CSI Calls ‘Game On’ for Impact Investment in Australia

The Centre for Social Impact is holding a major event in October to explore what an impact investment market could look like in Australia.

Called ‘The Social Marketplace’ the two-day event promises to be ‘a game changer for impact investing’ in Australia. Around the world, innovative financial models to fund social initiatives are emerging.

Government funding is shrinking, social need is increasing, and the social sector is having to do more with less. Innovative products have been developed in recent years in Australia.

We can see increases in social procurement in corporates, the launch of the NSW social impact bond, the Western Australian Social Enterprise Fund was initiated in 2012 – to name a few.

We’ve also seen social stock exchanges emerge in the UK and Singapore. The aim of The Social Marketplace is to bring together capital and cause to build a better economy.

It will be held at Australian Technology Park in Sydney from 28 – 29 October 2013. Much like a traditional conference, the event features a lineup of speakers with international and Australian expertise in the field of impact investment.

Included in the speaker line-up is Durreen Shahnaz who will share her experience from Impact Investment Exchange Asia, and the establishment of a social stock exchange in Asia.

The program is packed with interactive sessions and the opportunity for delegates to gain insight from experts in the field of government social innovation and funding, various investment pathways and social enterprise.

But what makes the event really different is that it also aims to simulate an impact investment market with a ‘trading room’ that will connect investors with social enterprises who will aim to attract the most money on the day and lead the live stock exchange board.

The social enterprises on show to investors will also get $2,000 worth of training and capacity building in advance of attending to help get them investment ready for the conference.

“All participants will be getting $10,000 of ‘event money’ to invest in social enterprises who are marketing their wares at our Market. We’ll have a bank, and we’ll have a there will be a live stock exchange board to track where the investment is going,” the convener of The Social Marketplace event, Sandy Blackburn-Wright said.

“For the enterprise that attracts the most ‘event money’, there’s the chance to access some real money from Foresters Community Finance in the form of $50,000 of investment at favourable terms.”

Sandy Blackburn-Wright has drawn together a panel of expert speakers from around Australia, the UK and Asia for the conference.

She was formerly Head of Social Innovation at Westpac and part of the team that tendered for and won Australia’s first Social Impact Bond pilot.

“We know there’s an appetite to create a thriving social finance market in Australia and we also know that the best way to innovate and create new markets is to practice and learn – from home grown experts, and from those around the world,”Blackburn-Wright said.

“We’re developing an event that brings those elements together – we’re asking the question: ‘what would it take to create a thriving impact investment market’? We’re also bringing national and international experts together to share knowledge with social impact investors and entrepreneurs, and we’re planning on having a whole lot of fun with a simulated social market.”

Investment in knowledge

The complete training and capacity building package for social enterprises exhibiting at The Social Marketplace is available if they sign up by 10 September.

The value pack of learning includes:

• A one-day workshop in early September with the Davidson Institute, to learn how to prepare your financial report for an investor prospectus to be distributed at The Social Marketplace.
• Mentoring to develop your marketing campaign for The Social Marketplace.
• Coaching on how to create a successful crowd-funding campaign with Tom Dawkins, founder of StartSomeGood.
• A toolkit with a 101 on marketing your enterprise at The Social Marketplace.

To find out more and to register visit The Social Marketplace website: www.thesocialmarketplace.net