Bayesian Shift makes first investment with Ethex

Think of market traders and you’ll likely conjure up pictures of unscrupulous stockbrokers who play the financial markets and reward themselves with huge bonuses. Bayesian Shift is a pioneering business that turns that stereotype on its head and Ethex is super excited to be working with them!

Bayesian Shift is the brainchild of financial trader Mark Waddoups and machine learning expert Tennessee Hickling. The founders wanted to find a way to use their talents and experience to create social and environmental impact. They utilise surpluses, over and above a fair salary, for social causes, setting an example to the rest of the financial industry on how wealth can (and should) be shared for the greater good.

Since starting trading in 2019, the company have directly pledged £325,000 to socially impactful organisations, with £250,000 made in donations to charities and £75,000 in pledged low-cost financing for impactful initiatives.

When the founders got in touch with Ethex to say they were interested in investing in some of the impactful projects on our platform, we immediately saw the synergies between our two businesses and we’re delighted that they have pledged to invest £75,000, this year, into social investment opportunities through Ethex. 

The first £25,000 has already been made into the Solar for Schools bond offer, which is live on the platform. This investment will help Solar for Schools to install solar panels on more UK schools, generating clean energy, cutting bills and educating students on our clean energy transition. It’s a fantastic project for Bayesian Shift to get on board with and will add to their already impressive impact track record which includes funding for food banks, rewilding schemes, malaria protection and neighbourhood volunteering projects.

Future investments made by Bayesian Shift into projects on the Ethex platform will be set up as match funding, so every pound our investors put in will be matched up to £25,000. This is an excellent way to encourage investment to support impactful organisations and will effectively double the impact of these investments.

Lisa Ashford CEO of Ethex says: “We are impressed by the strong social and environmental motivation  Bayesian Shift have demonstrated so far and grateful for their pledge to invest in projects listed on the Ethex platform. Ethex is on a mission to help more people use their money to create a positive impact and,  their first investment in the Solar for Schools bond offer will help leverage more investment from the crowd to reach their target so they can deploy solar on up to 25 schools across the UK, reduce carbon emissions and scale up their school education programme.’’

Tenessee Hickling says of the partnership: "We're very excited to collaborate with Ethex to further our vision of positive change within the financial industry. We stand by the idea that the sector's immense resources should be channelled towards fostering a real, positive impact on society and the environment, rather than the enrichment of a narrow section of society. The direct investment opportunities into impactful organisations that Ethex offers makes them the ideal partner to advance this goal. Our initial investment in the Solar for Schools bond offer is just the beginning. We are deeply committed to supporting impactful organisations and look forward to encouraging others to invest in such crucial projects through our match funding."