Investment Criteria
Location
YHEF's region comprises of West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and The Humber (East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire).
For businesses to qualify for the fund, its headquarters must be located, or it must conduct a material part of its business, in the region.
Attributes
Each business is considered on an individual basis and those companies having the following characteristics will stand the best chance of attracting investment:
- a talented and ambitious management team fully committed to the success of their venture
- potential for significant growth in the marketplace
- a strong product or service with competitive advantage
- a detailed plan to achieve strong, sustainable growth in profits
- a practical exit route for investors within 3 to 5 years of funding
- effective financial systems and controls
- those not operating in excluded sectors
YHEF is looking to achieve a balanced investment portfolio and as such will consider of stages of business, ie. start up, early stage, development capital, MBI/MBO and acquisition.
It is recognised however that with most start-ups and early stage business looking to raise venture capital, it is unlikely that all of the above characteristics will be in place pre-investment and therefore the team at YFM Venture Finance would be pleased to discuss with you any queries that you may have before submitting a formal application.
Please note that the Fund is unable to provide monies for seedcorn, proof of concept or research and development opportunities.
Sectors
YHEF is a generalist fund which will be invested into a wide range of SME businesses and sectors across the Yorkshire & Humber region.
Please note that under the rules of the fund, some sectors are excluded.