The £2.5 million Adventure Capital Fund (ACF) programme was launched in as a demonstration programme. Designed to test the effectiveness of making direct investments in independent community-based organisations that were working in disadvantaged neighbourhoods or with marginalised communities, the programme aimed to foster an enterprising culture within the participating organisations and increase their capacity, accelerate their growth and improve their sustainability. This report by Stephen Thake, then reader in Urban Policy at London Metropolitan University, reviews the progress of the ACF programme from its origins in early 2002 through to the end of June 2004.