Applying for Investment
The first step is to register your interest in the form below. This allows us to decide quickly whether we feel your company will be a good fit for our fund and whether EIIS would be suitable for your company.
There are certain pieces of information we’ll be seeking so that we can make a preliminary assessment of your company’s suitability for our fund. We don’t need to see any of the documents you have prepared but we would like to hear that you’ve done some of the following:
- prepared a business plan.
- discussed your project with funding agencies such as Enterprise Ireland.
- spoken to potential customers who would be interested in buying your product or service.
- have decided how much investment you’ll need and how you’ll use that investment.
If there are any elements of this form about which you’d like first to discuss with us, please feel free to call Elliott Griffin or Mark Richardson. The office phone number is 01-657-2900. Or use our contact form here
About Raising Finance
The experience of raising investment will be different for every company but we would like to give you an idea of what you can expect from us.
Step 1 Once we’ve received your preliminary information we will seek to speak with you to gain a better understanding of your project. At this point we’ll want to see your business plan. Don’t feel that you need to provide a perfect presentation at this stage! What we’re looking for is a clear description of your project, why you need investment and how you’ll use that investment to achieve the goals you have set for yourself.
Step 2 We’ll review your material and contact you again to discuss the project further. At this point we’ll want to meet with you to discuss our interest.
Step 3 Our team will then be required to make a presentation to our Investment Committee. The Investment Committee will have been appraised of your project in advance of the presentation, as we keep them well informed of any potential investments.
Step 4 At this point we’ll ask you to come and meet with our Investment Committee. The team will assist you in preparing for this meeting and briefing you about the kinds of questions you are likely to encounter.
Typically, if all sides are keen to work together, we’ll make you an offer for an equity stake in the business. If this is acceptable to you we’ll prepare a heads of agreement outlining the broad terms of our agreement. At this point we’ll conduct a due diligence.
Step 5 After this our solicitors will prepare a share purchase agreement which they’ll work through with your own solicitors. You can expect to incur a portion of legal fees at this point as well as requiring your accountant to assist both you and us.
Private Investment
Given the current climate where bank funding is no longer readily available, more and more companies are seeking private investment.
The advantage for you of raising private investment is that the company does not have to meet annual interest costs. This reduces the financial risk for the company. In fact, where a company has raised private investment, financial institutions will be more likely to provide further funding given the equity investment in place.
Given this financial risks involved for private investors, this is often compensated by the existing shareholders providing the company with a greater share of the business than they would like to.
In addition, funds such as ours will typically seek annual board fees. However, your company will be gaining access to many years of business experience and advice throughout our involvement with you.
Public Funding
Public funding is an attractive option for any company.
For example, Enterprise Ireland, provide a number of supports for early to medium stage businesses. This may take the form of refundable to non-refundable grants for companies seeking assistance with financing research and development.
In addition, these agencies may make a direct investment in your company. This may take the form of match funding, where the agency invests jointly with a third party private investor, such as our own fund.
From our own Fund’s viewpoint, a company that has received funding from such an agency or is in discussion’s with such an agency reduces the risks for our investors and makes your company an even more attractive prospect for us.
For further details of Enterprise Ireland’s and other assistance programs, please click on the links below:
- Start-up Funding
- High Potential Start-Up
- Established SMEs
- Innovation Vouchers
- County Enterprise Boards
