As part of the run up to our 30th Anniversary of EIS Celebration event, 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.
“Without S/EIS, Childs Farm would have failed the moment we went into our first retailer”, says founder Joanna Jensen
We spoke with Joanna to learn more about how her startup used the Enterprise Investment Scheme to grow into a success story.
How important has SEIS/EIS funding been to your startup?
“Without SEIS/EIS we would have been unable to have raised the Capital we needed to grow the business.”
“The Income Tax Incentives, and the ability to off-set Capital Gains brought the Angel investors we needed. Our Angel Investors were all successful in the businesses that they worked in – Private Equity, Marketing, Finance – so not only did we get the capital we needed, we also got expertise at no extra cost.”
“This correlation between Private Investors and Expert skill sets should not be overlooked.”
How much did you raise and from who?
“During the life time of Childs Farm we undertook three fund raises; £200k in 2013, £750k in 2014 and £1.5mn in 2016.”
“At each round existing investors continued to invest alongside new investors, so in the final round in 2016 we only had to source on additional investor.”
“All of our Capital raises were done with Angel Investors.”
What has SEIS/EIS investment enabled you to do?
“Without S/EIS Childs Farm would have failed the moment we went into our first retailer in 2014 because we would have been unable to raise the capital required to keep the business going.”
“In the UK, S/EIS is the key part of the private investor toolbox, giving them reasons to invest that they haven’t had before.”
How are you changing the world?
“Having sold 92% of Childs Farm in 2022 to PZ Cussons, I now use my experience gained from founding Childs Farm to help other SME founders, in particularly women Founders of Consumer Brands.”
“I am an Advisor to Buy Women Built, a company that supports female founded consumer brands in the UK with advice and FMCG insight. I Chair a fund-raising arm of Paralympics GB called The Parallel Club which invites companies and individuals to financially support our athletes with their training costs through the four-year cycle of their Paralympic journey.”
“I have invested in 11 female or female co-founded SMEs through the EIS scheme.”
“I recently became Chair of the EISA to raise awareness of the organisation and S/EIS to Entrepreneurs, and to help raise awareness of the needs of Entrepreneurs to the Treasury.”
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.
Learn more about the 30th Anniversary of the EIS event
