When you invest in young, small firms that qualify for the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) you could generate significant returns if the firm prospers.
But that’s far from certain. Investing in this
kind of business is risky and many will fail. Therefore, to encourage
investment and to temper some of the risk, the government offers generous EIS tax reliefs:
Save up to 30% on your income tax bill – up to £300,000 per year (or £600,000 when investing in knowledge-intensive companies)
Very generous allowance – up to £1 million (or £2 million if anything above £1 million is invested in knowledge-intensive companies)
Enjoy tax-free growth
Defer capital gains from other investments – potentially indefinitely
Offset any future losses against your income, so you save income tax
Pass on your investment free of IHT
Remember, tax rules can change and tax benefits depend on circumstances.
See all our current EIS offers below, for allotment in 2021/22. You can filter by type – fund, or single company. If you're interested in an offer you cannot see here, please get in touch.
Co-invest with Haatch Ventures, backing founder of £80m Attraqt Group plc in new award-winning B2B SaaS platform helping e-commerce retailers convert browsers to buyers.
Market-leading SaaS provider of transformative parking solutions to public sector and blue-chip customers backed by Aviva, Hyundai and Sumitomo Corporation
The Scale-up EIS fund is one of two EIS funds from Fuel Ventures. It seeks to make investments into early-stage digital businesses operating in three key areas: marketplaces, platforms, software as a service. The fund is managed by successful entrepreneur-turned-investor Mark Pearson.
Co-invest alongside Deepbridge Capital and sector specialists in MedTech that could make early diabetes screening faster and more accurate – saving healthcare providers £millions
The MMC EIS Fund focuses on technology-enabled businesses. For instance, it invests in financial and business services, digital media, ecommerce and software solutions for business.
New EIS offering from the manager of Octopus Titan VCT. The Octopus Ventures team invests in some of the UK’s fastest-growing private technology companies.
Par EIS is a technology growth EIS fund which co-invests with business angels from Par Equity's well established network. It focuses on the “equity gap” outside London: opportunities that are beyond the reach of an individual business angel but not quite big enough for private equity to be interested.
Parkwalk is an interesting high-growth fund that looks to back patented technology with commercial potential coming out of UK universities. The fee structure incentivises management to seek exits rather than sit on investments.
Last opportunity to invest under EIS: fast-growing HealthTech 50 company co-founded by Chair of the NHS Confederation, Lord Victor Adebowale. Dubbed ‘Zoom for medics’, Visionable is a video collaboration platform specifically designed for healthcare professionals.
The Blackfinch Ventures EIS fund invests in technology-focused EIS-qualifying companies, which it believes can solve real-world problems and which target large addressable markets.
The British Robotics Scale-Up Fund looks to invest in the most promising companies from the British Robotics SEIS Funds in the manager’s view. This offer will target businesses operating purely within the UK robotics sector, with a particular emphasis on automation technology.
The Calculus Creative Content EIS fund has been launched in collaboration with the British Film Institute (BFI). The Calculus Creative Content EIS fund specialises in media investments, particularly within TV & film production.
Calculus Capital has been at the forefront of EIS investing for years, having created the UK’s first approved EIS Fund in 1999. This offer focuses on later-stage businesses with growth potential and will be typically split between a minimum of five investments.
The Committed Capital Growth EIS fund will invest in technology-enabled EIS-qualifying companies in opportunities such as fintech, security, electric vehicles, SaaS and education technology.
The Deepbridge Life Sciences EIS offers an opportunity to invest in a selected portfolio of healthcare innovation companies, whilst taking advantage of the EIS tax benefits.
Invests across various technology sectors, including energy, medical and business enterprise software. Transparent – investors can see which underlying companies they will be invested in. Targets a return of £1.60 per £1 invested and should be viewed as at the upper end of the risk scale.
The Haatch Ventures EIS Fund is managed by four successful entrepreneurs, who have between them founded, grown and sold businesses worth over $150 million.
Jenson Funding Partners is a long-term investor focused on supporting companies from initial seed funding through to growth capital. The EIS fund will concentrate on making investments into the most promising companies from within its existing SEIS portfolio.
Mercia EIS Fund invests in early-stage technology and life sciences, seeking to commercialise developments from industry and spin-outs from 19 UK universities. It has a focus on the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland.
The Newable EIS Scale-up Fund seeks to invest in businesses it considers part of the fourth industrial revolution, from artificial intelligence and Internet of Things to genetic engineering, 3D printing and quantum computing.
The Nexus Investments' Scale-Up Fund looks to invest in four sectors: education, health, data and digital. Read our review, download the documents and apply online.
Evergreen EIS fund targeting regional businesses in the North, managed by one of the UK’s largest venture capital investment teams with a reputation for delivering strong investment performance and returning capital to investors.
This EIS service invests in later-stage, established growth-orientated businesses. Each will typically have an annual turnover in the region of £5 million. It is likely investors will invest in a spread of unlisted and AIM-quotedbusinesses.
This EIS fund looks to make follow-on investments into the most promising seed companies already backed by SFC, which are transitioning from their “startup” to “growth” phase.
SuperSeed Ventures is a new venture capital business set up by two – later joined by a third – technology entrepreneurs. The fund seeks to invest in eight to 12 early-stage B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) businesses using artificial intelligence and data to provide innovative services to help them achieve their first £1 million in revenue.
Managed by Parkwalk with the University of Bristol Research and Enterprise Development Division (RED) acting as Portfolio Advisor, the University of Bristol Enterprise Fund offers investment opportunities in scientific and technological spin-outs emerging from the University.
Exclusive opportunity to invest alongside one of the UK’s leading venture capital firms, Amadeus Capital, co-founded by “the father of Silicon Fen”. Launched in 2015, the Amadeus’ Early Stage EIS Fund has previously invested in some of the UK’s fastest growing startups including Graphcore and ContactEngine.
Foresight Group has joined forces with Williams Advanced Engineering: the result is the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund. The fund invests into early-stage, unquoted companies that are developing disruptive technology and pioneering innovations, which can benefit from Williams’ technical, engineering and commercial expertise.
Third Follow-on EIS fund managed by Fuel Ventures, focusing mainly on backing the most promising companies from the earlier-stage Fuel Ventures Scale-up EIS Fund. The fund is managed by successful entrepreneur-turned-investor Mark Pearson.
The Guinness AIM EIS is the only EIS portfolio currently dedicated to AIM-quoted EIS-qualifying companies. It aims to deploy investors’ capital within twelve months.
The first knowledge-intensive (KI) approved EIS fund from MMC Ventures, looking to invest in high-growth transformative tech companies. Because of the ‘KI approved fund’ structure, the investment date for tax relief should fall in the current tax year.
The first knowledge-intensive (KI) approved EIS fund from Parkwalk Advisors, looking to back patented technology with commercial potential coming out of UK universities. Because of the ‘KI approved fund’ structure, the investment date for tax relief should fall in the current tax year.
Profitable, rapidly growing design consultancy with blue-chip clients ranging from £billion-turnover Swiss pharmaceutical Galderma to Braun and Bang & Olufsen
Launched in 2012, the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund offers Cambridge alumni and investors opportunities to invest in early-stage science and technology companies as they spin out of Cambridge University.
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