Nesta
Charity Number: 1144091
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Quick Stats
- Endowment: £450 million
- Annual Giving: £9 million+ (varies by program)
- Grant Range: £10,000 - £300,000
- Geographic Focus: Primarily UK (England focus, some Scotland programs)
- Published Grants: 1,637 grants (360Giving, 2011-2024)
Contact Details
Address: 58 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DS
Phone: 020 7438 2500
Website: www.nesta.org.uk
Overview
Nesta (charity 1144091) is the UK's innovation agency for social good, with a £450 million endowment originally from the National Lottery. They design, test, and scale solutions to society's biggest problems through grants, challenge prizes, venture building, and impact investments.
Funding Priorities
Three Innovation Missions (to 2030)
- A Fairer Start: Eliminating school readiness gap
- A Healthy Life: Halving obesity prevalence
- A Sustainable Future: Reducing household carbon emissions 28%
Grant Programs
- Mission Studio: Up to £300k for tech startups
- Challenge Works: Challenge prizes £210m+ distributed
- Themed Programs: Various specific challenge funds
Priority Areas
- Early years interventions
- Digital health technologies
- Sustainable homes and retrofit
- Collective intelligence and AI for social good
- Data-driven solutions
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Governance and Leadership
CEO: Ravi Gurumurthy (since 2019)
Chair: Ed Richards (since 2022)
Application Success Factors
Evidence Framework
Nesta uses Standards of Evidence:
- Level 1: Clear Theory of Change
- Level 2: Data collection systems
- Level 3: Impact testing with controls
Key Criteria
- Innovation: Genuine innovation, not incremental improvement
- Mission alignment: Clear connection to one of three missions
- Evaluation plans: Strong monitoring and evaluation approach
- Sustainability: Pathway to long-term viability
- Feasibility: Realistic project plans
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References
- Charity Commission Register: 1144091
- Nesta Strategy to 2030
- Annual Report 2023-24
- 360Giving grant data
- Challenge Works website