Autumn Budget 2024: Key Changes and Implications for UK B2B and SaaS Startups and Scaleups

The UK Labour government’s Autumn Budget 2024, which was published at the end of October and brings significant fiscal shifts. For B2B and SaaS startups and scaleups—particularly those at Series A or beyond—the changes to National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and Capital Gains Tax (CGT) will be especially important. Understanding and preparing for these adjustments will enable startups and scaleups to safeguard profitability, optimise operational budgets, and enhance resilience against potential market shifts. In this article we outline the key changes and how B2B and Saas businesses can prepare.

Friday 8 November 2024

Register a Trademark - 7 Trademark Principles Every Founder Should Know

Trade marks are crucial assets that can make or break your brand. Obtaining trade mark protection for your key brand elements is essential in building brand identity, recognition and customer loyalty, as well as ultimately ensuring the longevity of the brand. They can also help add significant value to your intellectual property portfolio and by extension to your business. Here are seven key trade mark principles every founder should know.

Monday 14 October 2024

Navigating the Necessary Documentation for Your VC Round: A Quick Guide for Founders

Raising capital is an exciting step for any founder in the growth and hyper growth phases of your startup journey. Whether you’re at pre-seed, seed, Series A stage or beyond, the core documents you’ll need remain fairly consistent across all rounds. While the content may evolve - such as increasing investor rights as rounds progress or heightened founder protections when shareholdings dip below 50% - the essential documents stay the same. When raising a round with external institutional investors especially, these documents are of central importance: the subscription agreement, shareholders agreement, articles of association and cap table.

Monday 14 October 2024

Navigating Founder Departures: Good Leavers, Bad Leavers, and Voluntary Leavers During Fundraising

Startups are as much about people as they are products, and especially the founders. So when negotiating with investors, one of the key risks that they will pick up on is “what happens if one of the founders leaves?”. This is always going to be a crucial discussion point for any growing team when assessing the future plans of a startup.

Thursday 18 July 2024

Advanced Subscription Agreements (ASAs): Bridging the Gap to Full Investment

Raising capital is one of the most challenging aspects of building a startup. Founders often set a target—say, £1 million—but frequently find that not all investors are ready to commit simultaneously. So, what should you do if you have some investors eager to invest now, but not enough to meet your total funding goal right away? This is where Advanced Subscription Agreements (ASAs) can be incredibly useful.

Wednesday 10 July 2024

A Reverse Vesting Quick Guide for Founders When Fundraising

Having a co-founder has many clear benefits but it also brings with it complex questions around the future and what if a co-founder wants to leave, and in particular, what should happen to a co-founder’s shares if they leave? One strategy that can help to safeguard a startup's future and ensure founder commitment to the cause is reverse vesting. In this guide, we'll explore what reverse vesting is, how it differs from traditional vesting, its importance during fundraising, and provide real-world examples of startups that have successfully implemented this mechanism to protect their interests whilst promoting long-term growth.

Wednesday 10 July 2024

Unlocking Millions: What Revolut's Employee Share Sale Means for Your Startup

Revolut, one of the UK's leading and most valuable fintech companies, is reportedly preparing to enable its employees to sell shares worth hundreds of millions. The estimated $500 million secondary share sale will be coordinated by investment bankers at Morgan Stanley.

Wednesday 10 July 2024

A Founder’s Handbook to SEIS and EIS: Practical Points and Application Process (Part 2/2)

Welcome back to our two-part series on the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). We will dive into the practical aspects of accessing SEIS and EIS, including the application process, the differences between applying for Advance Assurance before fundraising and submitting Compliance Statements after fundraising, and tips to ensure your startup is eligible for SEIS/EIS benefits. We also outline the expected timelines in the process, what to expect from HMRC, important considerations and risks, as well as practical tips from our experience with our clients.

Wednesday 10 July 2024

A Founder’s Handbook to SEIS and EIS: Rules and Benefits (Part 1/2)

As a founder of a UK company, understanding the core tax reliefs for potential investors is crucial when fundraising. Two of the most beneficial schemes available in the UK are the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). These schemes provide significant tax reliefs to investors, making your UK company a more attractive and highly incentivised investment opportunity. In this two-part guide, we will delve into the rules and practical points for founders regarding SEIS and EIS to help ensure you understand them and are in a position to benefit from them.

Wednesday 10 July 2024

Planning a VC Round? Here’s 9 Things Every Founder Should Know

Raising a venture capital (VC) round is a big step for any startup. It means investors believe your company is “venture-backable” (i.e. has the potential to grow rapidly and deliver a high return on their investment) and want to help it grow. But this also means dealing with some complex legal agreements and positions. Here’s a simple guide to help founders understand what’s involved.

Sunday 21 July 2024

Raising An Angel Round: Legal Must-Knows for Early Stage Founders

Raising capital is a pivotal step for many startups in their early stages seeking to accelerate growth using external capital, rather than grow organically. For many founders, approaching a funding round can feel daunting, even before deciding on strategy between raising from angel investors or venture capital (VC). Everyone begins from a standing start, and if you don’t have an existing investor network, it is a challenge!

Wednesday 10 July 2024

Understanding Share Dilution: A Guide for Startup Founders During Fundraising

Navigating the complexities of share dilution is crucial for startup founders, especially tech startup founders during startup fundraising, and/or when setting up employee share schemes like EMI Schemes (Enterprise Management Incentive). Share dilution occurs when a company issues new shares to raise funds or distribute to employees, which decreases the ownership percentage of existing shareholders. Managing this dilution effectively is key to retaining value and control in your company from pre-seed to series A and beyond.

Wednesday 10 July 2024