The Drawdown provides vital insight and analysis for operational professionals in private equity and venture capital.

Our mission is to empower and celebrate operational professionals.

Operational professionals ensure funds are managed in a robust and compliant manner, thereby protecting investors and the wider economy. More than that, operational professionals lead on in-house technology strategies, regulations and compliance, fund structuring, ESG, cyber security and many more vital functions that ensure the well-being of the industry. It is against this backdrop that The Drawdown strives to shine a light on this vital work done.

Launch It is a group of charities in the UK with the same mission: to empower the next generation of business founders. They exist to support young people aged 18 to 30 years old, who are facing barriers, to turn their business idea into a reality.

To give them the best possible start, Launch It provides aspiring young entrepreneurs access to affordable workspace, training, mentoring and the skills they need to run a successful business, which in turn, help positively impact their communities and support regeneration.

Launch It has run enterprise centres in economically challenged communities for over 24 years, encouraging more young people in these areas to start and grow businesses. They set up their first enterprise hub in Deptford, London in 2000, and have since expanded across London and helped to establish charities in Scotland and Kent.

Launch It helps level the playing field, inspire hope and encourage underprivileged young people to thrive through entrepreneurship, enabling them to develop skills and have access to opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach.

To date, Launch It has supported over 11,500 young people and continues to further develop and improve their programmes to meet the evolving needs of young start-up founders.

Find out more about Launch It’s work and impact by going to www.launchit.org.uk.

The story of Ecologi started one morning in 2019, when our co-founder Elliot picked up his morning coffee and wondered what would happen if he instead spent that money on addressing the climate crisis?
After disappearing down a few research rabbit holes, he realised that there are ample solutions already available to respond to climate change, and the world’s pocket change is more than enough to fund them. The idea just needed to galvanise support and turn into collective action.
Ecologi started as a subscription service for individuals, but has rapidly evolved into a passionate community of over 19,000 businesses and 40,000 members. And in the years ahead, we will focus on championing SMEs as green revolutionaries, empowering them on their journey to reduce emissions and take climate action.