Women in Safe Homes Fund (WISH)
Women in high-risk situations face significant barriers in the private rental market, where the limited supply of public housing places them at heightened risk of homelessness. The WISH fund mobilises capital from institutional and private investors seeking stable returns, anchored by catalytic philanthropic capital that provides preferential terms.
Rather than lending directly to individuals, the fund acquires and renovates residential properties and leases them on a long-term basis to specialised non-profit organisations that serve as implementing partners. These organisations enter into CPI-linked 10-year lease agreements with the fund and are responsible for property management and the provision of wraparound support services for women, funded by the state.
The fund’s core additionality lies in its ability to create a permanent stock of quality housing for non-profit organisations that lack the equity required to acquire and renovate assets independently, thereby providing long-term housing security for women at risk.
Mayor of London’s Energy Efficiency Fund (MEEF)
Energy efficiency projects typically require high upfront capital and involve long payback periods (15–20 years), which deter commercial banks due to technological risk. At the same time, public-sector entities often lack the technical expertise and equity required to advance complex energy-efficiency transactions.
The fund operates as a blended finance platform, mobilising senior bank debt and private capital, anchored by catalytic public first-loss capital. It provides long-term loans of up to 19 years to public-sector entities, with repayments made solely from realised energy savings.
The fund’s additionality is both financial—by offering a financing product not available through commercial banking—and operational—by bridging public-sector capacity gaps through technical assistance that enables projects to become investment-ready.
Grow Michigan Fund
Following the 2008 financial crisis and tighter credit conditions, a structural financing gap emerged for mid-sized companies with growth potential: these firms are too large for grants, too risky for banks, and too small for institutional investors—effectively blocking access to the capital required for growth.
The fund operates as a blended finance model, combining market capital with catalytic government capital to provide mezzanine loans. These subordinated, cash-flow-based instruments bridge the gap between senior bank debt and equity, offering flexible repayment structures—often with deferred principal—and enabling growth without equity dilution or loss of control. This capital layer allows companies to subsequently mobilise senior debt directly from commercial banks.
The fund’s additionality lies in providing growth capital to companies excluded from conventional markets, thereby directly supporting job retention and job creation at scale in the local economy.
