£40m for growing firms
Article Date: May 23 2006
Two new Enterprise Capital Funds, worth £40 million, have been announced by the Small Business Minister Margaret Hodge to help provide assistance to growing businesses trapped in the so-called equity gap.
Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) aim to address the lack of equity capital in the £500,000 to £2 million bracket, in which a number of businesses struggle to raise the finance necessary for expansion. ECFs invest a combination of private and public money.
'These new funds will help many businesses that might otherwise have been unable to develop their potential because there was no equity finance available to them,’ explains Hodge. ‘These funds demonstrate how the Government is actively working with private investors to create an environment where British businesses are given the world-class support they need to succeed.'
The Seraphim Capital Fund, a £30 million generalist co-investment fund that will invest alongside leading business angels and other private investors, will provide the lion’s share of the new money. The fund will be managed by a coalition of business angel networks and will focus on investments in companies throughout the UK predominantly in the early stages of development.
Focused more on early-stage technology businesses, the Amadeus Enterprise Capital Fund provides the remaining £10 million and will be managed by Amadeus Capital Partners, one of the country's leading investors in the technology sector.
These will join two existing ECFs announced in March 2006: The £25 million IQ Capital Fund, focused on technology-based SMEs needing investments of up to £1.5 million; and 21st Century Sustainable Technology Growth Fund, a £30 million fund which will operate across the UK and focus on high growth companies employing leading edge sustainable technology
To find out more, email the ECF team at enterprise@sbs.gsi.gov.uk.
