Why invest in us?
The Highgate Tech Fund Team is a group of successful technology entrepreneurs who have founded and grown many tech businesses
- We charge no fees to investors, 100% of your cash is invested
- We are business builders with a track record of exits via M&A and IPO's
- We are here to invest and actively participate in exciting companies, helping them to grow and prosper
- We are here to offer you a diversified portfolio of tech companies, aiming to provide you with a greater return
- We are investing our own cash in this fund
Please download our brochure today and find out how you can both gain significant tax benefits under the EIS scheme and participate in investing in the sector which we believe is leading Britain out of the recession.
Highgate Tech Fund LLP is a member of the EIS Association
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Key Information
The Fund will invest in EIS Qualifying Companies with the overall following objectives:
No Fees to Investors - 100%/100% Rule
The Highgate Tech Fund 2 is an Investor Fee Free Fund. Investors are not charged any fees whatsoever. This unique advantage allows investors to enjoy 100% of EIS tax benefits and to have 100% of their investment actually put to work earning returns.
Access to private investment opportunities
Private company investments are often difficult for the private investor to access since these are usually taken by institutions for their higher growth potential. Both Enterprise and Highgate are uniquely positioned through their longstanding operation in the unquoted sector to source, identify and assess suitable investment opportunities that are normally not available to private investors.
Hands on Management
Highgate builds businesses with their bare hands. Growing companies need help as well as adequate funding to stay focused on their strategies, exploit new opportunities and prepare for the next stage of development or exit. Investments will only be made in companies where the Fund either engages or has vetted experienced professionals to work with the management team. The Fund will take board positions in all investee companies and takes an “active role” to guide, mentor and counsel the management team.
Low entry prices
The shortage of availability of capital for start-ups and SMEs together with the Investment Committee members’ expertise in the sector should enable highly attractive terms to be negotiated with investee companies thus creating greater upside for investors.
Extensive tax benefits for private investors
The Fund offers Investors the full range of benefits available from the EIS. These are set out in summary in the EIS Tax Relief & Timing section of the site and in more detail in the EIS Tax Relief & Rules section of the site.
Unique market positioning
Strong deal flow in the sub-£5m arena is further advantaged as the majority of private equity and venture capital houses are targeting substantially larger deals.
Intellectual Property Rights
The last decade has seen a significant increase of IPR arising from the now-generic usage of web based and mobile applications. Increasingly, technology based companies develop or acquire intellectual property which has become a standard category of asset and easier to value. Whilst the Fund will avoid areas such as biotech, it will consider opportunities with demonstrable IPR, content ownership, viable markets and quantifiable product deliverables. One such area, the media sector, offers much in the way of the exploitation of IPR and content providers are a particular target area, as well as mobile applications and location based services delivered via mobile devices.
Early Stage Companies
The Fund will target companies that are in the early stages of their development and organisation, which show a particular innovation or product development that can have a significant high growth opportunity, either in new or established markets. These companies can typically accelerate rapidly, generating better than average results within a short time frame.
Exit Strategy
Investee companies will need to demonstrate a clear exit strategy in order to provide investors with their returns. Whilst EIS shares must be held for a minimum of 3 years in order to obtain the full value of the tax breaks, experience shows that this may take longer in order for the company to maximise its value. The Fund should therefore be viewed as a 4-7 year investment for full exit potential. However, early stage Tech companies can move rapidly and its possible that exit opportunities may arise before the 3 year EIS period is completed. Highgate’s team will monitor this carefully and reccommend taking profits if this benefits shareholders and roll these forward with CGT deferral or distribute the proceeds to the Investor.
Full Due Diligence - robust and thorough
Comprehensive in-depth due diligence skills deployed by the Investment Committee members and its team for each potential investee company. The Enterprise core discipline is advisory corporate finance, a significant part of which is to review every aspect of the business and to set strategy as appropriate. Highgate members have specific technological, operational and financial management experience in companies from early stage to exit and conduct due diligence on each investment to a level of detail that is not often found in other comparable funds.
Extensive Network Resource
The Investment Committee’s extensive business network comprises serial entrepreneurs and business people with finely tuned skills in relevant disciplines and sectors enabling the Fund’s management to call on comprehensive resources to identify and mentor investee companies for maximum returns.
Considerable experience of all market conditions
The Investment Committee members have operated throughout a variety of economic cycles and market conditions, enabling adverse conditions to be weathered and new opportunities to be exploited. Attention will be paid to current economic circumstances and the investee company’s ability to withstand sustained adverse conditions as well as to exploit growth opportunities which may arise consequently.
Sound EIS Process
The Investment Committee deploys good quality advice from tax professionals teamed with its own management, who understand the need to monitor the investee company’s growth, which considerably reduces the risk of inadvertent breach of EIS status, unless otherwise advantageous to Investors.