SEIF - Maven Equity Finance

Small and medium-sized businesses based in the South East of England are eligible to apply for investment. Eligibility does not guarantee investment, and Maven is making commercial decisions based on a range of factors.

Maven can provide equity investment using a range of possible structures and instruments.

SEIF - Maven Equity Finance can invest between £500,000 to £5 million per company; however, we prefer to invest in a way that allows follow-on investment in our portfolio.

An equity investment is when shares in a company are purchased for a percentage of ownership. The purchaser then becomes a shareholder in the company and is entitled to a share in the company's profits. Private investors will be expecting an exit of some kind to realise a return on their initial investment. The investment itself could take a range of forms, from ordinary shares to structures including loan notes, warrants or convertible instruments.

To be considered for investment as part of the South East Investment Fund, first, submit an online application form here. Provide as much detail as possible about your business plan and financial projections. The SEIF team will review your application and contact you as soon as possible. Please note, we receive a huge number of applications for investment from our Regional Funds, so it can take some time to work through each and every one, but we are committed to getting back to every applicant.

To be eligible for consideration, businesses must be based in the South East region and have growth potential, but there is no sector requirement, as we are interested in investing across all sectors. Maven need to see a viable business plan and a clear demonstration of how the investment will help them to achieve their growth ambitions. Maven's investment process is highly selective, and securing an offer of investment will depend on the commercial strength of the investment opportunity in question and the team involved, as well as the strength of other applications received.

We welcome interest from all areas of the SME landscape, and there is no requirement for a company to have received external investment before Maven. Whilst we welcome referrals from the wider investment community, we want to invest in strong growth opportunities, so all applications are welcome, especially those without a referrer.

Our investment process begins with in-house assessments of an opportunity. If an application appears eligible, the SEIF team will have an initial call with management to find out more about the business and the investment opportunity. The team will then undergo in-house assessments of financials and projections to get a better understanding of the business strategy, before additional calls with the company management team. Maven has a 3-step Investment Committee process, and between each Investment Committee, will undergo increasingly in-depth due diligence in-house, before confirmatory due diligence is undertaken by external advisors (such as legal, financial and tax). Once all due diligence has been completed, and approval has been received from the final Investment Committee, the investment can be made. The process can take between 3 to 4 months from start to finish but is dependent upon the speed at which applicant companies can provide the necessary information to the Maven team.

The £210m South East Investment Fund is a Nations and Regions Investment Fund financed by the United Kingdom government and administered by the British Business Bank. The South East Investment Fund is not a grant organisation, and Maven Capital Partners makes its own commercial investment decisions based on its own appraisal process.

You can contact the SEIF team directly by emailing seif-enquiries@mavencp.com for further information.