Ventures WorkerTech newsletter: February 2024 The latest update from Resolution Ventures 5 March 2024 by Emma Selinger Emma Selinger This month I’m excited to tell you about a new initiative that we’re working on in partnership with the Greater London Authority and Allia.The No Wrong Door Open Innovation Challenge will support 15 innovators to test and build new solutions to support diverse groups into good quality work in London. If you’d like to know more, or are working on a WorkerTech idea, please get in touch! Emma Ventures Manager Resolution Foundation No Wrong Door We’re excited to share that we’ll be partnering with Allia, an organisation that supports impact ventures to grow and scale, and the Greater London Authority on their newly announced No Wrong Door Open Innovation Challenge. No Wrong Door means that no matter their starting point, all Londoners can find timely and appropriate support to help them find good work. The project started in 2022 with research published by the Young Foundation exploring the existing employment and skills support system, and seeking to better understand the diversity of needs across a range of priority groups trying to access skills and employment services across the capital. Seeking to improve collaboration across the jobs, skills and training ecosystem in London, the challenge will support diverse groups into good quality work through funding 15 innovations to develop and test new solutions in the market. Our partners at Allia will be delivering support and guidance to the cohort of innovators, and we are excited to work with them by: Amplifying the opportunity in our wide-reaching networks Assessing applications to the programme and selecting successful innovations Providing innovators with subject matter expertise on good work, skills and training (see our body of research) Guiding innovators through the funding and investment landscape Have an idea for how to enhance collaboration across the jobs and skills ecosystem in London? The challenge will be open to applications from 7th March until 18th April via an online form on the GLA website. Latest insights from the Resolution Foundation We’ve only just begun – Research found that 34% of young people reported symptoms of common mental health disorder, making them more likely to be out of work and have low qualifications compared to their peers. Investment is needed to increase mental health support, provide more careers advice, and raise awareness of the issue within sectors with young workforces. Precautionary tales – Low-income households in the UK struggle to save, both for the short and long term, with a third of working age adults having less than £1000 in savings. This report draws on behavioural insights and lessons from how other countries navigate this issue to propose a joined-up solution to these savings challenges. Latest labour market statistics – The labour market has continued to cool and pay growth is also cooling. The good news is that thanks to falling inflation, workers are still getting real pay rises. However, the bad news is that 728,000 more working-age adults are out of the labour force now compared to early 2020. WorkerTech stories Earned wage access startup, Wagestream, has published a report, Essential and Excluded, which explores why individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds are almost twice as likely as their white peers to be depleting savings to pay for the cost of living. The paper argues that employers have a role to play in addressing this inequality by setting steady and sufficient hours for their hourly paid workers. One of our portfolio founders, Paul Moynihan, wrote a brilliantly honest blog on his experience fundraising alongside his co-founder, Anna, for their startup, TaskHer, in 2022 and 2023. Show me the money…please reflects on what they learnt through their first fundraise, how they approached their second fundraise, and what they would advise other founders to look out for on their fundraising journey. Earlier this month ImpactVC launched its Founder Impact Playbook. Through consulting with leading impact investors, the team at ImpactVC has put together this guide for startup founders which highlights how impact can be a driver of value and enhance performance. It’s a great starting point for founders thinking about embedding impact into their new or existing business. Get involved Apply for direct investment from Resolution Ventures. We accept applications from WorkerTech ventures on a rolling basis. Or you can book a slot in our office hours for an initial conversation. Are you looking for impact investors for your startup? Impact 12 launched its Impact Investor Finder earlier this month, a database of hundreds of impact investors spanning multiple stages and sectors. Sie Ventures is hosting Sie Raise Summit on 19th March to demystify the fundraising process for female founders. If you have at least one female founder on your team, you can apply to join the summit and access deep dives, workshops, and investor networking. Rare Founders are hosting their first demo day on 22nd April 2024. They’re looking for pre-seed to Series A startups to pitch live to hundreds of investors. Applications close on 29th February.
