The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), a cornerstone of the UK's entrepreneurial ecosystem, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Since its inception in 1994, the EIS has played a pivotal role in nurturing innovation and fostering economic growth. Alongside its sister scheme, the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), it has facilitated over £30 billion in private investment into 53,000 startups across the nation.

Investment into tech firms in Northern Ireland has reached its highest level ever in 2023 at £143.2 million, according to the latest data from Catalyst.

Research for Catalyst’s annual NI Deal Tracker report has revealed that £143m was invested across 72 deals, with an average investment of £1.99m.

This compared to a total of £139m in 2022 across 89 deals, with an average investment of £1.6m.

Catalyst has tracked innovation investment in Northern Ireland for its Deal Tracker Report since 2017 and reviews each investment to ensure the accuracy of reporting in the Northern Ireland market.

New data released by  the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), demonstrates a worrying trend. Private research and development (R&D) investment fell by 0.4% in real terms to £49.9 billion in 2022 compared to 2021. This drop comes at a time when the Government is trying to ramp up R&D investment as its central plan for economic growth.

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has released a comprehensive report on the ownership of investment companies.

Seedrs’ January 2024 Highlights 

The United Kingdom’s score in the National Entrepreneurial Context Index (NECI) continues to fall, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2023/2024 Report, released this week in Morocco.

The team behind Scotland’s flagship event for business founders and investors has launched a survey to try and establish clarity around the state of the investment landscape in Scotland.

As markets hope for interest rate reductions in 2024, some investors may well be considering how to invest for income and capital growth over the long term. The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has published a list of the 48 investment trusts that invest in equities and yield at least 4%.

2024 could be the year of recovery after UK venture capital turned a corner in H2 2023 according to new analysis from HSBC Innovation Banking and Dealroom.

With 2023 approaching its end, UK Investment platform, CMC Invest, has released new data showing investing behaviours throughout 2023. 

Seedrs - Europe's leading private investment platform - has released its 2023 Portfolio Report, one of the most comprehensive examinations of the European equity crowdfunding sector ever produced.

New analysis reveals a robust resurgance in university-business interactions since the pandemic, according to NCUB's State of the Relationship report 2023.