From Displacement to Enterprise: How the Refugee Venture Fund Is Backing Refugee Founders
- yanabijoor
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
I usually profile companies that are creating social impact. This time, I am focusing on a venture fund that invests in social impact enterprises. The Refugee Venture Fund is working to close a major gap in early-stage startup funding by backing refugee entrepreneurs who are often excluded from accessing mainstream capital.
What is the problem?
Headquartered in England and operating across the UK, the Refugee Venture Fund (RVF) will invest in startups founded or led by refugees. The fund will address a serious funding gap, as more than 100 million people are displaced worldwide, the highest number ever recorded. Yet refugee founders receive almost no early-stage venture capital. Many have strong business ideas but lack access to investor networks, legal support, and financial services. Without these connections, even talented founders struggle to raise capital and grow their companies.
These barriers are structural. Refugees are often excluded from the informal networks that drive venture funding and face additional scrutiny due to a lack of credentials or limited credit history. As a result, promising startups fail to get the investment they need to scale.
What is the solution?
RVF will invest directly in founders with refugee backgrounds. Its goal is to build a pipeline of scalable refugee-led businesses in the UK by 2027. It is the UK’s first venture fund dedicated specifically to refugee entrepreneurs.
The pre-seed fund is the brainchild of well-known venture funds, TERN, Village Capital, and Atomico. RVF will source founders, provide mentorship, and offer pre-seed equity investment. This approach combines capital with practical business support, helping founders move from idea to viable company. Most importantly, it treats refugee founders as serious entrepreneurs, not as recipients of short-term aid.
Why is it innovative?
The fund introduces a new category in venture investing: the refugee founder. Instead of relying solely on grants or accelerators, it uses a standard venture capital model. It invests in startups with high growth potential and expects commercial returns alongside social impact.
This matters because it shifts how refugee entrepreneurship might be perceived. By placing refugee-led startups within mainstream venture frameworks, the fund challenges the idea that refugee businesses are only small-scale or charity-driven. Backing from established venture partners also signals to the wider market that these companies are investable and can be competitive.
What is the impact?
The fund aims to create jobs, increase economic participation, and support long-term integration through business ownership. Its £10 million pre-seed fund plans to back 27 scalable refugee-led startups by 2027.
These companies can contribute to local economies, hire employees, and serve broad customer bases. Over time, the fund also hopes to change the investor mindset by showing that refugee founders can build strong, growth-oriented businesses when given fair access to capital. If successful, this could help unlock more private investment into refugee-led ventures beyond this single fund.
What needs to improve?
Access to capital alone is not enough. Many refugee founders still face legal and administrative barriers that slow company formation and growth. These include challenges with documentation, work authorization, banking access, and contracting.
Public agencies and financial institutions need clearer, faster, and more consistent processes for refugee entrepreneurs. Without these reforms, even well-funded startups can struggle to hire, open accounts, or enter new markets.
In addition, more follow-on investors must be willing to fund refugee-led startups after the pre-seed stage. Without later-stage capital, promising companies may stall before reaching scale.
RVF is an important first step, but the lasting impact will depend on whether the broader financial and regulatory systems evolve to support refugee entrepreneurs over the long term.
Sources:
Comments