Mercia EIS Funds

Mercia Fund Management announces over subscription to the SEIS portion of Mercia Growth Fund 1

Mercia Growth Fund SEIS investment opportunity closed within three months

Birmingham, 19 November 2012. Mercia Fund Management (MFM) today announced an over subscription to the SEIS portion of its Mercia Growth Fund, less than three months after the fund’s launch.

The Mercia Growth Fund, a ‘hybrid’ fund offering both Seed EIS (SEIS) and later stage EIS investments, was launched to investors at the end of August and has already achieved its fund raising targets. The SEIS portion of this unique fund will co-invest alongside MFM’s other funds under management into spinout opportunities from MFM’s eight partner universities, as well as more broadly across the UK into capital efficient, scalable businesses seeking modest capital support. The EIS portion will be invested into more mature businesses seeking modest expansion or working capital. Many investors have invested across both elements of the fund sensibly seeking a blend of tax reliefs (available through SEIS and EIS) and target returns.

As one of the largest, if not largest, combined SEIS and EIS Funds within the UK, Mercia’s Growth Fund is now inviting approaches from trusted advisors of SEIS-qualifying companies seeking investment funding of up to £150,000.

Mark Payton, Managing Director at Mercia Fund Management, comments: “Thanks to our strong track record of identifying investable companies and established links with universities, which are a valuable source for SEIS-qualifying companies, our Mercia Growth Fund has exceeded all expectations.

“Achieving the £1 million SEIS target so soon is a testament to a growing interest in SEIS Funds following approval by the Government in July. Our hands on support and SEIS investments will help build the revenue base of businesses and university spinouts to the advantage of investors and the broader UK economy alike. Following our impressive success with Mercia Growth Fund 1, we are thus preparing to launch the Mercia Growth Fund 2 in the New Year to satisfy both growing investee demand and investor appetite for such a balanced product.”

For more information, visit www.merciafund.co.uk.

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About Mercia Fund Management

Mercia Fund Management is a venture capital fund manager with two funds (Mercia 1 and 2) totalling £14 million under management. Mercia Fund Management focuses on UK companies and benefits from a mixture of public- and private-sector fund investors.

Mercia Fund Management also offers the Mercia Growth Fund, which is a hybrid EIS/SEIS fund and presents an opportunity for private investors to invest in a balanced portfolio of high growth technology companies which take advantage of a range of tax reliefs.

Headquartered in central Birmingham, and with strong links to Oxford and London, the Fund is regulated by the Financial Services Authority. The company is also a member of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.

For more information, or images, please contact Ranbir Sahota at Vitis PR on 0121 242 8048 or ranbir@vitispr.com.