Northstar Foundation

Charity Details

Full Name: The Northstar Foundation  
Founded: 2014
Type: Independent
Where Operates: North East England and Cumbria
Headquarters: Newcastle, NE1 5EJ
Charity No: 1158262 

History and Activities

The Northstar Foundation is a social entrepreneurship fund allied to the venture capital company Northstar Ventures Limited, which has been working in the venture capital sector since 2004. The fund was established in 2016 with a £3.5 million legacy grant from the Northern Rock Foundation, then on the point of closure, having wound down its operations since the failure of the Northern Rock Bank in 2008. The Northern Rock Foundation had operated a New Ideas Fund to help launch social enterprises based in the North East and Cumbria. The Northstar Foundation and Northstar Ventures are working with the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland and the Cumbria Community Foundation to manage the Fresh Ideas Fund.

The idea of the fund is to enable ambitious non-profit organizations to cash-in on their intellectual property to develop fresh income streams and become more sustainable. In the financial year 2016/17, the foundation made 41 grants from the fund totalling £1,822,535, averaging £44,452. The foundation has sufficient cash in hand to continue operating a similar level of another year to eighteen months. It is seeking a further injection of funds to continue its good work for longer. 

Vital Statistics (year to 31/03/2017)

Website
https://www.northstarventures.co.uk/northstar-foundation

References