Indigenous Social Enterprise Fund

Indigenous Social Enterprise Fund Lessons Learned Report

The two-year Indigenous Social Enterprise Fund (ISEF) pilot fund was launched in September 2013 as a way to support Indigenous social enterprises (ISEs) develop to scale and sustainability through providing them with investment packages and business support. It was set up as a partnership between Social Ventures Australia (SVA), Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) and Reconciliation Australia (RA).

Over the two-year life of the pilot, ISEF focused on working with Indigenous Social Enterprises to help them access this ISEF offering. The purpose of the pilot, however, went further than this. It also set out to better understand the ISE market and to document learnings as a way to assist the establishment of any future Indigenous-led funds.

This report provides an overview of the activities that were delivered through ISEF, highlighting that there is an appetite in the market for an ISEF-type offering that combines capital with capacity building. More importantly, however, it also shares some emerging themes and recommendations which may prove to be useful when considering what a future approach to supporting the growth and aspirations of the Indigenous Social Enterprise sector might entail.

Download the ISEF Lessons Learned Report (PDF, 1MB)

What next?

If your organisation is looking for funding or support, please consider the following information we have compiled.