Equity – for investment ready businesses and live share offers
Equity – for investment‑ready businesses and active share offers
If your business is investment‑ready and your community share offer documents are complete or close to completion, you can apply for repayable match‑equity institutional investment. Your share offer should already have received the Community Shares Standard Mark.
You can also apply if your share offer has already launched, provided it has been awarded the Standard Mark.
An investment panel will review your investment needs, business case, and how well your organisation aligns with the fund’s priorities to decide the investment amount.
Our panel will typically make you an initial 'offer of investment', either before you launch or as your offer is live. In order to convert this 'offer of investment' to an 'actual investment', you will need to successfully close your share offer, raise at least £1:£1 of community investment relative to the offer through Booster and usually reach your minimum investment target to proceed.
Investments typically range from £10,000 to £50,000.
From April 2025, all Booster Fund match‑equity investments will be made by Community Shares ICOF, managed by Co‑operative and Community Finance, although applications will still be submitted through the Booster Fund. Through this investment, Community Shares ICOF becomes an institutional investor in your community share offer.
Investment expectations
Purpose of match investment
Institutional match funding is offered to help more communities reach their targets and draw in the community investment required.
The Investment Panel will consider the withdrawability, how quickly the matched equity investment capital is returned to us, and the rate of interest.
Withdrawability
We expect to fully withdraw our investment in the future, so the funds can be recycled into new share offers.
Your financial forecasts should include a planned withdrawal of share capital over a reasonable timeframe (up to 20 years), showing the matched equity investment can be repaid.
If you plan to suspend withdrawals initially, please explain why.
Institutional investments are considered short‑ to medium‑term. We will seek to withdraw capital when feasible without putting the community business at risk.
Interest rates
Your share offer should include a positive interest rate offered for our investment.
If you propose an initial interest‑free period, provide the justification.
Your financial projections should model interest payments fully, even if interest begins later.
Other funding requirements
We recognise that many projects rely on a mix of funding sources—such as grants, loans, and community shares.
Our investment will only proceed once you have made significant progress in securing all other funding needed for your project to be minimally viable and able to support the initial community investment.