We do this because we have seen how a single committed and purposeful person can be crucial to creating social change for themselves and many others.
We at Ferd want to contribute to such positive social impact. We do this by supporting social entrepreneurs and social impact companies using our dedicated employees, our network and our strong financial position. We find skilled and interesting companies and invest time and money in their development.
We have, for example, helped to build companies that employ people who do not have other employment prospects, as well as companies that provide young people with crucial learning opportunities and belief in their own abilities and future. In addition, we use our financial and structural knowledge to set up new forms of collaboration and agreements, and this contributes to new solutions that deliver better social results being tested and established.
An important part of our work has been to highlight the impact and significance of social entrepreneurs’ innovative solutions for vulnerable target groups. We advocate for more people, in both the private and public sectors, to test and promote new solutions that have better social results. Because doing so is a matter of urgency for the people who are struggling, and because society loses out a great deal from failing to include them in society. Giving people a chance to achieve their potential will always be a good investment.
Johan H. Andresen was the first Norwegian investor to become involved in social entrepreneurship, and also one of the first people to use the term in Norway. As far back as the mid 2000s, he provided support to a number of recently started companies, and he set up Ferd Social Entrepreneurs as a new business area at Ferd in 2009.
Ferd Social Entrepreneurs (Ferd SE) is one of five business areas at Ferd AS, an investment company that knows a great deal about creating commercially viable sustainability. This is important to social entrepreneurs too, as it ensures that their social results are sustainable and can reach more people. Small, innovative companies of this kind need stable revenues in order to meet their own costs and to further develop and spread their solutions. We can give such companies some breathing space financially for a few years, and ensure that social impact represents the core of their business model and that they reach as many people as possible with their solutions.
We are what is known as an ‘impact-first’ investor. This means that we provide support and develop innovative solutions to social challenges, and can take risks that others in the market either cannot or do not want to take – with the aim of having the biggest possible social impact. We frequently collaborate with other investors that are committed to social impact, in order to create even more positive change together.
Read more about our investments and on how we work with the companies in our portfolio.