Pathway One: New Investment

On this page you will find:

• About Pathway One
• Update on successful New Investment Round One initiatives
• Pathway One Round One and Two details
• Social Investment Fund FAQs
• Priority outcomes and cohorts for New Investment
• Webinar: New Investment Round Two
• About the Social Investment Fund

Pathway One is for new investments in initiatives that focus on priority cohorts and outcomes and strongly demonstrate the social investment approach.

Organisations seeking new investment will need to evidence how their proposed initiatives will support priority population groups (cohorts) to achieve one or more priority outcomes.

The organisations selected will need to be ready to work with the Social Investment Fund to help us test how Government and the social sector can work smarter together, including collaborative and robust approaches to evaluation and learning, secure data-sharing agreements; and outcome-based contractual arrangements centred on a theory of change.

Seven initiatives were selected to progress to contract negotiations for Round One of new investment funding in 2025. Read more on the Pathway One Selected Initiatives page.

Children with parents in prison are among those who will benefit from early intervention through the preferred seven new projects anticipated for funding by the Social Investment Fund. In this first round of funding, a total of $50 million is anticipated to go towards programmes reaching more than 1600 children, ranging from newborns through to eighteen-year-olds.

Preferred organisations were recommended by a panel made up of government and sector leaders.

Visit the Feedback from organisations page for a summary of feedback received from organisations that submitted in Round One and Round Two of the New Investment pathway.

Read answers to frequently asked questions about the Fund and the application process on the Social Investment Fund FAQs page.

Round Two is now closed

Social Investment Fund Pathway One: New Investment Round One and Two was a two-step open competitive procurement opportunity. The first step involved a Registration of Interest (ROI) period. Shortlisted applicants from the ROI process were then invited to submit a more detailed proposal through a Request for Proposal. 

Applicants will need to demonstrate that their proposals will support outcomes for one or more priority cohorts.

Priority cohorts

The cohorts are:

• Children whose parent(s) are currently or have recently been in prison,   
• Children of parent(s) who experienced the care system,
• Children that were stood down or suspended from school when they were 12 or younger, and
• Mothers who experience harm from substance use, and their children, from pregnancy up to age five. 

The cohorts have been chosen by Social Investment Fund Ministers based on Government priorities and the significant potential children in these cohorts (and their families) have to achieve improved outcomes later in life. Cohorts may change in future funding rounds.

Priority outcomes

The outcomes and measures for Round Two are:

17 February 2026

This webinar featured Joe Fowler, Deputy Chief Executive Investment & Commissioning at the Social Investment Agency, speaking about Round Two of the New Investment pathway. View the webinar recording below and on the Social Investment Fund Webinars page.

We have updated our FAQs based on the questions raised by participants in the webinar. See the Social Investment Fund FAQs  page to view FAQs relating to Pathway One.

The Social Investment Fund will:

• focus on priority outcomes and cohorts agreed by Fund Ministers
• invest early to help New Zealanders overcome a range of challenges to achieve their goals
• enable us to test and scale the social investment approach
• work in partnership with social sector organisations, iwi and other agencies.

In 2025 and early-2026, the Social Investment Fund will primarily make new investments in organisations that have the infrastructure and capacity to help us test and scale the social investment approach at pace. This work will pave the way for changes that will benefit the wider social sector.

Who can apply to the Social Investment Fund? 

We partner with organisations delivering health and social services across New Zealand. This includes:

• Registered charities and not-for-profit organisations
• Iwi and Māori organisations
• Whānau Ora providers
• Pacific organisations
• Community groups and trusts
• Social enterprises focused on health and social outcomes
• Other organisations with a primary purpose of delivering health and social services

To be eligible, organisations must be legally registered entities that can enter into contracts and have systems to safely collect and share participant information. Through the Fund, we're committed to working with organisations at different stages of capability and we will support successful applicants to meet our data and evaluation requirements.

If this funding pathway is not suitable for your organisation, you can explore the other opportunities to apply for funding from the Social Investment Fund:

• Pathway Two: Contract Consolidation 
• Pathway Three: Community Commissioning 
• Pathway Four: Co-investment