Deepbridge Capital reports second successive year of record funding levels
Venture capital investment manager, Deepbridge Capital has today (25th April) announced that it deployed a record £31.5 million into early-stage technology and life sciences companies during the 2021/22 tax year, up from £29.4 million in 2020/21.
Providing private investors with access to portfolios of innovative and growth focused companies, Deepbridge manages the Deepbridge Technology Growth EIS and Deepbridge Life Sciences EIS funds which offer private investors significant tax reliefs via the UK Government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).
52 companies received funding via Deepbridge in 2021/22, based across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Companies to receive funding included the likes of rocket propulsion pioneers Smallspark Space Systems, vital signs monitoring tech developers Metix, event management platform Headbox, novel chemical technology developer Liverpool ChiroChem and sustainable algae manufacturing tech company AlgaeCytes.
Deepbridge believes that this record fundraising is a result of the company’s strong relationships with financial advisers and private investors, with tax efficient investments increasingly being recommended by financial advisers and 2021/22 expected to be a record year of fundraising across the EIS and VCT sectors.
The EIS is a decades-old Government initiative, which follows pensions and ISAs in being a tax incentivised scheme to encourage investor behaviour. Designed to help smaller higher-risk trading companies raise finance, EIS offers a range of tax relief to investors who purchase new shares in those companies. Investors can benefit from potentially significant income tax and capital gains reliefs when making an investment into an EIS eligible start-up or business. EIS also provides 100% exemption from inheritance tax, as well as CGT deferral relief.
Ian Warwick, Founder and Managing Partner at Deepbridge, commented: “Once again we are delighted to be able to report record levels of funding for our growing portfolio of fantastic tech and healthcare focused companies. The credit for this funding goes to our private investors and financial adviser community who share our excitement about the innovations and entrepreneurs we are collectively supporting.
“The UK is one of the best places in the world to start and grow an innovation focused company, which in part is due to the funding available via the Enterprise Investment Scheme. The pioneering technologies and services our investees are developing, and the highly skilled jobs they are creating, represent exactly what the EIS is designed to support and are aligned with the UK Government’s ‘Building Back Better’ agenda.”
