Kindred works to foster a kinder, fairer economy by investing in socially-trading organisations (STOs) across Liverpool City Region. It provides financial support, collaboration opportunities, and peer-to-peer networks to help STOs grow their impact. Key activities include:

• Investment: Kindred offers interest-free, patient money to STOs, with some repayments made through social returns. We have invested £2.5 million in 66 organisations, who have in turn created over 100 jobs and generated £28.3 million in social impact.
• Community building: Kindred has built a community of over 1,400 STOs that collaborate to drive social innovation, share learning, and create purposeful work in underused spaces.
• Focus on equity: Half of Kindred’s resources go to women-led businesses, 25% to Black-led businesses and 100% to underinvested communities.

Kindred also partners with regional and national organisations to scale its investments and accelerate the impact of social enterprises in Liverpool City Region.

Kindred’s focus on creating a kinder, fairer economy, through investments and collaboration, includes several key differences from conventional money models:

• Social investment model: Kindred’s approach is a model where loans are repaid partly in monetary terms and partly through social returns. This prioritises community impact and reinvests returns to support other socially-trading organisations (STOs), fostering sustainable growth.
• Collaborative funding process: Unlike competitive grant systems, Kindred employs a non-competitive investment process – co-designed by STOs. Peer panels make funding decisions, emphasising collaboration over competition and creating lasting relationships among investees.
• Social innovation clusters: Kindred facilitates clusters where STOs share learning and accelerate impact growth, starting from the viewpoint that lived experience is key to creating local change. These clusters help reframe problems, develop new services and create purposeful work in underused spaces, using local insights and expertise, to transform low-demand areas into thriving hubs of activity.
• Scaling socially-trading organisations: Kindred identifies small-scale social innovations and helps them scale up. Examples include Future Yard in Birkenhead, a music venue providing industry pathways for young people and SHOP in Knowsley, which offers services to elderly residents.
• Pathfinder initiative: Kindred is working with regional and national partners to scale its investment from £6.5m to £50m through the ‘Liverpool City Region Social Investment Pathfinder’. This initiative aims to amplify the impact of STOs across the region.

These innovations have collectively created jobs, attracted additional funding, revitalised communities, and demonstrated how social enterprises can drive systemic change in Liverpool City Region.

Kindred’s 0% interest loan model benefits social traders in Liverpool City Region by providing flexible, patient funding tailored to their unique needs. Key advantages include:

• Reduced financial pressure: The absence of interest allows socially-trading organisations (STOs) to focus on growth and social impact by allowing them to invest in their core services
• Social value repayment: STOs can partially repay loans through demonstrating social impact, which reduces financial strain while emphasising their contributions to the community
• Sustainability and reinvestment: Repayments are reinvested into the fund, enabling future generations of STOs to access support and fostering a self-sustaining social economy
• Collaborative approach: Kindred’s non-competitive funding process encourages collaboration among STOs rather than competition, creating an ecosystem of mutual support and shared learning

This innovative model helps STOs overcome barriers to mainstream finance, supporting their long-term viability and amplifying their social missions.

Kindred's approach to risk-sharing benefits socially-trading organisations (STOs) by providing a supportive and collaborative framework that reduces financial and operational risks. Key advantages include:

• Shared responsibility: Kindred co-designs repayment terms with STOs, ensuring they are achievable and tailored to the needs of each organisation. This prevents financial strain and avoids pushing businesses into unsustainable situations.
• Social value repayments: STOs can repay loans partially through demonstrating social impact, reducing the financial burden while emphasising their contributions to the community.
• Peer-led lending: Kindred’s money panels are led by STOs who are the peers of those seeking investment. This means they can share their experiences, lend their insights and offer support. And it means Kindred’s decisions are truly STO-led. 
• Collaborative ecosystem: By fostering collaboration rather than competition, Kindred creates a network where STOs share ideas, resources, and support, enhancing collective resilience and reducing individual risk.
• Flexibility in repayment: Kindred works closely with STOs to adjust repayment terms if challenges arise, prioritising their growth and sustainability over rigid financial returns.

This innovative risk-sharing model empowers STOs to take bold steps in growing their social impact while maintaining financial stability.