Hi readers, 

Today’s newsletter comes to you from the Ventures Team at the Resolution Foundation. We exist to back early-stage tech ventures seeking to change the world of work and improve the prospects of low-to-middle income Britain through the Workertech Partnership. 

Last week’s Climate Tech edition put the E in ESG investing, and while the movement of investing in, and measuring the impact of, climate tech has grown in the past decade, it’s now time to focus on the S – social.

In this edition we’ll be exploring what this means in practice, and sharing ideas that are already making the world of work a better place.  

Have a great weekend, 

Emma
Ventures Manager at Resolution Foundation

#Supporting the World of Work

Tackling insecurity in the world of work has never been more pressing. The Resolution Foundation’s research on low pay shows there has been significant growth in the number of atypical workers in the UK. For example, workers who are self-employed, or in part-time work, temporary work, agency work or zero-hours contracts. Working in these types of roles can be linked to low pay, difficult working conditions, and lack of progression or training opportunities. With the additional labour market shocks of COVID-19, these issues need tackling fast.     
 

Traditional investors are already starting to integrate workforce impact into their due diligence. The Workforce Disclosure Initiative coalition, a network of investors that commit to integrating workforce issues into their investment process, recently recorded their highest ever number of companies disclosing workforce data to the network. This included information such as diversity, pay ratios and supply chain policies.  

In 2016 we partnered with Bethnal Green Ventures (BGV) to explore how we could best support WorkerTech – tech products and services geared towards shaping a fairer future of work. Building on our past work and capitalising on the potential of technology and social investment, the Resolution Foundation, in partnership with Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Friends Provident Foundation, Accenture, Ufi VocTech Trust and Trust for London, has created a £1.3million fund to back start-ups with the mission of tackling significant problems in the UK’s labour market. 

We are continuing to work with BGV to support Workertech ventures through their 12-week Tech for Good programme and £30k investment, for which applications are open now. 

While diverse in their application of technology, all the ventures we support, share a core purpose in improving the lives of people in precarious work:  

Organise – is a worker driven campaigns platform, helping anyone to start a campaign for free. They  provide members with tools, support and the confidence to raise their collective voice, and improve everyone’s working lives.

TaskHer - is an online platform which empowers users to find, book and pay experienced tradeswomen, whilst addressing the gender imbalance in the trades industry. 

Curo – is a digital career coach for people balancing working and caring for a loved one. The platform provides resources, tips and connection to the caring community so that users are better able to juggle work and caring.

Breakroom - is the people-powered job comparison site for hourly work. It helps workers compare their jobs to find out if they’re getting a good deal at work. Through surveying workers, all hourly jobs are rated. 

Earwig - is a construction site review platform empowering temporary workers to never take a bad job again. You can see the rest of our current venture portfolio on our website.   
 

We’ll be sharing more of our work over the coming months and building a community dedicated to WorkerTech. Here are some useful links for staying in touch:

• Join our WorkerTech meetup community here.    
• Sign up to our Workertech newsletter here
• Read more about our work
• Apply for investment

News in Workertech:

🏍 In Indonesia there’s been a new market in competing technologies helping gig workers to out-smart allocation algorithms to improve their working conditions.

📑 Ufi VocTech Trust published their VocTech Challenge White Paper, setting out their commitment to use technology to provide opportunity to those most affected by the digital divide.

 ⌚️  The Living Wage Foundation reported that almost two-fifths of working adults are given less than a week’s notice of working hours in their research on working hours insecurity.

🧑‍🍳 The pandemic helped us recategorize “low-skill” jobs to “essential” but this rhetoric shift has not resulted in fair pay or benefits overnight. When making policy decisions it’s important to remember that low-skill workers aren’t a problem to be fixed.  

💪 The financial resilience of a huge proportion of households in Europe has been damaged during the COVID-19 crisis, with borrowing increasing and savings used up. The Resolution Foundation found that digital technologies have significant potential to contribute to improved financial resilience. 

💵 The New Jersey State State Office for Innovation, in partnership with RSA and The Workers Lab, announced the launch of the Future of Work Accelerator to support innovations improving worker conditions, opportunities and voices.
 

🤳   With the rise of the home office, Prospect explored the concept of Right to Disconnect, the principle of setting boundaries around when employees can be contacted about work.

The tech for good newsboard 📍

• Interested in how you can embed ethics into your organisation? Hattusia has a whole host of resources, blogs and tools to help you do just that. You can also check out this guest edit from Hattusia founder Alice Thwaite. 

• Don’t worry if you missed our Tech for For Good UK Organisers Network launch event - you can access all the shared resources here. 

• Rolling invitation for anyone interested in joining our Slack community. Connect with more than 220+ peers passionate about tech for good. 

• Applications for BGV’s Autumn 2021 Tech for Good programme are now open! Apply to receive investment and support from Europe’s leading early-stage tech for good VC. Apply by 13th June 2021. 

• Entries to the European Social Innovation Competition close on 12 May. It’s open to early stage ideas and ventures in the EU and UK working under the theme of 'Skills for tomorrow: Shaping a green and digital future'. Selected entrants will receive tailored support to develop their ideas and three winners will receive €50,000.
• You still have time to apply for an award in the CogX Festival - a Global Leadership Summit and Festival of AI & Transformational Technology. Submissions close on 14th May.
• 1000 Black Voices Black Tech Accelerator is open for applications now! Apply by 11th May. 
• Wikimedia Deutschland is calling for open source activists and creative minds to help build the future of Free Knowledge. Apply for their UNLOCK Accelerator by 16th May.

• The Social Venture Incubator from the University of Cambridge has expert business advice, training and networking for social ventures with a strong social mission at the core of their businesses. Find out more and Apply by 21st June. 
   

If you have a funding challenge, grant opening, speaking gig or another opportunity that you want to share - let us know!

What’s going on? 📅

• Join this WorkerTech Q&A on 13th May  - talking about tech and the future of work 

• Are you interested in investing in impact and the tech for good space? Join NorthInvest, Bethnal Green Ventures and the Newcastle Angel Hub at this virtual pitch event. 

• Join one of many virtual Q&As BGV are running and learn more about their investment thesis and approach. Sign up here. 

• ‘Pay what you can’ for the Impact Summit on the 19th and 20th May. Check out the speakers and get your tickets here. 

• The Data4Good Festival is taking place from 10-12th May, and is jam-packed with different sessions to help charities transform their impact.

• Join the largest positive impact gathering in the world and get tickets to the Change Now online summit. 

Want an event publicising? Add your event to our website! We’ll make sure to pop it in the next edition.

Working in tech for good 💼

We’ve trimmed the job section to new arrivals and featured ads only. For the full list head to our website.

• GoodGym are looking for an experienced or mid-level React developer to help take their platform to the next level. Apply by 31st May.

• Nation.Better are looking for a Sales Executive to join their growing team. Find out more here.

• TallkLife are hiring for a number of roles via the Kickstart scheme, including a Community Manager and Office Manager.

• Simprints have lots of opportunities including: Partnership and Communications Manager, Partnerships Manager, Technical Project Manager, Solution Architect, Android Engineering Lead and Senior Android Engineer

• Iterative want a Senior Frontend Developer to join their team. Apply by 4th July.

• Sourcery are looking for a Co-Founder/COO with strong communication skills to help shape the future of the company. Apply by 31st May.

• Bloom Works are looking for a Senior Software Engineer. Find out more here and apply by 31st May.

• Jangala wants a Full Stack developer to join their team. Find out more here and apply by 11th May. 

• mySociety are hiring a Delivery Manager for their Climate Programme. Apply by 24th May.

• Health Data Hub are looking for a Technical Architect, a SecOps engineer and a Release Manager. All applications are open until 31st August.

• We Are With You are looking for a Senior UX designer to join their team. Deadline to apply  is 17th May.

• Calling all Product Engineers - accuRx are hiring. Find out more and apply by 31st May 2021.

• Year Here have a number of positions open, including a Head of Ventures and a Programme Manager. Find out more here.

If you have an opening or know of a job opportunity to do with tech for good, please head to our website and we can look into adding it to the jobs board.

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