Impact Investing: Unrest VC & Accelerator

The challenge:

‍Unrest had supported more than 60 impact-driven companies with a combined enterprise value of approximately £175 million. Its media profile needed to reflect that track record.

With AI dominating venture capital headlines and the ESG backlash casting doubt over impact investing, Unrest needed to make its commercial case: businesses solving social and environmental problems can also build significant value.

Our brief was to strengthen its visibility and credibility among prospective LPs and advisers, ambitious founders and the wider UK startup ecosystem.

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The approach:

We built a PR programme around the people behind Unrest, original research into the market it serves, and practical perspectives on building and backing early-stage businesses.

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1. The founder story

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We secured a profile in The Times exploring how Orr Vinegold’s experience standing against the SNP shaped his approach to building Unrest.

The story connected his personal journey with the firm’s investment philosophy, showing how community, shared values and commercial ambition had helped build a portfolio of 60+ companies. It gave readers a reason to remember both the founder and the business.

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2. Owned data: the Early-Stage Fundraising Pulse

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We designed, ran and analysed the Early-Stage Fundraising Pulse 2026, surveying more than 160 UK founders.

The research brought fresh evidence to the debate about access to capital, revealing that a third of respondents were fundraising with six months’ runway or less. It gave journalists original stories and positioned Unrest as a source of insight into the realities of building a business.

The findings secured coverage in The Observer and Tech Funding News and the Financial Times' specialist publication FTAdviser, spanning the concentration of funding in AI and differences in capital efficiency between solo founders and founding teams.

Alongside the research, we identified media opportunities through Unrest’s Impact Investor Office Hours, using participating startups to demonstrate the breadth of businesses emerging from its community.

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3. Give Unrest a distinct voice in Venture Capital

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We developed commentary and opinion pieces that connected Pan and Orr’s experience with the questions facing founders and investors:

• Impact investing’s commercial case: Pan’s Entrepreneur UK article explained why building impact into a product can create a competitive advantage.
• The economics of AI: Orr’s Entrepreneur UK article explored the risks founders face when venture capital stops subsidising the tools they depend on.
• Access to capital and company building: commentary in the Financial Times, FT Adviser and PitchBook addressed the changing venture market, deal terms and the opportunities and challenges facing early-stage businesses.

The results:

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In six months, we secured 13 pieces of coverage across nine national, business and startup publications, building a consistent media presence for Unrest.

Coverage spanned The Times, Financial Times, FT Adviser, The Observer, Sifted, PitchBook, Entrepreneur UK, Tech Funding News and TechRound.

The programme gave Unrest several routes into the venture capital conversation: a memorable founder story, proprietary research journalists could reference, and informed perspectives on investment and company building.

The Early-Stage Fundraising Pulse featured in The Observer’s analysis of the AI funding boom and generated a dedicated Tech Funding News story. Sifted’s selection of 21 university spinouts to watch featured Pan’s expertise alongside companies from Unrest’s Impact Investor Office Hours.

We then adapted coverage into LinkedIn content to extend its visibility among Unrest’s investor and founder networks.

Together, the coverage showcased Unrest’s founders, market knowledge and startup community—giving prospective investors and founders a clearer picture of its expertise and approach.

Read more:

• The Times: Losing an election to the SNP taught me how to build community
• Financial Times: Start-ups move fast with AI-generated code
• FT Adviser: Advice firms need to adapt or face being cut out of venture
• The Observer: British venture capital funding is booming, if you’re an AI firm
• Sifted: 21 spinouts to watch, according to VCs
• Entrepreneur UK: Impact-led isn’t greenwashing, it’s a profit driver
• Tech Funding News: Exclusive: Solo founders hit £100K ARR twice as often as startup teams on 44% less capital

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