Big Issue Invest (BII) has committed to a significant new investment in VU X Earth Limited, a social enterprise, and owner of the Village Underground and EartH Hackney live performance venues in London.
The growth funding will allow improvements to the EartH performance venues, and additional refurbishment to be undertaken so that the business can develop the training workspace needed to train young people entering the industry.
The funding will allow Village Underground and EartH to extend their reach to young talent through creative development opportunities.
VU will be collaborating with local providers such as Hackney Empire, Hackney Music Services and Progression Sessions on projects that platform young artists and train young creatives for careers in the industry over the next five years.
This February, EartH is collaborating with Hackney Empire to showcase young talent in the borough. The event is being put on by the Hackney Empire Young Producers who create their own events for young people like them.
This is only the start of the creative training programme, with projects to come including Progression Sessions coming to EartH, enabling young people to create and record their own music.
"It is amazing to put our gig on at EartH because it makes the possibility of being a full time musician feel more real and in my reach in a space that loads of big artists have performed at too,” said a HE Young Producer about the Young Producers project.
Furthermore, the investment will enable VU to build on its 15 year legacy of providing a platform to showcase emerging talent, support artists launching their careers, as well as more established musicians from refurbished, upgraded sites.
Acts which have performed in the relaunched venues since September 2021 include IDLES, Arlo Parks, Katy B and Bastille, as well as comedians Katherine Ryan and Nish Kumar.