INVEST GROWTH FUND FAQs

How does VC funding work?

Venture Capital (VC) investment usually involves the VC investor taking some ownership (equity) in your company. They will also require certain controls to protect their investment. Generally speaking, in the seed and early growth VC sector, investors bring additional expertise and want to actively help a portfolio company grow; preferably as quickly as possible (investors make a profit by 'exiting' investments in good time i.e. selling to another company or listing on a public exchange. But in the VC sector the period from investment to exit can be as long as 5-7 years).

How do I apply?

You can apply at any time by sending an executive summary to infobelfast@e-synergy.com. Executive Summaries should be no longer than two or three pages and you should ensure contact details are included with a verifiable Northern Ireland address.

The document should briefly describe your business, product or service, the market, competition and market strategy, any technology (include mention of IP like patents or trademarks, but not to worry if you don't have any), the revenue model, the management (only brief résumés please), current corporate structure (include mention of EIS status - if known) and provide a simple three or four line financial projection over a minimum of three years. Oh, and don't forget to mention exit comparables - if you have any. And of course include how much money is required and what for.

All approaches to the Fund will be dealt with on a confidential basis.

What is the IGF investment process?

It normally takes us a couple of weeks to get back to companies who have submitted an executive summary. If we are interested in your idea, an investment executive will carry out a telephone review. If this goes well, we may invite you to attend a Fund Introductory Seminar (FIS) to learn more about the Fund and E-Synergy and to spend some time one-on-one with a member of our team. The FIS process is carried out under a Non-Disclosure Agreement and typically culminates in us recommending a simple bullet point action plan. Subsequently, following further brief enquiries, we may identify prospective investees and may issue an Offer Letter outlining in brief how much we are prepared to invest, the valuation we intend to apply to company and other simple terms and conditions. This Offer Letter must be signed by a duly authorised representative and returned to us before we can proceed to the next stage.

What valuation do you give businesses?

No two businesses are the same - even if they are doing the same thing, they are run by different people. Generally speaking however, we tend to value companies that are of interest to us at between £200k (good patents but no sales) and £1m (some sales and signs of significant growth) at the time that we invest (post-money).

Who do you invest with?

The Fund is happy to invest alongside business angels, other venture capital firms and corporate investors. In most cases, 30% of funds raised in each round of finance must be 'match' finance from the private sector, such as new cash from the founders or an investment from business angels or another early stage venture capital firm. We also find ways to work with you to optimise the company's prospects of raising grant monies from public sources.

How do you structure your deals?

If the Invest Growth Fund is leading the investment, we often go for straight-forward 'cash-for-equity' deals, but sometimes we will look to offer convertible loans or geared debt. We frequently prefer to do an equity deal because it keeps the deal simple and it's often easier to raise follow-on funding as a result.