Venture Capital

Principally, capital committed to an unproven venture is called 'venture capital'. The initial, start-up money is referred to as 'seed money' and entails the greatest risk, however, by virtue of this can often generate the highest rewards to the venture capitalist. Subsequent funding, once the business is established, can also be referred to as 'venture capital'.

Specific to UK tax, there are several schemes currently available that provide tax relief to individuals investing, namely SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme), for start-ups and young companies up to two years old, EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme), for larger, more established companies up to seven years old and VCT (Venture Capital Trust) which subscribes for shares in, or lends money to, small unquoted companies.