Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS)

What it is

This is an investor tax-relief scheme, not a grant — the company receives no public money; instead, investors buying its new shares get 50% income-tax relief (on up to £200,000 invested per investor per tax year), which makes early seed rounds far easier to close. A qualifying early-stage UK company can raise a lifetime maximum of £250,000 under SEIS; getting HMRC advance assurance before the raise is strongly advised.

Verified 2026-08-21 on gov.uk SEIS company guidance (live; figures last updated 25 May 2023): maximum £250,000 raised through SEIS; gross assets must not exceed £350,000 when shares are issued; fewer than 25 full-time-equivalent employees at share issue; a qualifying trade must not have been carried on for more than 3 years. 50% investor relief and £200,000-per-tax-year investor cap verified the same day on gov.uk venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors. The £350k gross-assets test and excluded/qualifying-trade rules (e.g. property development, financial activities, 'new qualifying trade') are not expressible in engine fields. Trade age is modelled as monthsTrading <= 36 — a proxy for the 3-year qualifying-trade limit.