Mercia, commented: “Corporates are facing increasing pressure from customers and shareholders to demonstrate their ESG credentials. However reporting on Social impact is more complex than reporting on Environmental and Governance and has often been overlooked.

“Social Value Portal has established itself as the market-leading platform for social impact reporting, and the company’s growth since its last funding round is testament to management’s understanding of the challenges customers face. We are delighted to be partnering with Guy and his team to further develop the platform, and capitalise on its unique position in the market.”

Maria Wagner, Partner, Beringea added: “Since our initial investment in 2020, Social Value Portal has firmly established itself as a leader in measuring and reporting social value for organisations and corporates, or the “S” in ESG. Having successfully secured this round of investment, SVP now has a tremendous opportunity to build on this progress and continue to expand.”