Established in 1998 with a £200 million endowment from the National Lottery, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) is working to transform the UK's capacity for innovation.

NESTA invests in all stages of the innovation process, backing new ideas and funding new ventures that stimulate entrepreneurship. It is also a catalyst for UK innovation. Its strong evidence base helps to influence policy. Its partnerships and networks broker ideas across sectors, accelerating the process of innovation. Its pioneering models of investment are being adopted by organisations throughout the UK. Underpinning NESTA's work is the fundamental view that successful innovation fuels long-term economic and social progress in the UK. It's an essential ingredient of NESTA's competitive edge in the global market place.

NESTA is a public endowment. This gives it more freedom than other investors, allowing it to be a genuine risk-funder, to take a longer-term view and to invest in the most promising new ideas. NESTA is uniquely placed to invest in the innovation which happens at the meeting place of science, technology and the arts. And it creates cross-sector networking hubs and partnerships to facilitate this. NESTA adds value to its financial investments, combining access to seed capital with business support. This significantly increases the chances of the successful commercialisation and helps businesses to become investment-ready.

NESTA is also building a strong evidence base, and has successfully tested new models of support. It is using these to influence UK policy making, and to change practice. It is this holistic approach to UK innovation which makes NESTA distinctive.