What are the investment schemes uk ‘SEIS’ and ‘EIS’?
Investment schemes UK – SEIS and EIS schemes logos. Image from Jonathanlea.net
When searching for funding for your startup or early-stage business, you may have come across the venture capital schemes – Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). These investment schemes UK are marketed as win-win situations for both startup founders and funding investors when making investment decisions.
SEIS and EIS are government initiatives that offer a range of tax reliefs to potential investors. In exchange, these venture capital schemes help startup founders in their fundraising efforts by investing capital, which in turn helps decrease financial barriers for SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) in their early and mid-years.
Funding helps your business to grow. Image from Hubspot.net
SEIS and EIS funds may be recommended to you by your startup advisor or startup fundraising consultant. This is because fundraising is a key problem when developing and growing startup companies. In fact, financial problems account for 16% of all startup failures (via www.failory.com). This means that taking advantage of the SEIS and EIS funds could help prevent the financial downfall of your startup. Here’s a breakdown of how they work:
- Eligible businesses apply for funding from investors
- Those investors receive benefits such as tax breaks in return
Scale up your startup with funding help. Image from https://img-cdn.inc.com
As a result, by incentivising investment opportunities with tax breaks to investors, the UK startup industry is kept healthy and thriving. This also makes UK businesses more attractive to potential investors.
And the schemes have clearly worked, too. As of 2021, the UK is home to 5,377 startups, making it the third country in the world with the highest startup efforts (via www.firstsiteguide.com)!
Interested in finding out if you’re eligible for SEIS or EIS funding? Read our guide below for more information.
SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme)
First implemented in the UK in 2012, SEIS is relatively new in the investment world. This seed investment scheme focuses on earlier stage companies by investing money for growth and expansion.
The funding limit for SEIS is £150,000, and companies must follow the 4 month/70% rule attached to it. This means that before companies can apply for full SEIS, they must have traded for a minimum of 4 months or have spent 70% of the SEIS investment.
SEIS funding requirements. Image from www.angelsden.com
Is my startup eligible for SEIS funding?
As with all schemes, there are certain stipulations regarding which startups are eligible for SEIS funding. For example:
- Your company must have been trading for a maximum of 2 years
- It must have no more than 25 employees
- Your company must have no more than £200,000 gross assets
- You must have had no investment funding from a Venture Capital Trust or the EIS
SEIS benefits. Image from www.angelsden.com
What’s in it for a startup investor?
To sweeten the deal, seed investors are offered an array of benefits to attract investment. These include:
- Income Tax relief to investors of 50% against the amount invested, up to £100,000 each tax year
- An exemption from Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on any gain from the sale of your shares if the shares have been held for over 3 years
- CGT write-off of 50% of the investment amount in the same tax year
- Shares are generally Inheritance Tax (IHT) free, providing they have been held for over 2 years
- Loss relief meaning that investors can offset any shares sold at a loss against CGT or Income Tax
- Investors can carry back part or all of the investment in the year prior to investment
EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme)
The Enterprise Investment Scheme, or the EIS Investment Scheme, suits small and medium-sized businesses. It is better suited to more mature companies or a larger business. The scheme was created in 1994 and is therefore much more established and well-known in the UK than SEIS.
An eligible investor can invest up to £1mil per tax year under the EIS. The return on this has the potential to be much higher than those made under SEIS.
EIS funding requirements. Image from: www.angelsden.com
Is my startup eligible for EIS funding?
If you’re a startup founder, your company must meet the following criteria in order to qualify for EIS funding:
- Your company must have been trading for less than 7 years (or 10 years for Knowledge Intensive companies)
- You must have less than 250 employees (or 500 employees for Knowledge Intensive companies)
- Your company must have no more than £15mil gross assets to be eligible for the EIS Fund
EIS benefits. Image from www.angelsden.com
What’s in it for the investor?
As with the SEIS, there are perks and incentives involved in taking advantage of the EIS. For example:
- There are exemptions from CGT gain from the sale of their shares for investors who have held for more than 3 years
- They can defer up to 100% of their investment total against any CGT incurred up to 1 year before or 3 years after disposal
- Shares are generally IHT free, as long as they have been held for at least 2 years
- Investors can offset any shares sold at a loss against CGT or Income Tax
- Investors can carry back part or all of the investment in the year prior to investment
Investment schemes UK
SEIS and EIS: Other points to consider
There are also some points to consider before applying for investment schemes UK such as SEIS and EIS funding. For example:
- Investors’ equity stake must be 30% or lower in order to be eligible for EIS or SEIS tax relief.
- You may raise both SEIS and EIS at the same time but you cannot issues shares under both schemes on the same day.
- There are limits on the money you can raise with these schemes. The maximum amount of funds that you can raise under SEIS, EIS, and Venture Capital Trusts is £12mil (or £20mil for ‘Knowledge Intensive’ companies).
Summary of investment schemes uk (SEIS and EIS)
SEIS and EIS are part of an investment scheme UK strategy to encourage direct investments in SMEs by offering tax breaks, such as income tax relief, to individual investors. The core differences between SEIS and EIS are that they are suitable for different types of startups and that they offer varying tax benefits to investors. SEIS funds are ideal for early-stage companies, whereas EIS are often better for more mature companies.
If you’d like personal advice on fundraising or more information on investment and go to market expansion in Saudi Arabia, contact us today.
Tags: Startup funding, venture capital, scaleups, fundraising, why do startups fail, equity research, SEIS, EIS, government funding
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Amit Khanna, 7startup Founder
Amit is an investor and advisor with two decades of experience and an MBA. He supports entrepreneurs with fundraising & go-to-market expansion in Saudi Arabia. His strategy is built on two pillars: deep investment acumen and a vast operational network. Reach out to us today and see if we’re a fit!
