EIS and SEIS are very similar in many respects, but there are some important differences.
EIS and SEIS serve the same essential purpose – to be a conduit for early-stage investment into high-growth-potential, smaller and younger UK companies, for which there is widely regarded to be a ‘finance gap’, meaning many promising businesses can struggle to obtain growth funding.
The key difference between the two is that SEIS is explicitly targeted at start-ups and very early-stage companies, while EIS can be used by larger and more mature companies – though these are still relatively small and young in the context of the UK’s business and corporate landscape.
Our Annual Report 2022 on EIS/SEIS Investments is now available, commissioned by compliance expert Tony Catt to put EIS and SEIS in focus and help make the landscape of funding more transparent.