Growing
You're trading and ready for more. Here's the route from your next hire to your first investment, and who can help along the way.
Find your route
Build It · Up to £40,000
A grant for new jobs, if you've been trading three years or less
LaunchMe · Free
Tailored support to get ready for investment within about 12 months
Step Up · £5,000–£30,000
0% interest, to repeat something that's already working
Catalyst Fund · Over £50,000
Revenue-based investment, repaid as a share of income
You don’t have to start at step 1. Each step says who it’s for.
Repayable finance can feel daunting the first time. In one line each:
You don't repay it. Build It pays for new roles.
You repay it, with no interest. Step Up loans run for two to five years.
You repay a share of your income, so repayments rise and fall with sales.
Learn more: the social investment guide · jargon buster
Online briefings on the application process and criteria, with a Q&A. Next deadline: 21 January 2027.
See upcoming sessionsA chat with the social investment relationship manager is the first step towards LaunchMe and the Catalyst Fund.
Book a chatSuccess stories
Inclusive dance and fitness classes, and equipment, taken to rural community halls across Orkney, paid for by memberships, pay-as-you-go classes and private events.
Start It → Build It → LaunchMe → Step Up · Orkney
Venison from overpopulated deer on a family farm near Pitlochry becomes donations for food banks and community larders, funded by sales from a social enterprise butcher's shop on the high street.
Start It → Build It → Social Innovation Challenge → LaunchMe → Step Up · Pitlochry, Perthshire
Two former teachers run an alternative education setting for neurodivergent children, young people and adults, built around animal care, horticulture and crafts. Most of the team are neurodivergent too.
Start It → Build It · Moray
Seven honest conversations about social investment.
Online learning for investment readiness participants.
How social investment and revenue-based finance work.
New salaried roles, for up to £40,000 over 12 months. Up to £27,000 for one salary or up to £40,000 across two or more, all at the Real Living Wage. It's for incorporated, asset-locked social enterprises in Scotland trading for three years or less, and it's paid to the enterprise.
Yes, if you're already trading in Scotland. Step Up offers 0% interest loans of £5,000–£30,000 to repeat an activity that has already worked, with a decision within three weeks. The Catalyst Fund offers revenue-based investment of over £50,000.
You repay a share of your income, so repayments rise and fall with your sales. There's a fixed fee instead of interest, no fixed term (the aim is to be repaid within ten years) and no repayments for the first twelve months. Talk to the team first: most applicants get investment-ready through a programme like LaunchMe.
Answer three questions and we'll point you to the right support.
