Richard Speak

Co-Founder and Managing Director

Richard co-founded Finance Earth in 2016 and leads the Fund Management part of the business. Richard has designed over 10 blended social or environmental impact funds, mobilising over £500m of capital, and delivered all of Finance Earths’ own managed funds.

Through Finance Earth, Richard led the design of the Natural Capital Investment Fund for DEFRA, which led to the creation of the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund and the UK Nature Impact Fund. He also acted as Investment Director for the £50m CORE fund, leading on fund design, structuring, acquisition, refinancing and ultimately exit, unlocking a £20m cashflow for associated community groups. He has significant experience across dozens of projects in leading the scoping, research, and development of financing structures for social enterprises, charities, corporates, and impact investors, working with organisations such as the National Trust, the Future Parks Accelerator, the Woodland Trust, the Power to Change Trust, Better Society Capital, DEFRA, DCMS, and WWF.

Richard worked for over ten years in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, where he completed over 50 transactions including large-scale European solar financings and sales, multiple Private Equity buy-outs, and a variety of sales of European family-owned businesses. In 2012, Richard set up two social enterprises in grassroots sport and redirected his career into impact investment, linking financial returns with improving social and environmental outcomes, and joined the UK’s leading social investment advisory firm Social Finance in 2013. As a Director at Social Finance, Richard raised the first-ever £10m Social Solar Bond aimed at reducing fuel poverty in the UK using solar technology, as well as completing over 15 other transactions involving more than £35m of social investment.

Richard is a Chartered Accountant and holds an LLB (Hons) in Law.

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