About the Fund

The East Midlands Early Growth Fund is a seed venture capital fund that invests in exciting start-up and early-stage businesses in the East Midlands, or businesses planning to relocate to the region.

As a ‘seed’ fund we expect to be the first institutional investor in a company, and can invest up to £100,000 in the seed round, followed by another £100,000 at least six months later, and in exceptional circumstances, we may invest another £300,000 to prevent dilution.

The East Midlands Early Growth Fund provides ‘matching’ finance. Every £1 we invest must be matched or exceeded by investment from the private sector, such as a business angel or another early stage venture capital firm. Fresh (i.e. new) investment from the founders can also be included as matching funds.

We are generalist in nature, meaning that we invest across a range of sectors from biotechnology and engineering to software and retail. However, we only invest in companies and business models that can demonstrate real growth potential, and where we can add real value. Companies needn’t necessarily have global ambitions, but they must have the potential to dominate their chosen industry and the founders must demonstrate a clear understanding of their reachable market.

The East Midlands Early Growth Fund is financed by emda, the East Midlands Development Agency, and independently managed by E-Synergy, a commercial venture capital fund manger based in London. For more information about emda and the other programmes they support visit www.emda.org.uk/accesstofinance.

Please see Frequently Asked Questions for further details.