THE first Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) fund with a minimum of £2 million spend has been launched by Colman Equity to support Northern Ireland's flourishing start-ups.
A specialist in start-up and angel investment funding, Colman Equity has also confirmed that it will become the main funder behind Northern Ireland's only private equity backed start-up accelerator programme, StartPlanetNI.
The SEIS/Enterprise Investment Scheme is considered particularly suited to knowledge economy companies according to Diane Roberts of Colman Equity who encouraged new investors to join the fund.
"We are delighted to bring forward this new fund targeting early stage, high growth potential start-ups," she said.
"We are now inviting interested investors who have themselves strong entrepreneurial experience to join with us to support the new start-up revolution that is happening in Belfast."
Ms Roberts stressed the best investors for early stage companies were other entrepreneurs - "who not only bring investment, but critical understanding and experience of what it means to build a business."
"In our experience, this type of 'smart investment' can mean the difference between succeeding and failing and is a critical ingredient to building a successful start-up scene in Northern Ireland," she added.
Damien Callaghan, senior director, Business Development Intel Corporation, said the fund, which would also support high growth start-ups and companies wishing to relocate back to Northern Ireland, would enable businesses to reach their full potential.
"From my time as an investor with Intel Capital, I have watched Belfast and Northern Ireland develop a vibrant entrepreneurial environment with the potential to become a leading tech start-up hub within Europe," he said.
"While I have always been impressed by the local entrepreneurs, I believe the relative lack of start-up funding is hampering the region from reaching its full potential.
"However, this funding gap is a real opportunity for the investor community, both locally and internationally, and I believe that Colman Equity's SEIS Fund will become a key contributor in the local eco-system, helping exciting new start-ups to succeed on the world stage."
Meanwhile, one of the first companies to benefit has given a glowing report of early stage benefits.
Matthew Large, CEO of event intelligence software company glistrr, has just completed the inaugural StartPlanetNI programme which he said had helped him "validate, tweak and prepare" to scale his business model for global markets.
"The equity funding is an important part of the support package which has made that possible, as has been the expertise of the funders who typically have built and sold successful businesses themselves," he said.
"Having been recognised as 'Most Investible Company' at the recent programme 'Demo Day' in Hillsborough Castle, it gives us confidence that we will now be able to secure the additional funding to enable glistrr to rapidly scale our already profitable business model."
Details about the fund and how to get involved can be found on www.colmanequity.com.
