Financial support

South Yorkshire Investment Fund

South Yorkshire Investment Fund (SYIF) offers a series of loan and equity linked investments ranging between £15,000 and £2.5 million, specifically to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) meet the gaps in funding they need for development or acquisitions, where conventional sources of finance may not be sufficient or appropriate.

The Fund can back suitable businesses through critical stages of growth from start-up through to major expansion, management buy-outs, management buy-ins and turnarounds. The only specific criterion is that all businesses must be paying business rates in South Yorkshire, although each application is judged on its own merit.
The Fund is spilt as follows: 

SMALL BUSINESS FUND
Small Business Funds have been designed to provide additional finance to enable projects to proceed where only partial funding is available from conventional sources. Unsecured loans of between £15,000 - £150,000 for established, profitable businesses to expand and £15,000 - £50,000 for start-ups and early stage businesses are potentially available.

EQUITY LINKED PACKAGES
Equity-linked packages, ranging from £50k to £2.5m have been designed for new or existing businesses with potential for rapid expansion. Unlike traditional Venture Capital typically South Yorkshire Investment Fund aims to acquire only a minority stake in the investee business. Equity stakes will be negotiated on a case by case basis with an exit sought wherever possible within five years.

SEEDCORN FUND
Seedcorn Fund is a new pilot fund which fills the gap in the market for ventures that are often seen as too risky by mainstream investors. Successful applicants will be companies that are based on new and innovative technology with ideas that have strong potential and once in the market, are capable of rapid growth. Investments will typically be at proof of concept or commercialisation stages and in the range of £15,000 to £500,000.

MENTORBANK PROJECT
A unique feature of the way the Fund can help businesses is the Mentorbank project, which provides subsidised mentoring support to help management teams grow their businesses. More than 450 non-executive advisors are part of this scheme, providing a wide range of experience and expertise to your business.

South Yorkshire Investment Fund Ltd is a company limited by guarantee (Registered No 3936065). South Yorkshire Investment Fund comprises three sub funds, the South Yorkshire Investment Capital Fund, the South Yorkshire Investment Development Fund, which are each managed by YFM Venture Finance Limited, and the South Yorkshire Investment Small Business Fund, which is managed by UKSE Fund Managers Ltd. YFM Venture Finance Limited (Tel 0114 280 0920) and UKSE Fund Managers Ltd (Tel 0114 270 0933) are each authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. South Yorkshire Investment Fund also provides a number of services including Mentorbank, and provides access to South Yorkshire Microloan and Yorkshire Association of Business Angels, none of which are regulated by The Financial Services Authority.

For more information about this financial package please contact us.