£11.3 million has been committed to the funding initiatives managed by The FSE Group for businesses within Berkshire. These initiatives include loans and equity investments that aim to help the growth of ambitious SMEs. Could your business benefit from this?
In order to support the growth of SMEs within the Berkshire area, grants and loans are being made available to businesses looking to expand their services, develop new products and create job opportunities. We are helping businesses realise these opportunities and access funding to support their product design and development with us.
The initiatives offered are:
- Thames Valley Berkshire Expansion Loan Scheme
- Thames Valley Berkshire Trade Finance Scheme
- Thames Valley Berkshire Growth Fund
The initiatives explained
Different types of funding are available depending on the requirements and type of business involved. These initiatives apply to businesses located within Berkshire only. Loans are available to accelerate growth and investment funding is also offered for larger development needs.
The TVB Expansion Loan Scheme
This scheme can provide loans to businesses up to the value of £300,000. These loans will be available to established SMEs that are seeking funding to grow their business substantially.
The TVB Trade Finance Scheme
This scheme can provide loans up to the value of £300,000 in order to assist with short term trade funding requirements.
The TVB Growth Fund
This fund is available for high growth SMEs and can provide up to £350,000 of equity. This investment must be matched by private investors, which FSE can help source. If the FSE makes money on their investment then they will usually look to exit the company within 3 - 5 years.
How can this funding help your business?
We strive to help businesses boost sales, reinforce their brand and disrupt markets through the delivery of strong market leading products. If you are looking to expand your business through new product offerings, then we can help you with the support of these funding opportunities. By investing in design and development you can break past competitors and reach new heights - a truth many of our clients have realised, even without the aid of such support funding.
The FSE uses money made available by the LEP through government funding to help businesses advance. By investing wisely the FSE aims to support companies through growth opportunities and reinvest once this is achieved.
What are FSE looking for in your application?
The FSE are looking for young innovative companies that already have a successful track record for sales or presales. They want to see that you believe in the product or service you are selling and that you are ambitious enough to make it a success. The FSE wishes to build a strong relationship with your company before committing. Therefore, an application can typically take around 6 weeks to process.
Passion and a strong belief in the product you are selling is really going to win over the FSE and encourage investors to get involved. Having a strong business plan is important but being able to demonstrate that you have what it takes to push past obstacles is higher on the list of priorities.
A proven track record of sales and/ or presales for your new product offering. The FSE are not looking to fund fresh startups, instead they are helping young innovative businesses step up into the next round of funding. Being able to demonstrate that your business is already commercially sustainable will help greatly.
The FSE will risk assess your company based on historical financial records and future projections. If your historical data is positive and the projections show an expected growth with good supportive evidence then you will be in a strong position.
An application already in place for R&D Tax Credits will be of great value when applying for any of the FSE financial support schemes. These demonstrate a high level of personal investment in the product being offered and unique problem solving capabilities.
Interested?
If you are looking to grow the products and services your business has to offer then please get in touch with Tamara to see how we can help.