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SEIS Funds: What they are and how to raise money

Written by
Rebecca Gibson
Last updated
11th July 2025

What are SEIS funds?

Each year, around 2,000 UK startups secure funding through SEIS. Originally launched in 2012 as an extension of the successful EIS and expanded in 2022, SEIS remains one of the most attractive funding routes for early-stage companies.

SEIS funds provide investment to early-stage start-ups that qualify under the UK government’s Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). The scheme offers generous tax incentives to encourage investment in young, high-risk businesses. Investors can benefit from up to 50% income tax relief, loss relief, inheritance tax advantages, and capital gains tax exemptions on successful exits. We have a separate article covering why SEIS/EIS is so valuable to your investors.

SEIS funds play a key role by pooling capital from individuals and family offices to create diversified portfolios of qualifying start-ups. While individual SEIS investors back start-ups directly, SEIS funds offer a more managed, risk-spread approach.

What do SEIS investors look for?

Your company can raise up to £250,000 through SEIS if it meets the following eligibility criteria:

For most newly launched UK startups, securing SEIS funding is a highly viable option, and most will typically raise between £50,000 and £250,000. There are no strict revenue requirements, in fact many SEIS-funded startups are pre-revenue.

To make it a little easier for you to find, we’ve curated a list of SEIS funds that are currently active.

Active SEIS funds in 2025

  1. Ascension Ventures - Ascension Ventures (AV) helps fund companies in their first or second funding round across three healthcare sectors: services, technology, and medtech/devices. They typically invest from £75k and £700k depending on the specific fund. - Apply here

  2. BoxFund - BoxFund typically invests in businesses that align with their principles e.g. social good, healthy planet, and positive business practices. They tend to center around early-stage ventures with investment ranging from £100k to £2M. Apply here

  3. Britbots - Britbots typically funds UK based automation, artificial intelligence and robotics businesses. They invest from £85k to £1.5M depending on stage and structure. Apply here

  4. British Design Fund - The British Design Fund is an early stage investment fund that specifically invests in, and provides support for purpose-led, UK product design and manufacturing companies. They typically invest from £150,000 and £200,000. Apply here

  5. Charlotte Street Capital - Charlotte Street Capital typically invests in software startups who have demonstrated some customer pull. They invest up to £300k. Apply here

  6. Deepbridge Capital - Deepbridge Capital invests technology, life sciences and renewable energy sectors from seed stage, through commercialisation and growth funding. They invest from £100,000 and £1.2 million, depending on the stage and fund. Apply here

  7. EHE Ventures - EHE Capital is an early-stage investor and venture studio that backs AI-first UK startups across sectors like fintech, healthtech, and automation. They typically invest between £100,000 and £1.5 million, with occasional rounds up to £5 million, depending on the stage and opportunity. Apply here

  8. Fuel Ventures - Fuel ventures primarily backs tech companies ranging from Pre-seed to Series A. They invest from £150,000 to £4 million, depending on the stage and growth potential. Apply here

  9. Haatch Ventures - Haatch ventures typically invests in digital or technology enabled companies from £300k to £800k. Apply here

  10. Jenson Funding Partners - Jenson Ventures primarily backs UK-based, tech-enabled startups from pre-revenue to early-revenue stages through SEIS and EIS funds. They typically invest up to £250,000 at SEIS stage and up to £500,000 at EIS stage for follow-on growth. Apply here

  11. Mint Ventures - Mint Ventures primarily backs those with a social, ethical, or environmental purpose in sectors like Food & Drink, Beauty, Health & Wellbeing, Retail, Creative Industries, Tourism, Vet‑Tech, Online Marketplaces, and FemTech. They invest from £50,000 up to £200,000 per round, targeting firms eligible for SEIS/EIS tax relief. [Apply here](

  12. Nova Growth Capital - Built Ventures- Built Ventures primarily backs UK-based tech startups emerging from its venture-builder/studio model at pre-seed stage (through SEIS/EIS funds). They invest from £100,000 up to £250,000+. Apply here

  13. O2h Ventures - O2h Ventures primarily backs UK-based biotech and life-science startups at pre‑seed to Series A/B stages, often focused on therapeutic drug discovery, biotech enabling tools, and AI/ML applications in health . They typically invest from £100,000 up to £1.5 million per company. Apply here

  14. Oxford Capital Partners - They focus on software-centric opportunities in areas such as fintech, digital health, AI/ML, mobility, climate, and retail-tech. They typically invest initial checks ranging from £150,000 up to £1 million. Apply here

  15. Oxford Technology - Oxford Technology primarily backs UK-based, science and tech-enabled startups—particularly those within a 60-mile radius of Oxford—at pre-seed to seed stage. They typically invest up to £150,000 per company at SEIS stage, with follow-on EIS funding of up to £300,000 for high performers. Apply here

  16. QVentures - QVentures primarily backs UK-based, growth-stage tech companies from pre-seed to Series B, including a dedicated pre-seed SEIS fund. They invest from roughly £200k–£5m+ per round depending on stage & traction. Apply here

  17. Startup Funding Club Capital - They invest in companies less than two years old, often with an MVP or early traction. They typically write cheques averaging around £500K–£600K per round, with individual investments commonly in the £100K–£1M range. Apply here

  18. Sustainable Ventures - Sustainable Ventures backs early-stage climate-tech startups through SEIS and EIS funding, typically investing up to £150,000 at SEIS stage and up to £500,000 at EIS stage. Apply here

  19. Symvan Capital - Symvan Capital invests in early-stage B2B technology startups across sectors like SaaS, AI, Fintech, Edtech, and Cybersecurity. They typically invest £250,000–£500,000 initially under SEIS/EIS, with follow-on funding of up to £2 million. Apply here

  20. SyndicateRoom - SyndicateRoom invests in early-stage UK startups across a wide range of sectors through its Access EIS Fund. Instead of picking individual companies, investors gain exposure to a diversified portfolio of 50+ EIS-eligible startups, selected using data-driven co-investment with top-performing angel investors. Typical raise per company: £250k–£1.5M. Apply here

  21. TrueSight Ventures - They invest in founders going after large markets and solving important problems with technology. Typically investing from £100k-£500k some up to £1.5 million. Apply here

  22. Vala British Ventures (Vala Capital) - Vala Capital invests in early-stage British startups through its British Ventures EIS fund, targeting companies with high-growth potential across sectors like tech, fintech, engineering, wellness, and food & beverage. Typically raising between £1M and £5M. Apply here

  23. Velocity Technology (Juice Capital) - Velocity technology and Juice Capital mainly invests in technology companies for instance e-commerce and digital marketing companies. They typically invest from £250k–£500k. Apply here

  24. Worth Capital - Worth Capital backs early-stage UK startups through its Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) & EIS funds, often sourced via startup competitions. Initial investments usually range from £100k to £250k, with potential follow-ons. Apply here

Some practical advice from the SEIS funds… TODO - Uploaded image description

Tom Britton, Co-founder - SyndicateRoom

“Don't underestimate how hard it is to raise a round or how long it will take. While the product and team are the most important part of any pitch, before I invest, I'm already thinking about what the next round is likely to look like and when it will be. Do me a favour and show me that you've put serious consideration into this as well.”

TODO - Uploaded image description

Thomas Jones, Founder - Charlotte Street Capital

“The most important thing for us is that the founders can demonstrate real "customer pull", i.e. evidence that customers really want the solution that the team is offering. Even if the product itself is still very limited. Obviously the best way to demonstrate customer pull is with sales, but there might be other ways of providing evidence that potential customers are excited about the potential solution.”

Sam Kremer, Investment Analyst - British Design Fund

And some comments from an EIS Fund…Guinness Ventures, Lisa Fox - Head of Co‑Investment

What advice would you offer to founders looking to raise from an EIS fund? TODO - Uploaded image description

First, make sure your raise is genuinely EIS eligible – it's essential for both compliance and investor appetite. We often see fantastic businesses that unfortunately can’t qualify. Second, be transparent and prepared. EIS investors are looking for high-growth opportunities, but we also need to understand the risks and how you're managing them. A compelling narrative, supported by data and a realistic funding plan, makes a strong impression.

At what stage should founders reach out to you? What should they have prepared or achieved beforehand?

We typically invest at the Series A stage, which for us means businesses that have:

We’re happy to review a business that is not yet investable, but founders should have a deck, detailed financials, and ideally an EIS advance assurance application in progress when they first reach out.

Are there common reasons you choose not to invest in startups that might look promising on paper?

Yes – quite a few, but it differs deal by deal. Some of the most common include:

A startup can look great in a deck but falter when we dig into execution, governance, or market dynamics.

Are there any post-investment considerations founders should be aware of?

Yes – founders should be ready for an ongoing relationship as we need to hold investments for 3 years to be eligible for EIS and our holding period is often in excess of 5 years. Post-investment, we support our portfolio with:

Founders should also understand their EIS compliance obligations post-investment – including regular reporting and maintaining eligibility.

Hear from Founders who’ve raised from an SEIS fund

Joe Tallett, Co-Founder & CEO - AVIEL Intelligence

TODO - Uploaded image description "I'd advise to prepare your pitch well in advance of approaching an SEIS fund - make sure you can provide not only a big picture pitch, but also much finer grained month-to-month plans for how you're planning to spend any investment you raise. This will likely be the first outside money invested in your company so SEIS funds don't have a set of existing investors to get references from, meaning having those facts and figures to hand at the first attempt is even more important. One final piece of advice: know the basics of SEIS investor motivations in general, as the funds - being backed by individuals with exactly the same motivations - will be no different."

How does FounderCatalyst help?

FounderCatalyst supports customers through the end-to-end fundraising process, which includes getting SEIS/EIS advance assurance upfront, executing the funding round (producing all the legal paperwork) and managing the SEIS/EIS compliance and certification process at the backend.

We're very proud of our industry leading success rate and sub 3 hour SEIS advance assurance response achieved in January 2025 - see more about it here.

How do we achieve results like this?

We use a highly structured approach that combines smart technology with expert human guidance. Our toolkit includes proven templates and resources, such as our Minimum Viable Forecast model. The human element is essential — there are numerous pitfalls that can jeopardise SEIS relief for your investors. Learn more here.

We understand how important SEIS/EIS are to startups raising in the UK - so please feel free to schedule a call with one of our experts here.

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