Scottish responsible finance provider Social Investment Scotland (SIS) has appointed community finance expert Arran Dewar as executive director of SIS Ventures, its wholly owned early-stage impact investor.

Dewar joins SIS Ventures from Inspiring Scotland, a venture philanthropy organisation which aims to improve the lives people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In his new role with SIS Ventures, Dewar will be responsible for growing the volume and diversity of businesses within the portfolio, working with existing investees to maximise their impact, and attracting more funding from private investors.

One of his first priorities will be to lead the launch of a fourth round of fundraising for Impact First, the fund established in 2018 to support impact-led businesses in Scotland.

Impact First has, to date, raised and deployed £4.4 million to date among 12 high-growth early-stage businesses, all focusing on delivering impact.

The portfolio includes Carcinotech, MiAlgae, SOLASTA Bio, Talking Medicines, Dxcover, Enterobiotix, Manus Neurodynamica, Trojan Energy, Cyacomb and Good-Loop.

Dewar joins the SIS leadership team and will report into Alastair Davis CEO.

In his previous role at Inspiring Scotland, Dewar led the CashBack for Communities fund on behalf of Scottish Government, focussed on improving the quality of life of disadvantaged young people in Scotland.

A qualified Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience working in business advisory, investment and portfolio management, due diligence and finance, Dewar has previously held roles with EY, Saffery Champness and Deloitte before turning his attentions to the third sector.

Social Investment Scotland CEO Alastair Davis said: “Arran’s expertise and experience in managing an impact-focused fund will be invaluable to SIS Ventures, as we look to scale up our activities over the coming year.”