Don't invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.
Estimated reading time: 2 min
Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.
What are the key risks?
- You could lose all the money you invest
- If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invested. Most start-up businesses fail.
- You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
- Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
- Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
- You won’t get your money back quickly
- Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.
- The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
- If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
- Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
- A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.
- The value of your investment can be reduced
- The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
- These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.
If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.
| Sector: | Various |
|---|---|
| Target return: | 2x |
| Minimum investment: | £20,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 2025/26 |
| Next deadline: | Dec 2025 |
Important documents
| Sector: | Various |
|---|---|
| Target return: | 2x |
| Minimum investment: | £20,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 2025/26 |
| Next deadline: | Dec 2025 |
Important documents
The Guinness EIS fund looks to offer scale-up capital to businesses with proven technology or services, already generating revenue of £1 million or more.
Since adopting its growth capital strategy in 2018, the fund has invested £188.2 million into 59 companies (April 2025) and found some success to date. It has achieved three full and four partial exits, generating total proceeds of £34.3 million on an investment cost of £19.5 million, with the remaining portfolio showing an unrealised value of £205.1 million – past performance is not a guide to the future.
Moreover, in recent years several companies have featured in reports such as Deloitte’s Fast 50 (Popsa, Distributed, and Cera Care) and the FT 1000 (Fifty, Popsa, and Wolf & Badger) which aim to highlight some of the fastest-growing companies each year.
- Target return of 2x after at least 5 years, not guaranteed
- Aims to fully deploy investors’ capital into around 10 companies within the tax year a tranche closes
- Minimum investment of £20,000; you can apply online
- Next tranche deadline: December 2025, for 2025/26 targeted deployment, not guaranteed
Important: The information on this website is for experienced investors. It is not a personal recommendation to invest. If you’re unsure, please seek advice. Investments are for the long term. They are high risk and illiquid and can fall as well as rise in value: you could lose all the money you invest.
The manager
Guinness Asset Management was founded in 2003 and now manages £8.4 billion across its equity funds, EIS funds, VCT and an IHT fund (May 2025). It is one of the largest EIS fund managers, having raised over £300 million across its EIS funds since 2010 and launched a new VCT in 2022.
The Guinness EIS funds and VCT are overseen by the 11 -strong Guinness Ventures team. Shane Gallwey, a CFA Charterholder, leads the team and is assisted by three fund managers.
To date, the Guinness team has committed £3 million across its two EIS funds and the VCT.
Before your subscription is invested, the cash will be held by the custodian, Apex Unitas Limited. Shares will be held by the nominee, GAM MNL Nominees Limited.
Meet the manager
Shane Gallwey, Guinness Ventures – watch now
Investment strategy
The Guinness EIS fund adopted its current growth capital strategy in 2018. It looks for companies requiring scale-up capital, with proven technology or services as well as strong balance sheets and cash flows.
The fund requires companies to be generating at least some revenue prior to investment, preferably £1 million or more. Over the three tax years to 2024/25, the average annual revenue at the point of investment was £4.7 million.
Due to the number of opportunities the team reviews, Guinness employs a quick filtering process to ensure companies it believes to be the best receive most attention. The investment team pitches new deals daily to progress the strongest candidates into the next stage of assessment.
If possible, Guinness aims to add deal structuring and syndication. The fund has four tranche closes per tax year.
Portfolio
Since adopting its growth capital strategy in 2018, the fund has invested £188.2 million in 59 companies (April 2025).
Guinness will target a portfolio of at least 10 companies across a range of sectors. The targeted hold period is four to five years, not guaranteed.
Top 10 sector breakdown by investment cost (%)
Source: Guinness Asset Management, as at April 2025.
Below are portfolio company examples from previous iterations of the fund. They are outlined to give a flavour of the types of companies you might expect but are unlikely to be part of a new investor’s portfolio.
Recent investment
Fussy
Over 3.2 billion single-use plastic deodorant containers end up in landfills annually. Fussy was set up in 2020 to help address this: it created a sustainable deodorant with plastic-free refills and natural, effective ingredients.
Originally selling directly to consumers via its website, the brand gained significant traction after appearing on BBC’s Dragons’ Den in 2022, helping double its customer base to 40,000. Since, the business has expanded its product range, which is now available at retailers such as Tesco, Waitrose and Ocado.
The Guiness EIS fund invested £3 million as part of a £5.6 million funding round in March 2024, and a further £860,000 in early 2025. The stake is currently valued at £4.3 million (April 2025). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Fifty Technology
Fifty Technology helps advertisers target online audiences without tracking individuals.
The platform combines networking science, graphic technology and AI to analyse billions of audience data points. This allows it to divide its panel of 380 million users into distinct “tribes” – online communities with a shared interest. Companies can use these segments to target relevant audiences while preserving individuals’ privacy.
The technology has been used by the likes of LIV Golf, Liverpool FC and Formula E. The play Harry Potter & The Cursed Child used Fifty to identify ‘superfan’ segments, achieving a 6.8x return on its advertising spend.
Guinness first invested £1 million in July 2019. It has since provided follow-on funding several times, taking its total investment to £6.5 million. The stake is currently valued at £9.1 million (April 2025). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Example of recent exit
Plotbox
Founded in 2014 by husband-and-wife team Sean and Leona McAllister, Plotbox has created software for funeral homes, cemeteries and crematoria.
Plotbox provides an alternative to paper records, contracts and burial plot maps, using more efficient cloud-based digitised services for managing records, inventory, memorials, customer service, financial reporting and payments. It has also pioneered a form of “Google Maps for cemeteries” by combining high-resolution drone mapping with geographic information system technology.
Guinness invested £3.2 million in April 2023, alongside Par Equity in a £5 million funding round. In April 2025, it was announced that Private Equity firm Serent Capital purchased a stake in the business. This led to a partial realisation of Guiness’s investment at 1.83x cost, returning £1.2 million to investors. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
As the partial realisation occurred during the three-year EIS minimum holding period, the shares sold will not be eligible for EIS tax reliefs.
Example of previous failure
Bidvine
As with any early-stage investment, not all will work out. One such example is Bidvine.
Bidvine was a marketplace that put tradespeople in touch with potential customers. Popular categories included photographers, nail and hair stylists, plumbers and gardeners.
Guinness first invested in April 2020, but the company struggled during the Covid pandemic and business level fell dramatically. Although the business pivoted to offering online services, the risk profile increased considerably and Guinness decided not to reinvest. The business failed to attract further funding and went into administration in September 2021, with Guinness writing off its entire investment.
Performance
Since switching to its growth capital investment strategy, Guinness has achieved seven exits (four partial and three full): Plotbox (above), Pasta Evangelists, Imagen, Cera Care, ContentCal, Jones Food and Aptem (previously MWS Technology). These have returned £34.3 million to investors and generated an average 2.6x realised return, before tax reliefs. Please note past performance is not a guide to the future.
The chart below shows the average performance of the total subscribed into the funds in each of the last 10 full tax years (or from when the current strategy was adopted if later). The chart is based on the latest valuations provided by the manager, expressed on a £100 invested basis. Please note, individual investor portfolios’ performance will deviate from the average.
Performance per £100 invested in each tax year
Guinness Asset Management, as at 30 April 2025, for growth capital investments only. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The chart shows realised returns (where share proceeds have been returned to investors as cash) and unrealised returns (where cash has not yet been returned and the value of the investments is based on the manager’s own valuation methodology). There is no ready market for unlisted shares. The figures shown are net of all fees and do not include any income tax relief or loss relief.
Risks – important
This, like all investments available through Wealth Club, is only for experienced investors happy to make their own investment decisions without advice.
EIS investments are high-risk and should only form part of a balanced portfolio. As must be expected with early-stage investments, some or even all of the companies in the portfolio could fail: the fewer the companies included in the portfolio, the higher the risk of loss if things don’t go to plan. You should not invest money you cannot afford to lose.
There is no ready market for unlisted EIS shares: they are illiquid and hard to sell and value. There will need to be an exit for you to receive a realised return on your investment. Exits are likely to take considerably longer than the three-year minimum EIS holding period; equally, an exit within three years could impact tax relief.
To claim tax relief, you will need EIS3 certificates, normally issued once shares have been allotted. This can take several months: please check the deployment timescales carefully. Tax reliefs depend on the portfolio companies maintaining their EIS-qualifying status. Remember, tax rules can change and benefits depend on circumstances.
Before you invest, please carefully read the Risks and Commitments and the offer documents to ensure you fully understand the risks.
Charges
A summary of the main charges and savings is shown below. Some of these will be payable by the investor, others by the investee companies. The investment may have additional charges and expenses: please see the provider documents, including the Key Information Document, for more details.
| Investor charges | |
|---|---|
| Initial charge | 4.5% |
| Annual management charge | 1.8% |
| Administration charge | 0.2% |
| Dealing charge |
1% |
| Performance fee | 20% |
| Investee company charges | |
| Initial charge | See documents |
| Annual charges | See documents |
The fees and charges above are stated exclusive of VAT, which applies in some cases, as determined by the manager. Please check the VAT position carefully in the provider documents. Any fees and charges payable by the investee companies or the underlying businesses do not directly come out of your investment. However, they will effectively reduce the returns generated by investee companies and therefore impact your investment.
More detail on the charges
When you invest through us, Wealth Club will receive initial commission (3%) and trail commission (0%). These are paid by the provider – there is no additional cost to you.
Investor charges may be deducted from the subscription. This will reduce the amount invested and on which tax relief can be claimed.
Any investee company charges are levied on the underlying companies. They will not affect the amount of tax relief available but can still impact investor returns.
The performance fee applies on returns in excess of £1.00 per £1 invested. Whilst not uncommon among EIS funds, this is a low hurdle. Performance fees are calculated on a portfolio basis.
Other charges apply. Please see the provider’s documents, including the Key Information Document, for more details.
Our view
The Guinness EIS fund aims to invest in scale-up opportunities in fast-growing companies that have demonstrated an ability to generate revenues, have strong financials and sound business models.
The team has stuck to its investment strategy. Companies backed by the Guinness EIS fund over the previous three tax years have on average generated annual revenues of £4.7 million at the point of investment. What’s more, there appear to be several promising companies emerging within the portfolio, such as Fifty, Popsa and Wolf & Badger – all of which have appeared in the FT’s list of the fastest growing companies in Europe.
The investment team is well resourced, and the fund has raised and invested a sizeable amount since it first began making growth capital investments. All this could make Guinness a desirable destination for scale-up businesses seeking funding. Guinness Asset Management has shown an ability to attract deal flow and deploy investors capital in line with its investment strategy: note past performance is not a guide to the future.
This financial promotion has been communicated and approved by Wealth Club Ltd on 25 June 2025
Wealth Club aims to make it easier for experienced investors to find information on – and apply for – investments. You should base your investment decision on the offer documents and ensure you have read and fully understand them before investing. The information on this webpage is a marketing communication. It is not advice or a personal or research recommendation to buy any of the investments mentioned, nor does it include any opinion as to the present or future value or price of these investments. It does not satisfy legal requirements promoting investment research independence and is thus not subject to prohibitions on dealing ahead of its dissemination.