Summative assessment of the Invest-Ability Pathway

AMION recently completed an evaluation of the Innovate UK Business Growth funded Invest-Ability Pathway on behalf of Newable. The project was the successor to the Pitchfest project, also delivered by Newable and evaluated by AMION.

The Invest-Ability Pathway ran from April 2022 to March 2024 and provided two types of support:

• Invest-Ability Training – this was available to suitable businesses on the Pathway that were seeking to raise equity finance. The training programme included rigorous, structured training in the fundamentals of investment readiness, including constructive feedback from investors through a final investor panel.
• Pitch Panels – these offered clients exposure to real investors for constructive and confidence-building feedback on their pitch. Pitch Panels were designed for businesses further along in their investment-readiness journeys than those accessing Invest-Ability Training and which generally already had a strong investor pitch.

AMION were commissioned to carry out an evaluation covering issues such as: strategic relevance of the project; extent to which outputs had been achieved; management and delivery; impacts and value for money; and identification of strengths and areas for improvement.

The evaluation involved discussions with a range of delivery partners. The project had already supported businesses to raise investment, with substantially greater investment expected in the future. The project is also expected to deliver substantial employment and Gross Value Added benefits. Furthermore, the project has successfully addressed a range of barriers to investment faced by beneficiaries.