Our Story

The Current Approach to Investment is Imbalanced

For decades, Black and Ethnic Minoritised (BEM) communities have been underserved by the UK’s social and mainstream investment markets.

BEM-led social enterprises are one-third less likely to apply for social investment than their white-led counterparts. When they do, they secure significantly less funding. For example, in the government’s Recovery and Resilience Loan Fund, 77% of BEM-led applicants did not meet the eligibility criteria and only 3.6% of approvals went to BEM-led organisations. (Social Investment Business, Impact Report 2022-2024).

Similarly in mainstream finance, there is severe underrepresentation in supply side and underinvestment into BEM-led ventures. In London, Black professionals make up only 3% of asset managers, despite representing 14% of the population. (British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association, 2025). In the UK only 9% of venture capital funding by value (and 11% by rounds) goes to teams with BEM founders, dropping to 0.14% for Black women founders (Extend Ventures, 2023). Even when social and mainstream finance have developed models and funds to invest in underrepresented communities, such systems have lacked robustness and accountability and have not been able to meaningfully engage innovative, community-centred, BEM stakeholders in an equitable manner.

This sits within a context where there is already a stark wealth gap, with Black African and Bangladeshi households having, on average, 10 times less wealth than White British households (Runnymede Trust, 2020), and people from BEM communities being 2.5 times more likely to be in relative poverty, and 2.2 times more likely to be in deep poverty than their white counterparts (Runnymede Trust, 2022). Furthermore, asset ownership is also a significant challenge, with only 24% of Black households owning their homes versus a national average of 65% (Gov.uk, 2025); asset ownership continues to be a generational challenge with lower levels of inheritance and intergenerational gifting within BEM communities.

These are both social and economic issues; full representation of individuals from BEM communities in the labour market can unlock and estimated £24billion annually in the UK’s GDP (The McGregor-Smith Review, 2017). These statistics, therefore, represent blocked opportunities, unfulfilled potential, and the continuation of structural disadvantages. If we are to deliver mission-driven, inclusive, place-based, economic growth, promoting national renewal, then these communities need to be catalysed.

Our History

Indeed, aware of this urgent need and spurred-on by the Adebowale Commission’s report on improving the social investment sector - which recommended that an entity like Pathway, be created - our founding partners Black Global Trust, The Social Investment Consultancy and Voice4Change England – led by Kunle Olulode MBE, Bonnie Chiu, and Stephen Bediako OBE – created Pathway Fund.

Pathway Fund was incubated by our close ally, Voice4Change England (V4CE) which provided Pathway with the organisational structure and resources needed to begin our work. Many of the V4C staff members supported Pathway in its early days and we are incredibly grateful for the role they played in delivering us to the position we are in today.

With an initial goal of securing £50+million, Pathway aims to become an established BEM-led social impact investment wholesaler investing into BEM-led enterprises and communities via BEM-led intermediaries. Furthermore, together with the intermediaries, we will leverage new sources of capital, build trust with underserved communities, and pioneer innovative funding models. Ultimately, our work will support the realisation of a more inclusive economic future, while building lasting community wealth.