How are Swedish social entrepreneurs financing theirbusinesses? : A survey of Swedish social entrepreneurs’ access to funding

Social entrepreneurship and related concepts have received an increasing amount of attention during the last years. Social entrepreneurship is characterized by ventures with a social mission, seeking to address societal challenges and needs. The social goal is the primary goal of the business activities whereas generating economic profit is not the main objective, yet still possible. Social entrepreneurship is often seen as a powerful tool for creating sustainable development, a fundamental goal of many businesses, countries and organizations today. Just like any other firm, social entrepreneurs need finance in order to exist. This thesis seeks to examine how Swedish social entrepreneurs finance their businesses. A questionnaire was sent out to Swedish social entrepreneurs and the results suggest that Swedish social entrepreneurs to a large extent rely on governmental funds and support, personal resources and internally generated capital. Access to the traditional banking system seems to be limited compared to traditional entrepreneurs. There seems to be a gap between the demand and supply of external capital since the majority of the respondents believe that they have a limited access to external capital. 60 per cent of the respondents reported a positive economic result in the last fiscal year. Furthermore, the majority of the respondents want to expand their businesses in the future but the largest obstacles seem to be lack of financing and political aspects. The respondents hope for, among other things, an improved attitude towards social entrepreneurship in general, more financing and increased collaboration with Swedish municipalities. Altogether the results highlight the role of the government in supporting and promoting this type of firms in Sweden