Finance South East held the official launch party last night (2 April) for its South East Seed Fund, which offers an alternative source of funding for ambitious companies in the South East looking to finance their business.

The event saw the coming together of around 150 of the regions financiers and business advisors to celebrate the arrival of the £5 million fund that fills a gap in the current market for SMEs in the region. The Fund is financed by way of an alliance between SEEDA, South East England Development Agency, which is providing £2.25 million to the fund, together with partners from both the public and private sectors.

Jim Brathwaite CBE, SEEDA Chairman, who launched the Fund commented:

"I am delighted to open the SEED Fund, a unique investor collaboration between SEEDA; ProLogis Development Ltd, a private sector investor and the CommercialiSE consortium of universities. The Fund forms part of the South East Funding Escalator which is made-up of proof of concept, growth finance and now seed capital. The South East Funding Escalator provides a route map to SMEs for finance. SEEDA developed the funding escalator concept because we know that high growth companies need differing help at each stage of their life cycle."

"Alongside the Funding Escalator, SEEDA supports integrated business support in the region such as investment readiness, mentoring and a collaborative approach to innovation, a model which recognises that money alone does not guarantee success."

Providing equity investments in ambitious, high-growth businesses based in the South East, the Fund operates on a commercial investment return basis and seeks to invest only in opportunities that it believes have the highest potential for success.

Sally Goodsell, CEO of Finance South East believes that entrepreneurs and businesses from across the South East region should take advantage of this new fund. She says:

‘We are very pleased to be able to offer a range of funding options for businesses and university spin-outs in the South East.

We are looking to invest in compelling; high-growth businesses that are scalable and have a strong, committed management team. Companies need to show that they have a clear sustainable advantage over competitors and commercially viable intellectual property. Ideally they will also be able to demonstrate readiness for market and strong evidence of market demand.

Any business looking to use the Fund will also need to have a well developed business plan and detailed financial projections. This should incorporate a clear and realistic exit strategy for investors.’

The South East Seed Fund supports the development of young businesses at an early stage, when funding from institutions or individuals is often hard to find. A requirement of the Seed Fund is that it will invest only on a ‘matched’ basis. This means that the Fund’s investment must be matched by funding from private sources, such as a business angel. Finance South East can help with this too through its network of business angels, SECA.

Companies must meet a set of criteria to be eligible for funding. In most cases an eligible business can apply for up to £250,000, but the fund managers will consider larger amounts in exceptional circumstances. The Fund is to help businesses grow and no rescue or refinancing situations will be eligible.

The South East Seed Fund is the latest move in Finance South East’s endeavour to offer a broad range of funding for businesses at different stages of growth. It sits between the already established Proof of Concept (PoCKeT) fund for companies at the very beginning and the Accelerator Fund for SMEs in a later stage of growth.

The South East region includes Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent.

For more information on South East Fund, please visit www.financesoutheast.com or call 01276 608510.