2024 marks 30 years of the EIS, so we are shining the spotlight on success stories of businesses that have grown using the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) or the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS).
These stories demonstrate why it is so important for us to celebrate and support the schemes so they can continue to boost the UK start up ecosystem.
“This investment has been game changing.”, says Air Aware Labs CEO and co-founder
We spoke with co-founder and CEO Louise Thomas, who along with Dr Will Hicks, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder, used the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme to grow Air Aware Labs.
How important has SEIS/EIS funding been to your startup?
“We got our advance assurance right at the start so it wasn’t instantaneous in helping us raise!”
“However, the fundraising landscape is tough for early stage and for female founders in particular, so getting that assurance is a must for all start ups.”
“It helps to de-risk the investment from the investors’ perspective, and let’s face it, investment in early stage companies is a risk. Of course, we hope we realise the upside opportunity for our investors!”
How much did you raise and from who?
“So far we have raised £50k from Regent Capital Ventures which focuses on companies with a social and environmental purpose.“
What has SEIS/EIS investment enabled you to do?
“This investment has been game changing.”
“We have employed our first member of staff – our Marketing and Communications Officer. It also puts us on a new footing, knowing there is someone out there invested in us succeeding.”
How are you changing the world?
“We provide personalised health insights from air pollution data. Air pollution kills 8 million people a year, yet data is not personalised meaning people can’t protect their health.”
“We are filling that gap – we use high resolution mapping data, attached to GPS, to provide these insights. We have 800 users across the globe of our product AirTrack and big plans for the future!”
Want to discover more EIS and SEIS success stories like this one?
You can read more stories of how businesses have grown using the schemes here. If you are a founder and would like to share your EIS success story, please contact us here.