Evaluation of the Investment Ready Programme for Diverse Founders

The Contracting Authority for this Tender is SME Wholesale Finance (London) Limited (trading as Funding London), a company limited by guarantee with its registered office at 5th Floor, 330 Holborn Gate, 326-332 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7QH. Funding London was established in 2004 by the then Mayor of London with a specific long-term mandate to support the Economic Development Strategy for London through its SME funding activities. Since its inception, Funding London has supported London-based SMEs caught in the finance gap through its investment activities, and more recently through complementary business support. Our mission is to create an evergreen source of funding whereby returns from previous funds are reinvested into new funds. Therefore, the focus of our activities is not only to deliver impact through investment in growth and jobs but also to deliver the best financial returns possible by working in partnership with the private sector. In September 2023, Funding London launched the Investment Ready Programme (https://fundinglondon.co.uk/programmes). This is a free, six-week programme designed to support London based pre-seed and seed stage businesses, especially but not exclusively led by diverse founders in raising external capital, delivered in partnership with Mountside Ventures (https://www.mountsideventures.com/accelerator). The programme is the recipient of £1,065,964 from UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) managed by the Greater London Authority. We seek to appoint a firm/consultant to evaluate the Investment Ready Programme and provide insights into the programme's performance against its contractual targets. The evaluation should reflect the programme's relevance, as outlined in Annex E, which demonstrates the rationale for the project activity and its links to outputs, outcomes, and impact. It should also assess the programme's consistency, progress, and impact while evaluating value for money, delivery, and management. Bids should be submitted to bianca@fundinglondon.co.uk by 4pm 28 February 2025. Please visit the attached ITT for a full tender process description including background and context, scope of work, timeframe and delivery, budget, selection criteria, further conditions applicable to the tender process, contractual agreement, and draft agreement. Annex E attached demonstrates the rationale for the project activity and its links to outputs, outcomes, and impact.