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31 July 2026
Designing Finance Around Place: Four Insights from Co-designing a Community Investment Fund in Regional Australia
By Regen Labs
This insights paper, written by Phil Freeman, Dimity Podger and Reece Proudfoot of Regen Labs, shares four lessons from co-designing a Community Investment Fund in regional Australia. It argues that financing regenerative, community-led economic transition depends on more than capital alone.
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This insights paper, written by Phil Freeman, Dimity Podger and Reece Proudfoot of Regen Labs, shares four lessons from an 18-month project co-designing a Community Investment Fund for regional Australia. It draws on interviews, workshops and a feasibility study involving enterprise leaders, community foundations, philanthropic funders, impact investors and government.
The paper sets out four key insights:
- investing in enterprise ecosystems, not just individual enterprises, can create outsized collective impact
- Australia's catalytic investors can fund pilot place-based funds, though scaling will need institutional partners
- blending local and outside capital builds trust and unlocks scale, and
- established Community Foundations may offer a faster, trusted pathway to impact than building new institutions from scratch
It's useful for funders, investors, philanthropic foundations and policymakers exploring how to finance regenerative, community-led economic change in regional Australia.
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WebinarsThis resource is currently being developed. If you would like to be notified when it is published, please email team@understorey.org.au.
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