Startup Funding Club has been named Runner Up at the fifth annual Growth Investor Awards. The landmark event, which took place last week at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London, celebrates the standout investment providers who help SMEs to thrive.
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. With the growth capital they provide, ambitious businesses are able to scale up and make the UK one of the most dynamic places in the world in which to start a business.
The 51 investment provider finalists celebrated this year have participated in over 3,300 fundraising rounds, investing £5.67 billion into growing businesses. This year, the growth investment they provide has helped almost 2,300 SMEs to create 1,600 jobs and turn over more than £200 million. And 45% of those SMEs are based outside of London, with three-quarters of them already expanding overseas.
Startup Funding Club has been identified as a market leader in the coveted award for Best SEIS Investment Manager sponsored by Aston Lark. This accolade was open to any investment manager specialising in the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme. The judges were looking at the performance of the companies’ service over the past 12 months, assessing their success across business performance, investment inflows, impact on the investee, adviser relations, customer feedback, and overall impact.
Commenting on becoming a Runner Up in this prestigious awards event, Stephen Page, CEO of Startup Funding Club, commented: “We were so pleased to receive the Runner Up award for Best SEIS Investment Manager of the year out of seven finalists. As the most active pre-seed investor in Europe and fifth globally, I would like to thank our hardworking team and associates for contributing to our success and that of our portfolio companies.”
“We launched the Growth Investor Awards five years ago to celebrate the inspiring individuals and leading organisations whose talents and commitment help growing businesses to power Britain’s economic growth,'' says Guy Tolhurst, Managing Director of Intelligent Partnership, the organiser of these long-standing awards.
He adds: “The winning companies at this year’s event demonstrate the impact beyond investment of growth capital. Every penny of investment in early-stage businesses has a real-world effect. It inspires optimism in growing teams, creates jobs, boosts regional economies, and drives innovation.”
Finalists were chosen by Intelligent Partnership’s research team, guided by an advisory board. The best entries were passed to a second round of judging carried out by at least three people from an independent panel of 41 judges, to provide a diverse mix of qualified perspectives. All of the judges’ scores were collated to determine the winner, with all finalists receiving a personalised feedback and benchmarking report to provide insight about areas for improvement.
