Additionally to our monthly investor event – which will take place today, Monday 20th –, this month we have gone the extra mile and joined forces with UK and India-based startup accelerator Spark10 to organise an educational event for those interested in learning more about investing in early-stage startups. “Tax-efficient Investment in Promising Early-Stage Companies” aimed to raise awareness about the current startup scene and early-stage investments.
The event was held on Tuesday 14th at Mathys & Squire’s offices at The Shard, and guests, additionally to enjoying the highly informative presentation, were able to enjoy a great view of the City. The IP firm is one of SFC’s most loyal partners, and has hosted our events in previous occasions. In this one, its Associate Emma Reeve addressed a few introductory words to the audience.
Stephen Page and Atal Malviya, Startup Funding Club’s and Spark10’s CEOs respectively, also had some introductory words for the audience. Both founders gave the crowd an overview of their companies’ mission and achievements before giving the floor to Daniel Tait. SFC’s Investment Associate walked the audience through the exciting current startup scene, highlighting the relevance of London in this landscape. Following this, Joseph Zipfel, Investment Manager at SFC, acquainted the crowd with the different ways to invest in early-stage companies – Angel Investing, Fund Investing, and Crowdfunding.
The next presenter on stage was Mary Tierney, Tax Director at SFC Bennett Brooks. The tax expert talked about SEIS and EIS, two investment schemes that offer very attractive tax benefits for investors. After the audience learnt about the benefits of SEIS and EIS for both successful and unsuccessful investments, Zipfel came back to the stage to share more in depth information about Fund Investment and the process and details of investing through the SFC SEIS/EIS Fund.
The last to speak before the Q&A session was Stephen Page, who talked about how to find the winners and the process Startup Funding Club follows to do so. Following this, the audience was encouraged to participate in a panel discussion with the presenters. During the session, they were able to further enquire about tax-efficient investing and the startup scene. The event sparked lots of interest, and guests also utilised the networking session that took place afterwards to learn more about the topic.