Enterprise Capital Fund
Encyclopedia
According to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
(BERR), Enterprise Capital Funds were established in the UK to address a market weakness in the provision of equity finance to Small and medium enterprises. Government funding is used alongside private sector funds to establish funds that operate within the ‘equity gap’; targeting investments of up to £2m that have the potential to provide a good commercial return. The first five funds supported under the scheme were launched in 2006-7 following a pathfinder competition. A further three funds were awarded ECF status in 2007 and have now been launched.
Incorporated in March 2007 as a private limited company, Capital for Enterprise Limited (‘CfEL’) commenced actively trading in April 2008. It is an asset management business specialising in designing and managing support programmes for SME finance. Its position in the SME finance
markets provides it with a unique ability to inform and implement Government policy on those markets.
CfEL is wholly owned by BERR and is therefore classified as a Non-departmental public body
(‘NDPB’). CfEL is managed by an independent Board of Directors and has 17 full-time, permanent staff.
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry , and was itself disbanded on 6 June 2009 on the creation of the Department for Business,...
(BERR), Enterprise Capital Funds were established in the UK to address a market weakness in the provision of equity finance to Small and medium enterprises. Government funding is used alongside private sector funds to establish funds that operate within the ‘equity gap’; targeting investments of up to £2m that have the potential to provide a good commercial return. The first five funds supported under the scheme were launched in 2006-7 following a pathfinder competition. A further three funds were awarded ECF status in 2007 and have now been launched.
Capital for Enterprise
As of 1 April 2008, responsibility for the management of ECFs along with BERR’s other equity funds and the Small Firms Loan Guarantee (SFLG) was transferred to a new body, Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL). This change does not change the nature of the funds or their policy objectives.Incorporated in March 2007 as a private limited company, Capital for Enterprise Limited (‘CfEL’) commenced actively trading in April 2008. It is an asset management business specialising in designing and managing support programmes for SME finance. Its position in the SME finance
SME finance
SME finance is the funding of small and medium sized enterprises, and represents a major function of the general business finance market – in which capital for different types of firms are supplied, acquired, and costed or priced...
markets provides it with a unique ability to inform and implement Government policy on those markets.
CfEL is wholly owned by BERR and is therefore classified as a Non-departmental public body
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
(‘NDPB’). CfEL is managed by an independent Board of Directors and has 17 full-time, permanent staff.
Approved funds
The approved funds as of September 2009 are:- IQ Capital Fund
- 21st Century Sustainable Technology Growth Fund
- The Seraphim Capital Fund
- The Amadeus Enterprise Fund
- The Catapult Growth Fund
- Dawn Capital ECF
- Oxford Technology Management ECF
- MMC Venture Managers
- Beringea Digital Ventures (raising private capital)
- Panoramic Growth Equity (raising private capital)