Seed Haus, pre-seed tech accelerator based in Scotland, has announced the launch of a £300,000 angel-backed fund that will go towards supporting early-stage startups.
Headquartered in Edinburgh, the fund will launch in Q2 and is looking to invest in 10 startups over the next year, pumping an average of £18,000 in exchange for 8% equity. Seed Haus also plans to offer support with regard to infrastructure, mentorship and a suite of software and professional service assistance. Chairman Robin Knox commented:
I believe we need to take a fresh approach to funding the ideas that could become scalable startups. Edinburgh is erupting with innovation and the ecosystem is ripe for Seed Haus to make a real difference.
The launch has arrived at a significant moment for Scotland’s digital economy, with the number of registered small enterprises on the rise, and the 84,000 people working digital technologies is generating over £5 billion in gross value added (GVA) terms. Calum Forsyth, CEO of Seed Haus, said:
The Scottish tech scene definitely needs greater investment but we are keen to encourage our startups to engage with investors based across the UK. The recent acquisition of Skyscanner will mean that we now have a suite of new angel investors added to the ecosystem and we need to emulate this going forward whilst simultaneously encouraging founders to engage with London-based investors and think more globally.
When your business is just starting out, you have the least access to support, it seems like the system is only set up to help businesses that make it into high growth, almost when you don’t need the help any more. Doesn’t that seem odd?
Startups will receive £30,000 but will then have to pay £12,000 in order to cover the cost of the programme and rent.
