Our social ventures
Our academic social ventures are our spinouts founded on research-led innovation and a commitment to social impact.
These mission-driven enterprises take on legal structures such as social enterprises, charities, community interest companies, and other purpose-led models, translating research from Social Sciences, Humanities, the Arts and other disciplines (SHAPE) into sustainable solutions for real-world challenges.
By leveraging diverse business models and non-traditional commercialisation pathways, they exemplify the power of impactful research in driving meaningful change. Explore our ventures below to see how research is shaping a better future through enterprise.
Social venture stories
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Good Grief
The Good Grief Festival provides a groundbreaking solution by creating a safe, creative, and compassionate space to explore death, dying, and bereavement.
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The Diary Toolkit
This toolkit is a hybrid of a diary and a journal designed specifically for educators. It aims to increase happiness and job satisfaction.
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Affempreneurs
A social venture that provides young women micro-entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa with business skills, mentorship, financial resources, and wellbeing support, to start and sustain successful enterprises.
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Heddle
Heddle is the world’s fastest-growing community of English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers.
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Equal In-Sight
This toolkit is a hybrid of a diary and a journal designed specifically for educators. It aims to increase happiness and job satisfaction.
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Bridging Histories
A change maker organisation that is creating global chapters of ambassadors that are trained, funded and supported to develop grass roots movements in their communities.
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IRISi
IRISi delivers evidence based support interventions to benefit survivors of domestic violence and abuse and to help reduce the associated societal burdens.
Social venture videos
Reducing waste in UK food production with Dr. Lucy McCarthy
The UK food system is in crisis. Farmers are going out of business, 2 million tonnes of food never gets past the farm gate, meanwhile, 4.7 million families in the UK live in food poverty.
The Circular Agriculture Hub was co-founded by Lucy McCarthy to bridge the gap between farmers and consumers, ensuring that surplus produce reaches potential users.
In this video, learn how Lucy was able to achieve far-reaching societal impact through her time on the ARC Accelerate program to work towards setting up a self-sustaining social enterprise.
Supporting equality in the workplace with Prof Roberta Guerrina
One of the main places people encounter discrimination is in employment.
Working with employers is key to helping build a better and fairer future. In this video, Robert Guerrina shares how her spin out company EQUAL In-sight helps organisations to embed equality and inclusion into their everyday policies and practices.
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The University of Bristol's catalyst for innovation.
Learn how to spin out your company
Our team works with researchers to transform research into new social ventures.
Contact us
Contact our team to learn more about our social venture opportunities.