Part of the £250 million Midlands Engine Investment Fund, which provides flexible debt finance solutions to SMEs across the Midlands, MEIF Maven Debt Finance can invest between £100,000 and £1.5 million in businesses looking for growth finance to help drive their expansion plans.
MEIF Maven Debt Finance offers an attractive alternative to bank funding or other forms of traditional finance, making business loans of up to £1.5 million. The Fund is focused on providing flexible debt funding across the Midlands, covering the ten Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) regions: Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham & Solihull, The Marches, Stoke & Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the West Midlands; and Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham & Nottinghamshire (D2N2), Greater Lincolnshire, South East Midlands and Leicester & Leicestershire in the East Midlands.
Across the MEIF territory many viable, dynamic SMEs with innovative products and services, strong business plans and highly capable management teams, are struggling to access the funding that will allow them to truly fulfil their potential. MEIF is focused on supporting the growth aspirations of companies that can contribute to regional economic development, job creation and innovation. Its objective is to produce greater levels of funding to smaller businesses, and increased flexibility in the type of funding available.
* Please note that the finance available is not able to be used to fund acquisitions.
Whether it is because a business cannot get some or all of the funding it needs from a bank or needs a more flexible form of finance, or simply that it needs access to both finance and expertise, MEIF Maven Debt Finance may suit the aspirations of high-growth businesses. MEIF recognises that growing SMEs often require large injections of capital to move them to the next level in their development, whether it’s to help build a new team, purchase new machinery, start exporting or move to larger commercial premises.
Funding can be used in a variety of scenarios, and Maven's Midlands investment team has experienced investment and portfolio professionals, with many years’ experience in SME investment and supporting the growth of private companies. Our aim is to help management teams fulfil their companies' growth potential, whilst ensuring that the process for working with Maven is as effective and straightforward as possible.
In order to be eligible for MEIF investment a business:
MEIF Maven Debt Finance is available for established, cash generative businesses and is not targeting any specific sectors. However, there are certain restrictions which prohibit funding in sectors including pure real estate development activity, gambling related services & equipment and a variety of other specific exclusions, and the Maven team can advise on these restrictions.
In order to fully appraise a funding application Maven would need to receive a detailed investment proposal covering the key points about your business and growth plans, including:
download our business Plan Checklist
The strength and experience of the management team ultimately drives business success, and so is a key factor in assessing eligibility for MEIF funding. We therefore aim to meet management as early as possible in the process so that we can start to build an understanding of the business, its product and markets, and the key people.
We will also undertake both internal and external due diligence on a proposed investment and, assuming that we have access to all of the necessary information, aim to deliver a tailored funding package that suits the growth requirements of your business.