The Young Academy

Our Investment Fund

In 2014,  The Young Foundation’s Social Investment in Education report highlighted the need for greater investment in early-stage education ventures, supporting them to grow and increase their impact.

Supported by UBS and the Cabinet Office, The Young Foundation launched The Young Academy Investment Fund as a pilot to fill that gap, supporting 14 ventures tackling educational inequalities through a £1.1m investment fund.

The Young Academy is now closed to new investments.

Find out more

“We recognise that, for early-stage social enterprises, securing financial investment can be a barrier to growth and achieving scale. We look forward to seeing these organisations go from strength to strength as a result of the training, mentorship and funding support provided through The Young Academy.”

Nick Wright, Managing Director, Global and EMEA Community Affairs, UBS

The Young Academy team

Our ventures are supported by both the fund management team at The Young Foundation, and our Investment Committee of skilled professionals, contributing their entrepreneurial, investment and education experience.

Our Investment Committee provides external scrutiny to the Investment Fund and extends their support and networks to our ventures.

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Jonathan Retter

21 September 2022

Jonathan has over 22 years of Investment Banking experience, of which the last 12 years have been with UBS.

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Sameer Bakshi

21 September 2022

Sameer is a pioneering senior technologist with more than 20 years’ IT experience identifying, qualifying and implementing enabling technologies and enterprise systems that facilitate business processes and strategic objectives.

8/8

Helen Goulden OBE

1 September 2021

As Chief Executive Officer of The Young Foundation, Helen leads our multi-disciplinary team of researchers and innovators to support stronger communities across the UK.

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Gareth Williams

9 December 2021

Gareth works with digitally-led businesses and social enterprises. He has a strong track record growing brands as a CEO, founder and board-level adviser and has wide experience of business having worked in industry, investment banking and retail. His focus is on helping build social enterprises that scale.

2/8

Charlotte Healy

21 June 2022

Charlotte’s background is working as an Economic Development Programme Manager in Local Government. She loves all things social enterprise and is interested in how we can use social innovation to create a more equal society. 

3/8

Charlie Curtis

21 September 2022

Charlie combines the practical experience of building a business with deep understanding of the commercial and operational complexities faced by today’s business leaders. He has advised hundreds of corporate innovators, co-founded of two University of Oxford deep-tech spin-outs, and is an Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

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Gee Cook

21 September 2022

Gee has spent the past two decades working within primary schools and from being a class teacher, she rose through various senior leadership positions to become CEO of two primary school MATs. Gee is currently the Chief Executive Officer of New Routes Integration which runs a range of programmes for refugees to meet people and learn new skills.

5/8

Jonathan Retter

21 September 2022

Jonathan has over 22 years of Investment Banking experience, of which the last 12 years have been with UBS.

6/8

7/8

Sameer Bakshi

21 September 2022

Sameer is a pioneering senior technologist with more than 20 years’ IT experience identifying, qualifying and implementing enabling technologies and enterprise systems that facilitate business processes and strategic objectives.

8/8

Helen Goulden OBE

1 September 2021

As Chief Executive Officer of The Young Foundation, Helen leads our multi-disciplinary team of researchers and innovators to support stronger communities across the UK.

1/8

Gareth Williams

9 December 2021

Gareth works with digitally-led businesses and social enterprises. He has a strong track record growing brands as a CEO, founder and board-level adviser and has wide experience of business having worked in industry, investment banking and retail. His focus is on helping build social enterprises that scale.

2/8

Charlotte Healy

21 June 2022

Charlotte’s background is working as an Economic Development Programme Manager in Local Government. She loves all things social enterprise and is interested in how we can use social innovation to create a more equal society. 

3/8

Charlie Curtis

21 September 2022

Charlie combines the practical experience of building a business with deep understanding of the commercial and operational complexities faced by today’s business leaders. He has advised hundreds of corporate innovators, co-founded of two University of Oxford deep-tech spin-outs, and is an Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

4/8

Gee Cook

21 September 2022

Gee has spent the past two decades working within primary schools and from being a class teacher, she rose through various senior leadership positions to become CEO of two primary school MATs. Gee is currently the Chief Executive Officer of New Routes Integration which runs a range of programmes for refugees to meet people and learn new skills.

5/8

Jonathan Retter

21 September 2022

Jonathan has over 22 years of Investment Banking experience, of which the last 12 years have been with UBS.

6/8

7/8

Sameer Bakshi

21 September 2022

Sameer is a pioneering senior technologist with more than 20 years’ IT experience identifying, qualifying and implementing enabling technologies and enterprise systems that facilitate business processes and strategic objectives.

8/8

Our Accelerator Programme

Between 2014 and 2020, The Young Academy Accelerator supported more than 70 early-stage education ventures, helping them to develop more effective products and services, and scale into sustainable organisations.

Read more

Our social entrepreneurs

We are currently actively support nine ventures tackling educational inequalities

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Potential.ly

Potential.ly is a technology company focused on backing people’s continued personal and professional growth. It gives people joy and confidence in pursuing and sharing learning.

6/9

Smart School Councils Community

Smart School Councils Community is a pupil-led, inclusive and Ofsted-ready school council that’s easy to run. It involves everyone in democracy by providing a simple platform for busy schools.

7/9

TalentEd

TalentEd provides high quality tuition to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

8/9

Structural Learning

Structural Learning enables educators to get the best out of their pupils by developing resources that enable children to think their way through the curriculum.

9/9

East Learning

East Leaning supports schools and colleges to set up an 'Aspirations Programme', using novel data on young people's needs, interests and ambitions. This means that more students receive a holistic education and are better prepared for future life.

1/9

Edukit

EduKit helps schools take a proactive approach to safeguarding, making it easy to understand evolving student mental health needs and generate instant reports on issues and progress.

2/9

GT Scholars

GT Scholars is a not-for-profit social enterprise and registered charity that runs a range of after-school leadership programmes that help young people achieve their academic and career aspirations.

3/9

We are in Beta

We Are In Beta is a network of teachers and leaders learning from each other and growing together.

4/9

Panjango

Panjango is on a mission to transform the way the world learns by gamifying learning and giving it real world context. It creates fun, educational and interactive games that connect learning to life, help children to think about their future and better prepare them for life after school.

5/9

Potential.ly

Potential.ly is a technology company focused on backing people’s continued personal and professional growth. It gives people joy and confidence in pursuing and sharing learning.

6/9

Smart School Councils Community

Smart School Councils Community is a pupil-led, inclusive and Ofsted-ready school council that’s easy to run. It involves everyone in democracy by providing a simple platform for busy schools.

7/9

TalentEd

TalentEd provides high quality tuition to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

8/9

Structural Learning

Structural Learning enables educators to get the best out of their pupils by developing resources that enable children to think their way through the curriculum.

9/9

East Learning

East Leaning supports schools and colleges to set up an 'Aspirations Programme', using novel data on young people's needs, interests and ambitions. This means that more students receive a holistic education and are better prepared for future life.

1/9

Edukit

EduKit helps schools take a proactive approach to safeguarding, making it easy to understand evolving student mental health needs and generate instant reports on issues and progress.

2/9

GT Scholars

GT Scholars is a not-for-profit social enterprise and registered charity that runs a range of after-school leadership programmes that help young people achieve their academic and career aspirations.

3/9

We are in Beta

We Are In Beta is a network of teachers and leaders learning from each other and growing together.

4/9

Panjango

Panjango is on a mission to transform the way the world learns by gamifying learning and giving it real world context. It creates fun, educational and interactive games that connect learning to life, help children to think about their future and better prepare them for life after school.

5/9

Potential.ly

Potential.ly is a technology company focused on backing people’s continued personal and professional growth. It gives people joy and confidence in pursuing and sharing learning.

6/9

Smart School Councils Community

Smart School Councils Community is a pupil-led, inclusive and Ofsted-ready school council that’s easy to run. It involves everyone in democracy by providing a simple platform for busy schools.

7/9

TalentEd

TalentEd provides high quality tuition to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

8/9

Structural Learning

Structural Learning enables educators to get the best out of their pupils by developing resources that enable children to think their way through the curriculum.

9/9

Early-stage support

We have also invested in and supported organisations that have since exited our investments, including Infused Learning, Proversity, and Think for the Future.