We focus on supporting Underserved Lives across three strategic pillars: Health & Wellbeing, Education & Learning, and Financial & Social Inclusion. We focus on these impact themes because they are areas where we believe our capital is additive, will benefit from profit-seeking capital, have actionable investment opportunities, and can generate attractive financial returns.
We believe that intentional impact investing by private capital can be a powerful force of change, catalysing other sources of capital to invest in social progress. We are committed to playing a role in driving this change and are on a journey of improvement and refining of our impact investment approach.
To achieve impact at scale, L1 Impact invests in select venture capital and private equity funds that share our dual mandate of financial and impact performance. We will also consider select co-investments, with our partner funds, in established businesses that align with our thematic priorities.
We typically commit between $20mn and $50mn per fund and seek to be active Limited Partners. We assume LPAC positions, provide strategic guidance, and offer access to the broader L1 network to accelerate both financial and impact outcomes.
To date, we have committed over $100mn to funds across the UK, Europe and US, and are building a meaningful track record as an active, committed investor in impact-led private capital.
We also recognise that Impact investing is an emerging investment approach, with developing best practices. We have assessed various frameworks and approaches to embedding Impact across all aspects of our investment process and have adopted the Impact Management Project (IMP)’s Five Dimensions of Impact to assist in how we measure and manage impact across our portfolio. This provides a structured, comparable, and transparent approach to impact integration.
We are committed to evolving our approach to align our investment decisions with the values and goals of our stakeholders — optimising for long-ter m value and enduring positive impact.
Theme 1: Health & Wellbeing
We believe it should be a fundamental right for everyone to have access to healthcare, and we focus on solutions that can help provide this to underserved communities. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over half of the global population lacks access to essential health services, and 344 million people face impoverishing health costs at the extreme poverty line.
Our Focus: We target fund managers who invest in companies offering: access to healthcare products and services, extending quality care to underserved populations; reduced cost barriers to care; improvements in intervention efficacy (including in women’s health) and optimising resource allocation in healthcare delivery.
Theme 2: Education & Learning
Education and lifelong learning are powerful drivers of societal development, and among the most effective instruments for reducing poverty, improving health, advancing gender equality, and fostering peace and stability. However, access to education is often constrained by a lack of resources and inadequate infrastructure.
Our Focus: We target fund managers who invest in companies that provide quality education by financing products and schools to provide basic resources and high quality education to underserved communities, providing vocational training to improve the employability of low-skilled workers, and utilising technology to enhance access to affordable, quality education.
Theme 3: Financial & Social Inclusion
Economic growth is critical to building a more sustainable future. Financial inclusion enables individuals to access essential economic resources—such as savings, credit, and insurance— helping them invest in productive assets, smooth income fluctuations, protect against unforeseen events, and accumulate wealth over time.
Our Focus: We target fund managers who invest in companies that provide responsible and affordable financial services to underserved populations (including microentrepreneurs, students, and first-time home buyers). Next to this, we invest in companies applying technology to traditional business models and helping to broaden access to financial services and reduce transaction costs for underserved communities.
Case Study: Bethnal Green Ventures
BGV Fund II Impact accelerator and venture fund Healthy lives, better society, sustainable planet
Leading Tech for Good investor, supporting ventures from pre-seed to Series B
Founded in 2012, Bethnal Green Ventures was an early pioneer in impact venture capital in the UK. BGV II is backed by the British Business Bank as an approved Enterprise Capital Fund (ECF). L1 Impact chose to support BGV as they are one of the leading players in early stage impact investing in the UK, with one of the most extensive track records in how to source, select, proactively support and measure the performance of high impact, mission driven companies. BGV supports portfolio companies through its sixweek Tech for Good programme, supporting founders from prototype to investable preseed scaleable venture. They invest in impactdriven and for-profit enterprises across healthcare, inclusion and sustainability.
