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: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Target return: | 3x |
| Minimum investment: | £10,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 2025/26 |
| Next deadline: | 31 Oct 2025 |
| Sector: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Target return: | 3x |
| Minimum investment: | £10,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 2025/26 |
| Next deadline: | 31 Oct 2025 |
SFC Capital (formerly Startup Funding Club) is Europe's second most active seed investor.
Originally set up as an angel syndicate in 2012, it’s best known for its SEIS fund and has invested in over 550 companies to date. The EIS fund focuses on what SFC considers to be its most promising seed companies as they transition from the “startup” to “growth” phase.
This follow-on strategy could help mitigate some risks. Portfolio companies should have demonstrated commercial traction and SFC should know them well, having had a board seat for some time. However, these are still young companies and high-risk investments, there are no guarantees.
EIS funds from previous years have now started to return cash to investors. Greendeck and Cognism (more detail below) are the two most notable examples – with exits or partial exits generating returns of 4.7x and 13.1x respectively. Cognism was also an investment in the Startup Funding Club SEIS Fund. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
- Target return of 3x over five to eight years – not guaranteed
- Targets a portfolio of more than 10 companies – not guaranteed
- Minimum investment £10,000
- You can apply online – please note, you will also need to become an “elective professional client” of Startup Funding Club before your investment is accepted
- Deadline: 31 October for targeted 2025/26 deployment
Important: The information on this website is for experienced investors. It is not advice nor a research or 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
SFC Capital (“SFC”) is an angel investment club focused on early-stage businesses. It identifies companies for investment and provides them with ongoing support and expertise.
SFC launched one of the UK’s first SEIS funds in 2013. Since then, it has become a prolific seed investor, facilitating investments in over 550 early-stage companies across a broad range of sectors.
The SFC angel network is a group of over 500 active angel investors from various backgrounds, many with direct experience in building and investing in successful young companies. They co-invest alongside the fund and bring additional experience to the portfolio. SFC has also forged ties with some of the country’s leading universities and startup accelerators to broaden its deal flow.
The SFC team is headed up by Stephen Page, CEO. Stephen has founded and exited several software businesses and is supported by Chief Investment Officer Joseph Zipfel whose background is in investment banking and corporate finance. The wider team and board of directors of SFC have backgrounds in investment banking, software, corporate finance, and entrepreneurship. In total, the team consists of 18 individuals, most of whom are actively involved with investment decisions.
SFC Capital Ltd is the investment adviser to the fund, which is managed by SFC Capital Partners Ltd, of which SFC Capital Ltd is an appointed representative. Before your subscription is invested, the cash will be held by the custodian, Bennett Brooks & Co Limited. Shares will be held by the nominee, SFC Nominees Limited.
Meet the manager
Interview: Ed Prior, SFC Capital – watch now
Investment strategy
SFC’s EIS fund seeks to take advantage of the manager’s position as the UK’s most prolific SEIS investor, by backing the most promising businesses within the manager’s earlier-stage portfolio.
The SEIS fund looks for innovative products and disruptive technologies, with companies typically less than two years old. It will look to take a material stake in a business, gain a board seat, and offer guidance and support. The EIS fund will invest once the early startup work has been completed, the business has validated its model and achieved significant growth.
By taking a board seat when investing through the SEIS fund, SFC develops deep insight into the performance of each business, before making an EIS follow-on investment. What’s more, since SFC is an existing seed investor, it will most likely be a preferred destination for businesses seeking follow-on funding. This should create a rich pipeline of opportunities for the EIS fund, although the fund may, on occasion, invest in companies that have not received backing from the SEIS fund.
The manager targets a return of 3x, not guaranteed.
Portfolio
Investors can expect a portfolio of at least 10 companies across various sectors, including digital technology, life sciences and consumer goods. SFC seeks to fully invest subscriptions over the 12 months following a closing date, not guaranteed.
Below are examples of companies included in previous iterations of the EIS 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. EIS funds tend to be managed on a discretionary basis so each individual portfolio is likely to be different.
Recent investment
Biovit
Biovit was founded in 2023 by serial entrepreneur Ky Wright to develop naturally derived nutrient supplements that can be used to fortify food – replacing current synthetic nutrients.
In September 2024 the company received a £1.5 million grant from Innovate UK to work with Swansea University to assess whether its vitamin and mineral blend is more easily absorbed and effective than synthetic alternatives. The company is already developing products alongside more than 10 of the UK’s largest organic and natural food brands – with blends that could be applied to cereal, baked goods, protein powders and meat/dairy substitutes.
The SFC EIS fund first invested in the company in March 2025, having previously backed the business through its SEIS fund in early 2024.
Lunio
Global advertising spend is set to exceed $1 trillion for the first time in 2024, with search advertising alone accounting for over $200 billion.
However, a surprising proportion of that digital ad spend will likely be wasted. An estimated 8.5% of ad clicks are invalid, generated by bots or fake accounts. They bring no value to advertisers but cost as much as a click from a genuine consumer, resulting in advertisers wasting thousands of pounds of their marketing budget.
Lunio’s machine learning-powered detection software helps companies reduce this waste. It helps identify and eliminate invalid traffic at scale, so businesses can get the most out of their ad spend on search and social media.
Founded in 2018, the company now works with over 1,000 businesses around the world, including Funding Circle, Metro Bank, Laithwaites and M&S. SFC first invested via its SEIS fund in 2019, following on through its EIS fund in 2020. That position is now valued at 4.7x cost. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Example of previous exit
Cognism
Cognism is one of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies. It has developed software that uses machine learning to help sales and business development professionals find prospects.
The business was founded in 2015 by CEO James Isilay and CTO Stjepan Buljat. SFC took part in the first funding round in 2017 through its SEIS fund and followed on in 2018 through its 2017/18 EIS Fund.
At the time of SFC’s first investment, Cognism had recurring revenues of £4,500. In 2022, it announced annual recurring revenues were over $20 million. It also appeared in the Deloitte Fast 50 2022, a list of the UK’s fastest-growing private technology companies.
In January 2022 Cognism announced it had raised $87.5 million in a deal led by American investment group Viking Global Investors. The deal valued the business at more than £200 million and presented SFC with an opportunity to sell a little over 30% of its EIS investment at 13.1x cost. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Example of previous failure
Airslip
SFC first invested in Airslip in March 2021 through its SEIS fund. Initially a payment technology company, it quickly pivoted towards software allowing financial institutions to assess SME credit risk in real time. The new strategy was validated by several commercial pilots and SFC decided to take part in the company’s EIS round in March 2022 alongside a syndicate of angel investors from the industry.
However, the 2022 Fintech industry downturn hit Airslip’s customers hard and the commercial pilots were discontinued rather than converting to full commercial contracts as originally expected. This, combined with an adverse funding environment for Fintech in general, meant the company reached the end of its cash runway and had to close.
Performance
The Startup Funding Club Angel Fund EIS launched in the 2016/17 tax year and has invested in over 100 companies to date. The early funds are now showing encouraging progress and have started to return capital to investors, having achieved three profitable full exits and one partial (Cognism - above) exit. 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
Source: SFC, as at May 2025. 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 documentsfor more details.
| Investor charges | |
|---|---|
| Initial charge | — |
| Annual management charge | — |
| Administration charge | — |
| Dealing charge | — |
| Performance fee | 25% |
| Investee company charges | |
| Initial charge | 6% |
| Annual charges | 1% |
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%) paid by the provider – there is no additional cost to you.
Any charges deducted from the subscription 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, this is a low hurdle. Performance fees are calculated on a portfolio basis.
Other charges apply. Please see the provider’s documents for more details.
Illustration – impact of charges
The following illustration shows the possible impact of costs and charges over seven years. It assumes an investment of £100,000 where the portfolio companies perform as follows: four fail completely, two return 1x, two return 2x, one returns 4x and one returns 10x (not guaranteed), after seven years. In this example, the investment would return £170,000 after all aggregated costs and charges charged to the investor of £25,000 + VAT. For simplicity, this assumes the investment is spread equally across the ten companies and that all companies are sold in year seven.
The comparative hypothetic value of this investment over the same period with no charges applied would be £200,000. In reality, all investments will incur charges. Figures supplied by SFC in December 2024.
Our view
SFC is one of Europe's most active start-up investors and operates a prolific SEIS fund. This, coupled with ties to leading universities and accelerator programmes and a large angel network, gives the SFC investment team access to a strong pipeline of deals.
As many of the EIS investments will be follow-on deals, SFC should have a deeper understanding of the companies, potentially enhancing its due diligence and benefiting investors. And as its SEIS portfolio represents a large pool of seed investments from which to identify promising opportunities, investors should receive a relatively diverse (in EIS terms) portfolio of between 10-15 companies, although this is not guaranteed.
SFC’s reputation and track record may attract new entrepreneurs seeking funding, further enhancing SFC’s deal flow.
For experienced investors keen to add to their existing EIS portfolio, the SFC EIS fund could be worth considering. In addition, existing SFC SEIS investors may find this follow-on-focused EIS fund worth a look.
This financial promotion has been communicated and approved by Wealth Club Ltd on 9 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.