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Seedcorn Finance: £15k to £500k

Read about Activ4Life Healthcare Technologies

Activ4Life negotiated an £125,000 startup investment from the Seedcorn Fund.

The Seedcorn Fund is a pilot £4.6m fund that invests in new and early stage technology-based businesses.

The fund fills a gap in the local finance market for ventures that are often seen as too risky for mainstream providers and are still too early stage for our other funds.

Convertible loans or equity linked investments ranging from £15k to £500k are available for proof of concept developments. Equity investments from £100K to £500K are available for product commercialisation.

Clients will be companies that are based on new and innovative technology with ideas that have strong potential and once in the market, are capable of rapid growth and returns of many multiples of their original investment.

We Can Help Your Business If You Are:

  • Pre-revenue, start up or early stage technology business
  • Based on strong and unique technological or 'know-how' content that will be usually be protectable by a patent or copyright
  • Beyond R & D stage but need help to find and exploit your market
  • Have potential for rapid growth and returns of many multiples of the original investment
  • Based in or have significant activity in South Yorkshire
  • And you have a gap in funding where conventional sources of finance are insufficient or unavailable.

We Will Invest in Proposals That Have:

  • Potential to create a stir in the market - disruptive technology
  • An ambitious and capable team. We want to talk to passionate and enthusiastic people who want to develop their ideas and business
  • Potential of rapid growth across the UK and probably into markets worldwide
  • Potential to have a turnover of at least £1m by year 3
  • Potential to maximise our investment by returning at least 5 times the value of our investment on our exit over a similar number of years

Seedcorn Fund Details - Proof of Concept:

Amount: £15k - £100k convertible loans or equity
Repayments: Repayments may be deferred or converted into equity based investments
Effective Fixed Annual Interest rates: Negotiable
Term: Up to 3 years

Seedcorn Fund Details - Commercialisation:

Amount: £100K - £500K equity linked investments
Phased payments: Larger investments to be made in phased payments dependent on progress against agreed development milestones
Stake Sought: Minority equity stake sought dependent on level of risk
Exit: Exit targeted between 5 - 7 years

We will provide support to businesses that take an investment from the Seedcorn Fund. The precise nature of the support will be agreed on a deal by deal basis. We can help by providing access to non-executive directors and mentors and to recruit new team players.

How to Apply

1. Check Your Eligibility and Send an Enquiry

  • Use our online application enquiry form check your eligibility and send a brief summary of your business and your funding requirements to SYIF. A SYIF investment manager will contact you to discuss your application. It is usually best to make an online enquiry before you fill out the detailed application form.

2. Ready to Submit a Detailed Application?

If you have any questions or wish to talk to someone about making an application phone 01709 386 377 or email application@syif.com