Startup Funding Club (SFC) has beaten off tough competition to become a finalist in the Best SEIS Investment Manager category of the fifth Growth Investor Awards.
For five years, these awards have shone a spotlight on the providers who have an impact beyond investment: creating jobs, boosting economic growth, and supporting innovation. This crucial investment inspires optimism into companies up and down the UK. And it is fanning an entrepreneurial spark that has made the UK a leading producer of growth companies in recent years.
Sponsored by Aston Lark, the Best SEIS Investment Manager award celebrates leading companies specialising in Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes. SFC will compete for the award alongside six other impressive finalists: Deepbridge Capital, Jenson Funding Partners, RLC Ventures, Sapphire Capital Partners, Symvan Capital and Velocity Capital Partners.
Joseph Zipfel, CIO at Startup Funding Club, commented on becoming a finalist for this prestigious award: “We are very pleased to be nominated once more for the Best SEIS Fund Manager Award. SFC is one of the pioneers of SEIS, having launched our first SEIS fund back in 2013. We have gone from strength to strength since then, investing in over 150 disruptive companies across all sectors. 2018/19 was an excellent vintage, with three exits and more funds raised than ever before, and we are very proud that our achievements have been recognised by the judges.”
Winners of all the awards categories will be announced at an exclusive black-tie dinner hosted for over 450 guests on November 6 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London.
“Now in their fifth year, the Growth Investor Awards have rightly become a landmark event in the calendars of the UK’s SME investment community. For one evening each year we celebrate the inspiring individuals and leading organisations whose talents and commitment helps entrepreneurs to power the UK’s economic growth”, says Guy Tolhurst, Managing Director of Intelligent Partnership, the organiser of these long-standing awards.
He adds: “I look forward to shining a much-needed spotlight on all of these providers on November 6 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel. To reach the finalist stage in such a competitive field of entrants is a huge achievement.”
Finalists have been chosen by Intelligent Partnership’s research team, guided by an advisory board. Their entries have now been passed to the second round of judging, carried out by at least three people from an independent panel of 35 judges to provide a diverse mix of qualified perspectives. All of the judges’ scores are collated to determine the winner, with all finalists receiving a personalised feedback and benchmarking report to provide insight about areas for improvement.