Social ventures, such as using technology to improve social problems, are hard to scale and measure. An impact accelerator program is using social science to track social impact.

Scaling refers to taking an intervention that is successful in a research study, or specific context, and making it available to a broader population. Many governments, not-for-profits and companies are interested in scaling, and tracking the impact of a scaled program, but this is rarely done effectively. Technological tools are often used to address social problems, but it’s hard to know how effective this is to people’s lives.

Kieron Boyle, CEO of 100x, an impact accelerator program based at the London School of Economics (LSE), is building a database to track data on the impact of innovation projects. The data seeks to answer common policy implementation questions, such as:

‘When does reaching more people diminish or amplify the effectiveness of an innovation? Do any solutions cause greater harm than good? Are some ideas solutions in search of a problem? Where does accountability lie, and to whom? And why isn’t there a more organised capital structure for social innovation?’

100x seeks to use ‘social science knowledge to improve society.’ They provide £150,000 in funding to established social enterprises (companies tackling pressing social or environmental issues). Companies join a 12-week program, which includes mentorship and connections to international philanthropists and business leaders. The aim is to scale a ‘radical solution to a social problem.’

Examples of 100x social ventures include:

• An online mapping tool integrating government health centre locations, road network and population density data to create a heatmap of healthcare access in Uganda
• A Social Emotional Learning and wellbeing class that is integrated into daily lessons for 2.4 million students across three states in India. The program is tracking the impact of the classes on academic performance, attendance and social-emotional skills
• An AI-powered app that connects humanitarian workers with interpreters who translate instantaneously, to enable them to provide more effective refugee services

Boyle has a Bachelor in Social and Political Sciences and a Master of Philosophy in International Relations. Aside from his role at the LSE, Boyle is currently the Director of the Marshall Institute. He was previously Chair and Chief Executive at the Impact Investing Institute, and he also led the UK Government’s efforts on social innovation, as a Senior Advisor at No.10 Downing Street and Head of Strategic Policy at the UK Foreign Office.

Learn more about Boyle’s work at 100x: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2025/03/19/what-the-search-for-a-social-unicorn-tells-us-about-scaling-impact/