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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.
View resourceSummary
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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