#Foresight group series#
This fund, backed by the government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), offers between £500,000 and £2 million in equity in three stages: seed investment of between £500,000 to £1 million Series A of between £1 million-£1.5 million and growth capital of £1.5 million-£2 million It is a joint venture with the Formula One Williams Advanced Engineering team, which consults for aerospace as well as engineering. This high-risk fund backs disruptive and innovative technologies. Foresight funds – a breakdownįoresight’s private equity arm is divvied up into seven different funds: Usually one of us will join the board and we will introduce an experienced non-exec director.”įor example, Foresight arranged for former Screwfix chairman George Adams to become chairman of Folkestone-based power tool retailer FFX. We can invest and help strengthen the team around the entrepreneur. Says Livingston: “We can offer more than a bank can. In addition to equity, another element Foresight offers is bringing in board-level experience. What Foresight looks for is evidence of business planning, as well as having a backable management team in place.
“Typically, we find that crowdfunded business have quite a high, excitable valuation, which makes it hard for an institution to follow on,” says Livingston. Sometimes entrepreneurs approach Foresight who have already crowdfunded their startup, which can prove problematic. What we’re looking for is a sustainable competitive advantage, something with differentiation.” You also get some pretty bonkers business plans that haven’t been thought through. The deal could be too small for us or too big. Livingston, who joined Foresight in 2007 having left Deloitte, says that there are myriad reasons why he might have to say no.
Last year, Foresight ran its slide rule over circa 1,500 business plans and invested in 28 companies (having made offers on over 100). We can find better deals for our funds, and be a better demonstrable partner, when we’re local.” Livingston says: “Having that local contact is so important for SMEs. In addition to its Shard headquarters, Foresight Group has satellite offices in Manchester, Nottingham, Leicester and Milton Keynes. The firm is sector agnostic and covers business services, consumer, healthcare, industrials and technology/media but favours “slightly unloved but nice high-margin sectors,” says partner James Livingston. It invests anything between £250,000 and £5 million in UK SMEs.įoresight takes minority or majority stakes in companies looking for growth capital, equity release or management buyouts. ‘What we’re looking for is a sustainable competitive advantage, something with differentiation’
0 kommentar(er)
