Frontier Economics has collaborated with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI)—a driver of social change—to help it better understand and evidence its impact.

SEI does important work in the Irish social enterprise sector, but measuring impact is challenging 

SEI identifies and supports people with bold ideas to solve Ireland’s most pressing social issues. What sets SEI apart is its early-stage commitment—backing individuals before others see their potential. Through a unique combination of funding, coaching, strategic advice, and a powerful network, SEI empowers social entrepreneurs to scale their impact, not just their organisations. This people-first approach develops a community of changemakers who are driving positive change across sectors like health, education, and the environment. SEI’s long-standing record of successful ventures has helped shape a more inclusive, resilient Ireland.

Assessing SEI’s impact isn’t straightforward. Its work spans a wide array of sectors, initiatives, and stages of entrepreneurial development – from fledgling ideas to long-term strategic scaling. Many of the outcomes SEI helps create are qualitative, long-term, and often non-linear. Moreover, it’s difficult for SEI to observe the relevant counterfactual – how entrepreneurs might have performed without SEI’s support. This lack of visibility makes a standard impact evaluation difficult.

Frontier Economics developed a methodology to estimate SEI’s impact

To navigate this challenge, a team of Frontier economists worked on a pro-bono basis to develop a robust methodology that draws on research about the impact of similar organisations to assess SEI’s effectiveness. Frontier identified a group of organisations with similar functions to SEI – such as business accelerators, impact investors, angel investors, and philanthropic organisations.

There is a large body of academic literature that estimates the effects of these types of organisations on the entrepreneurs and enterprises they support. A key feature of many of these studies is in exploiting discontinuities. This means that studies were able to follow firms which were either just above or below the acceptance criteria of an SEI-like programme. In doing this, studies were able to observe the difference in outcomes as a result of programme participation at otherwise very similar firms. By synthesising this research, Frontier estimated the incremental value SEI likely generates through its work.

Our findings suggest that SEI creates significant value for Irish social enterprises

Our analysis suggests that SEI's support can lead to substantial improvements across several key outcomes:

• Survival rates increase by an additional 20% to 70% compared to firms which do not benefit from SEI programmes.
• Future funding increases by an additional 20% to 50% compared to firms which do not benefit from SEI programmes.
• Future sales grow by an additional 10% to 45% compared to firms which do not benefit from SEI programmes.
• Employment in social enterprises increases by an additional 10% to 45% compared to firms which do not benefit from SEI programmes.

Beyond these metrics, SEI’s support is also associated with higher rates of innovation – increasing by up to 80% – helping entrepreneurs bring new or improved products and services to market. This is unlocked through direct funding and enabled through access to mentoring, strategic guidance, and expert support.

Evidence also shows that wider supports beyond funding – like peer networking and help measuring social impact – amplify the above results. For example:
•    Peer networking can increase employment by 26%.
•    Enterprises receiving help with social impact measurement are 51% more likely to increase fundraising after programme completion.
•    Receiving help with team formation accelerates the enterprise into the next development stage by 72%.

Our findings are positive, but unlikely to capture the full benefit SEI brings to the sector

The estimates developed by Frontier are likely conservative, as they focus on the direct economic impact and do not attempt to capture the full social value of the solutions developed by SEI-backed entrepreneurs.

However, the results still present a compelling case. By increasing survival rates and accelerating the growth of social entrepreneurs, SEI contributes to broader societal benefits, helping entrepreneurs deliver meaningful change where it’s needed most.