Symvan Capital issues warning to Chancellor: “Don’t Stifle UK Technology.”

Symvan Capital, the UK investment fund that manages over 50 of the country’s most promising high growth technology start ups, is warning the Chancellor that any change to terms of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) in the Budget risks putting the brakes on one of the most successful schemes that attracts private investment to power UK economic growth.

The EIS scheme provides attractive tax treatment to private investors who invest in very early stage, high risk, technology businesses that, without such investment, simply would not have the funding to develop and succeed.

Since the introduction of the EIS scheme 30 years ago this year, over £30 billions of private sector wealth has been drawn to invest in over 50,000 businesses, many of which have proven to be the country’s most important technology innovations in both medication and finance.

The latest published data from the UK Government reports that over£2m of private funds is currently being invested each year, with more than half backing ‘Information and Communications’ and ’Science, Medtech and Technology’ businesses.

Based on their own data Symvan also estimates that EIS invested businesses account for (over 50,000) of the country’s employees being given jobs by early stage entrepreneurs.

Kealan Doyle, CEO at Symvan Capital warned, ‘‘Any changes that the Chancellor makes in the Budget to the EIS scheme terms risks causing a material reduction in the amount of private investment going into key technology innovation. Investing in early stage technology involves taking high risks and without the incentives for investors to step up we will simply see those with available capital looking elsewhere for their returns. The Chancellor has already been advised that interest rates are likely to remain inflated if she goes ahead with the plan to increase the national debt. A change in the incentives for EIS investors, together with a continued period of higher interest rates would inevitably lead to a decline in private sector development funds and many of the UK’s current successes. Quite aside from the funding impacts, she would risk a huge loss to the number of employment opportunities for some of the country’s most capable technicians. They would look to other, more forward looking, countries to back their research and development initiatives. We encourage the Chancellor to support the UK’s technology and innovation rather than stifling it.”