2023-24 Annual Report
A Charitable Incorporated Organisation, Number 1158935
TRUSTEES' REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TH JUNE 2024
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Charity Name: United Social Ventures UK Charity Number: 1158935 Uganda Company Number: 80020000587718
UK Address: Ugandan Address: 92 Highgate Hill 28 Upper Kololo Road London Kampala N6 5HE P.O. Box 10840 Website: www.unitedsocialventures.org Email: hello@unitedsocialventures.org
Trustees: Renee Loades (Chair) Sidney Muhangi Jessica Falkner Sabina Pasokhy (ended September 2023) Mary Helda Akongo Brian Ndyaguma Ivan Mbowa (joined April 2024) Arthur Edeet (joined UG Board February 2025)
Management: For the UK: For Uganda: Leo Henghes Max Weber Asiimwe
Bankers: In UK: In Uganda: CAF Bank Ltd Stanbic Bank (U) Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Ntinda Branch Kings Hill, Kampala West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ
Auditors: Jostin and Associates Certified Public Accountants Plot 62, Ntinda II Road, Naguru P.O. Box 150118, Mukono
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
2
LETTER FROM THE LEADERSHIP – APRIL 2025
2023–24 was a period of difficult transitions for United Social Ventures. It marked the start of our new three-year strategy to pivot USV’s model towards our ‘ venture building investment ’ model. The goal is to become Africa’s first founder-funded Entrepreneur Support Organisation (ESO) with our budget covered by success fees paid by ventures upon securing investment.
However, turning the USV ship has not been easy. The ‘venture building investment’ model requires an 18–24 month runway for ventures to secure sufficient funding to cover USV’s costs. Grants from burger:sinn:stiftung and Issroff Family Foundation enabled us to trial this with a handful of ventures. But significantly more funding is needed to sustain this initiative to the breakeven point.
Simultaneously, revenue from program contracts fell sharply in 2023–24. The reasons for this are multifaceted. Contracts have always been ‘lumpy’ and many partners prefer to internalise programs in the medium-to-long term – part of the rationale for our strategic pivot to venture building. However, this pivot perhaps led to a lack of proactivity in pursuing leads for new cohorts. Most of our major work – with Engineers Without Borders Canada and ResilientAfrica Network – had been accounted for in the previous financial year. New contracts – with UGEFA , Rootical, Circle Innovation , and Response Innovation Lab – were relatively small in value.
This was compounded by an HR restructuring driven by cash flow issues. Leo, Esteeri, and Dan all transitioned to freelance contracts, leaving Max as the only fulltime employee. In September 2023, Leo relocated to the UK after ten years leading USV’s work in Uganda. We had hoped a UK presence would open up new funding relationships. Instead, it resulted in an increase in his required baseline salary.
Despite these challenges, the period ended with two major milestones. First, in July 2024 (just after this reporting period!), we signed our biggest-ever contract – and first outside of Uganda – with United States International University–Africa for a two-year program, securing the charity’s immediate future.
Second, a survey of our first ten years of work revealed remarkable accomplishments: we’ve supported 182 early-stage social ventures to collectively raise over $6.7M , grow their annual income by $1.16M (an average increase of 132% ), and create 272 net new jobs .
So, we closed the year with renewed confidence, commitment and clarity in our mission to support changemakers across the “valley of death” – and we are actively seeking more partners to help us achieve this.
Max Weber Asiimwe Co-founder & Executive Director
Leo Henghes Co-Founder & Ventures Lead
Renee Loades Chair of Trustees
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
3
INTRODUCTION
This trustees’ report and accounts for United Social Ventures is for the year starting 1st July 2023 and ending 30th June 2024. This report is presented in accordance with “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (the FRSSE)”, effective 1st January 2015.
Structure, Governance, and Management
United Social Ventures is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) governed according to the Constitution dated 11th October 2014. It was established on 22nd October 2014.
The charity trustees manage the affairs of United Social Ventures. The trustees are responsible for keeping sufficient accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the charity's financial position and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the charity's assets and taking steps to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.
Membership of the CIO is restricted to its trustees. There must be at least three charity trustees, and new trustees must be appointed for three year terms. In selecting individuals, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO. Trustees will induct new trustees with a copy of the constitution and the latest Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts.
Decisions are made by a simple majority of votes at a meeting of trustees or by resolution made in writing or electronic form and agreed by all trustees. Day-to-day management of the Charity’s affairs is delegated to staff, led by Leo Henghes and Max Weber Asiimwe.
Objectives and Activities
The objects of the CIO are:
(1) to develop the capacity and skills of university students in such a way that they are better able to identify, and help meet, their needs and to participate more fully in society.
(2) to promote the voluntary sector anywhere in the world for the benefit of the public in particular but not exclusively by:
a) promoting the voluntary sector to university students;
b) promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of charities and voluntary organisations; and
c) promoting equality and diversity by promoting activities to foster understanding between university students from diverse backgrounds.
"Voluntary sector" is defined as "charities and voluntary organisations". Charities are organisations, which are established for exclusively charitable purposes in accordance with the law of England and Wales.
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
4
INTRODUCTION
To achieve these objects, we split United Social Ventures’ work into three categories:
(1) Program Cohort
The Charity signs service contracts with partners to run program cohorts for participants to either found new social startups (‘Design’ programs), go to market (‘Incubation’ or ‘Build’ programs) or plan for scale (‘Accelerator’/’Grow’ programs).
Cohorts consist of workshops, taken from our curriculum of 36 different half-day modules, and one-to-one coaching (borrowing methodology from venture building services) that can be done in-person or virtually.
Programs are generally run in partnership with other institutions (e.g. universities, innovation hubs, development institutions) that subsidise the participants, whom they typically select, and provide the space.
These programs help the Charity achieve its objectives of developing university students' capacity and skills and promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of charities and voluntary organisations.
(2) Venture Building Services
The Charity also works directly with individual social ventures through bespoke consultancy.
Social ventures (i) prioritise social impact above profits; (ii) seek systemic change for a general population of people; and (iii) are market-based in their activities. Ventures are taken through USV’s process to refine and validate their impact and business models and become de-risked for funders.
These services come under the objectives of developing the capacity and skill of university students and promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of charities and voluntary organisations.
(3) Governance, Administration, and Raising Funds
Lastly, in order to be able to meet all its objectives, USV runs regular administrative meetings and fundraising activities.
The board of trustees has meetings every 2-3 months.
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
5
ACHIEVEMENTS & PERFORMANCE
Program Cohorts
In May 2023, we launched our first-ever inperson CAIF cohort with Engineers Without Borders Canada , involving 8 Ugandan graduates and 6 Canadian students. The program had been run virtually for the two previous years.
This 13-week program included two 4-week placements in Bukedea District and 33 half-day workshops held in both Bukedea and Kampala.
Fellows developed four innovative ventures:
-
AgriBoda - a mechanism connecting bodas (motorbikes) to ploughs, reducing time taken and so ploughing more fields in key planting windows.
-
BorePay - a system for collecting payments from locals to maintain boreholes more cheaply and continuously. (50% of them in Uganda are out of service)
-
Clinova - a digital inventory management system for clinics to reduce transport and administration costs, and prevent drug shortages.
-
Shine On Solar - refurbishing solar systems of businesses when their batteries have degraded, financed by monthly utility payments from the companies.
At the end of the cohort, EWB conducted a survey with the following results:
USV Instructors were effective facilitators/demonstrators
USV Presentations were clear and organized USV facilitators stimulated fellows interest USV Instructors effectively used time during training periods USV Instructors were available and helpful USV Instructors feedback was prompt and useful
----- Start of picture text -----
0 2 4 6 8 10
----- End of picture text -----
However, despite the success of this cohort, EWB did not renew the contract for 2024 because they wanted the fellowship to become an engineering practicum – to match their new management’s strategy – rather than an entrepreneurship one.
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
6
NS
ACHIEVEMENTS & PERFORMANCE
Program Cohorts
In 2020, ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) and United Social Ventures embarked on a project under the Research and Innovation Fund (RIF) to create an e-learning curriculum in Entrepreneurship and Innovation for students from Makerere. The goal was to make the program as practical as possible – setting students up to found their own enterprises.
Over 2022/23, we created 105 short videos (totalling almost 7 hours) for a flipped classroom format. Between November 2023 and January 2024, this was prototyped with a cohort of 20 students from Makerere University, who watched the videos on the e-learning platform and attended 10 Zoom classes over 6 weeks.
The feedback we received on the videos was very positive. Videos averaged 8.8/10 for clarity. One participant noted: “This program equipped me with practical design skills and instilled in me a mindset of empathy-driven problem-solving that I will carry forward in all aspects of my life and work.”
The videos can be sampled at http://course.musph.ac.ug/, username: “usvguest”; password: “Design2023”.
USV owns the intellectual property of the videos developed for this program to use/adapt for other courses outside of Makerere. This could present an interesting growth opportunity for experiential entrepreneurship training in the future.
We worked on two contracts for Adelphi research gemeinnützige GmbH as part of their UGEFA program over 23–24:
Catalyser - Between September and November 2023, we ran 13 days of workshops for a UGEFA Catalyser cohort. As a result of these workshops, 9 ventures successfully applied for loans in 2024 and triggered a performance-based payment from UGEFA.
Accelerator - In June 2023, we were awarded a contract to work on two cohorts of ventures in the Accelerator Program. The first cohort involved 2 days of workshops in February 2024 and then a further 3 days in June for 12 ventures. The second cohort started with 2 days of workshops in June for 9 participating ventures and was expected to have the second set of workshops in August.
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
7
ACHIEVEMENTS & PERFORMANCE
Program Cohorts
We did four small pieces of work for RIL over the year. In August, two USV facilitators supported for 2 days on a bootcamp in Mukono for 24 refugee-facing ventures. We supported a similar initiative with one facilitator in Arua for three days in September.
In November, we assisted by reviewing 39 applications for recoverable grants for innovations in health and nutrition for children. And, between December 2023 and February 2024, we coached 6 social ventures as they worked to complete Social Venture Canvases to define their business models.
Following on from contracts in 2022–23, C ircle Innovation approached USV in October 2023 to support 4 Ugandan ventures through their WFP IGNITE SEED Innovation Programme . A second contract was signed after a successful demo day in April 2024, to continue to coach three of these teams through an additional ‘business lab’ phase until September 2024.
We ran two trainings for Rootical’s first cohort of 17 regenerative agricultural entrepreneurs. In the first in October 2023, we used USV’s Social Venture Canvas to identify assumptions behind their models and create prototyping tests. The second, in November, was on unit economics.
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
8
ACHIEVEMENTS & PERFORMANCE
Venture Building Services
At the start of July 2023, our venture building offering had been simplified into two offerings: Build and Grow.
Build targeted startups where the founders were not yet full-time or making regular sales to raise up to $40,000. Grow was designed for ventures seeking to raise pre-seed financing of up to $250,000. We supported the following ventures:
For Build:
-
Cheap Build - making eco-friendly interlocking bricks. After USV supported them to raise $20,000 in June 2023, they pivoted to more traditional building materials. So, we did not offer a Grow package.
-
Qiribu - Digitally automating companies’ payroll.
-
RevMake - refurbishing Lithium-ion batteries into recycled battery packs.
-
Skooltyme - an NFC-enabled system for schools to track entry/exit of students from their premises.
-
Village Savings and Agriculture Insurance - aggregating village savings groups to receive agricultural insurance products.
-
Zenpresso - a restaurant chain for Ugandan food.
-
Zimizo - an app that creates a market for investing in trees.
For Grow:
-
Asali Wa Moyo - premium honey sourced from around Uganda.
-
Ebenezer Clinic - a health center located in Ibanda.
-
Eugene Processors - selling seeds and advising farmers in Northern Uganda.
-
KaCyber - Digital ticketing system for transportation services such as buses, ferries, and trains.
-
Relive Farms - improving the potato value chain for smallholder farmers.
-
Vertical Farms - installing soil beds in tiered boxes for urban farming.
The design of venture building was to take all ventures through a prototyping phase ahead of making introductions to funders in order to validate their product-market fit, strategies for growth, and competency as founders. However, over the 12 months we discovered that we had made this process too arduous, so most startups stalled during the prototyping and funder introductions were not made.
Internal efficiency was further hindered by financial cash flow incentives always prioritising management’s focus on program cohorts and fund raising. To attempt to rectify this, repayment fees for Build and Grow were raised from $1,500 and $3,000, respectively to first $2,000 and $4,500, and then $3,000 and $6,000.
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
9
ACHIEVEMENTS & PERFORMANCE
Governance, Administration, and Raising Funds
The trustee board met four times during the year, led by our chair Renee Loades. There were no safeguarding incidents during the period.
In April 2024, Dan and Esteeri transitioned from full-time contracts with USV to become freelance contractors paid on the delivery of work. Leo also switched to a self-employed contract in October 2023 when he relocated from Uganda to the UK.
Throughout 2023, Max and Leo participated in the Collaborative Learning Initiative of the Issroff Family Foundation , through which the new three-year strategy was formulated. In July 2023, the Issroff Family Foundation donated $5,000 to USV as a mid-year grant. In December 2023, they gave a further $20,050 grant - the largest single grant in USV’s history. In June 2024, IFF donated a further $1,000.
In January 2024, we received $10,000 from bürger:sinn:stiftung to support our venture building work.
To strengthen USV’s fundraising efforts, we collected impact data from ventures. The raw anonymous data can be viewed in this Google Sheet . The key findings were USV has supported 182 social ventures. They have increased their annual incomes by $1.16M (132% growth) and created 272 net new jobs. The 99 ventures to have raised funding have collectively raised $6.7M. 34 ventures have successfully started to trade. And, those already trading when USV started supporting have a median compound annual growth rate of 55%.
----- Start of picture text -----
We would like
to thank our
partners for
their vital
support over
the year!
----- End of picture text -----
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
10
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The results for the year are detailed in the Statement of Financial Activities and Balance Sheet. Total income for 2023–24 was £71,733 , down from £87,380 in 2022–23. Total expenditure was £89,782 (previously £94,729), resulting in a deficit of £18,049 for the year.
As of 30th June 2024, the charity’s net assets stood at £6,198 .
The primary driver of this year’s financial shortfall was a 72% drop in program income , falling from £49,410 to £13,469. This was due to a combination of not securing new program contracts and the non-renewal of previous ones, such as the CAIF and Youth Startup Academy partnerships.
Despite this, there were encouraging signs of financial diversification. Grant income more than doubled , rising from £12,049 to £27,976, and revenue from venture repayments grew 5x — an early indication of product–market fit for our venturebuilding investment model.
In response to lower income, we implemented an HR restructuring that reduced our monthly operating costs to around £3,000. This cost-cutting measure ensured the charity’s position remained stable, provided that a major contract under negotiation was secured in early 2024–25.
FUTURE PLANS
As the 2023–24 year ended, USV had two strategic priorities:
-
In the short-term, to secure program contracts to meet immediate cash flow needs, and
-
In the medium-term, to validate the venture building investment model by reaching a proof-of-concept stage, with repayments from supported ventures.
Encouragingly, contract negotiations with United States International University– Africa were in an advanced stage and was completed on the 2nd July 2024.
Looking ahead, the organisation’s long-term sustainability depends on its ability to prove that the venture-building model can become self-financing. To reach this milestone, USV aims to secure sufficient upfront grant funding to support approximately 40 ventures per year for two years, enabling the model to reach scale and demonstrate its viability.
Renee Loades Chair of Trustees April 2025
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
11
THE ACCOUNTS
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
1st July 2023 – 30th June 2024
| Incoming Resources Donations and Legacies Charitable Activities |
Unrestricted Funds GBP 58,264 13,469 |
Restricted Funds GBP Total Funds GBP 0 0 58,264 13,469 _ oe |
Restricted Funds GBP Total Funds GBP 0 0 58,264 13,469 _ oe |
2022–23 Totals GBP 37,970 49,410 ae a |
Notes 1 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Incoming Resources |
71,733 | 0 = |
71,733 | 87,380 | |
| Resources Expended Raising Funds |
8,645 | 0 oe |
8,645 | 9,066 a |
3;6 |
| Charitable Activities Other |
70,900 10,237 |
0 0 70,900 10,237 oe |
72,763 12,900 a |
5;6 4;6 |
|
| Total Resources Expended |
89,782 | 0 = |
89,782 | 94,729 | |
| Net Income/ Expenditure |
-18,049 | 0 ee |
-18,049 | -6,681 a |
|
| Funds Brought Forward at Start of Period |
21,939 | 0 = |
21,939 | 28,620 | |
| Unrealised Exchange Gain On Translation |
2,309 | 0 | 2,309 | 0 | |
| Funds Carried Forward at End of Period |
6,198 | 0 = |
6,198 | 21,939 |
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
12
BALANCE SHEET FOR 30TH JUNE 2024
| 2023–24 | 2022–23 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Total | Notes | |
| GBP | GBP | ||
| Fixed Assets | |||
| Tangible Assets | 702 | 1,049 | 7 |
| Total Fixed Assets | 702 | 1,049 | |
| Current Assets | |||
| Debtors | 8,246 | 16,964 | |
| Cash At Bank and In Hand | 7,567 | 12,632 | |
| Total Current Assets | 15,813 | 29,596 | |
| Liabilities | |||
| Creditors | 10,317 | 8,707 | 8 |
| Net Current Assets | 5,496 | 20,889 | |
| Total Net Assets | 6,198 | 21,939 | |
| Charity Funds | |||
| Restricted Funds | 0 | 0 | |
| Unrestricted Funds | 6,198 | 21,939 | |
| Total Charity Funds | 6,198 | 21,939 |
Accounts approved by the trustee body on the 30th April 2025.
Renee Loades Chair of Trustees
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
13
LETTER FROM THE AUDITOR (1/3)
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
14
LETTER FROM THE AUDITOR (2/3)
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
15
LETTER FROM THE AUDITOR (3/3)
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
16
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
The accounts were prepared in accordance with: the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP 2015); the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (the FRSSE); and the 2011 Charities Act.
These accounts were prepared on the accruals basis of accounting. Hence, all income and charges relating to the financial period are brought into the accounts without regard to the date of payment or receipt.
Most of USV’s expenditure was in Ugandan Shillings (UGX). When calculating these costs in British Pounds, we used the exchange rate given by the Uganda Revenue Authority.
Disclosure of Trustees’ Remuneration, Benefits, and Expenses
None of the trustees have been paid any remuneration or received any other benefits from an employment with the charity or a related entity.
Disclosure of Related Party Transactions, General Volunteers, Staff Costs and Emoluments
Leo Henghes, as a co-founder, is a related party. He was paid a monthly gross salary of UGX 8.64M between July and September 2023. From October 2023 to June 2024, he was paid £1,150 per month. He worked fulltime in 2023 and 2.5 days per week in 2024. We have calculated his in-kind contribution for working at considerably below the market-rate for the year to be £28,281.
(1) INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES (ALL UNRESTRICTED)
| 2023–24 | 2022–23 | |
|---|---|---|
| GBP | GBP | |
| Crowdfunding | 0 | 5,230 |
| Grants | 27,976 | 12,049 |
| In-kind contribution | 28,281 | 18,215 |
| Other donations | 2,006 | 2,476 |
| Total | 58,264 | 37,970 |
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
17
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
(2) INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVIES (ALL UNRESTRICTED)
| 2023–24 | 2022–23 | |
|---|---|---|
| GBP | GBP | |
| Programs | 12,027 | 49,184 |
| Venture Building | 1,443 | 226 |
| Total | 13,469 | 49,410 |
(3) EXPENDITURE ON RAISING FUNDS (ALL UNRESTRICTED)
| Activities | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undertaken | Support | Total | Total | |
| Directly | Costs | 2023–24 | 2022–23 | |
| GBP | GBP | GBP | GBP | |
| Information Technology |
0 | 22 | 22 | 26 |
| Other | 0 | 7 | 7 | 83 |
| Human Resources | 0 | 8,505 | 8,505 | 8,826 |
| Equipment & Stationery |
0 | 6 | 6 | 39 |
| Travel | 0 | 106 | 106 | 92 |
| Conference Fees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 8,645 | 8,645 | 9,066 |
United Social Ventures Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24
18
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (4) EXPENDITURE ON OTHER COSTS (ALL UNRESTRICTED) Activities Support Total Total Undertaken Costs 2023–24 2022–23 Directly GBP GBP GBP GBP Bank Charges 196 0 196 198 Information 0 22 22 26 Technology Asset Depreciation 346 0 346 517 Human Resources 0 8,505 8,505 9,360 Equipment & 0 6 6 39 Stationery Legal Fees 0 0 0 0 Audit and Accounting 570 0 570 586 Exchange Rate Losses 0 0 0 1,356 Travel 0 106 0 92 Permission and 245 0 245 236 Licenses Other 235 7 242 490 Total 1,593 8,645 10,237 12,900 (5) EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES (ALL UNRESTRICTED) Activities Undertaken Support Total Total Directly Costs 2023–24 2022–23 GBP GBP GBP GBP 1,742 51,868 53,610 54,642 Venture Building 0 17,289 17,289 18,131 Total 1,742 69,157 70,900 72,763 United Social Ventures 19 Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24 Programs
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
(6) ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT COSTS (ALL UNRESTRICTED)
All support costs have been split between all activities with the ratio based upon approximate time spent on each one: 10% for raising funds; 60% for programs; 20% for ventures; and 10% for other administrative work.
|IT
HR
Travel
Equipment &
Stationery
Airtime
Meals &
Refreshments
Total
N|Raising
Funds
22
8,505
106
6
6
1
8,645|Programs
130
51,028
636
34
34
7
51,868|Venture
Building
43
17,009
212
11
11
2
17,289|Other
22
8,505
106
6
6
1
8,645|Total
216
85,047
1,060
56
56
12
86,447
~~|~~|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(7) FIXED ASSETS AND DEPRECIATION Tangible fixed assets are capitalised if they can be used for more than one year, and are valued at above £100.
----- Start of picture text -----
Value on 30th Value on 30th
June 2023 Depreciation June 2024
5 Laptops 1,049 346 703
Total 1,049 346 703
----- End of picture text -----
(8) CREDITORS On 30th June 2023, a total of £10,317 was owed to creditors.
This included: £8,420 for salaries due and £1,897 for other expenses.
United Social Ventures 20 Annual Report & Accounts 2023-24