Application guidance

Since the Future Fund opened for applications on 20th May 2020, we’ve been delighted with all the positive feedback that we’ve received from both investors and companies in regard to the speed and efficiency of the application process.

The British Business Bank has been closely monitoring the platform’s operations and as such we thought it would be helpful to share some of these insights with advice to help future applicants.

All of the information we request is required, and this will save you time as your application is processed.

To ensure your application is processed as swiftly as possible, please consider the following:

• If an investor is a fund, make sure you provide the details of the party that will execute the convertible loan agreement (CLA), including the name and address of the fund and the party who will be executing on behalf of the fund (if different to the fund itself).
• Please check the “Private Investors” definition as per the glossary and take legal advice if required.
• Please provide supporting evidence to demonstrate that at least £250,000 of third-party equity investment has been raised in the past five years (investment cannot be accepted from individuals who are founders, employees, consultants or connected persons).
• Make sure the amounts the third-party investors are to invest have been totalled correctly and the amount requested as the matched funding amount provided by the Future Fund is correctly recorded.
• Check the name and contact details on the applications are correct for the appropriate parties and are spelled correctly.

Getting it right first time (the initial submission)

Provide all of the investor data asked for as part of the portal application when you first apply, in particular with respect to any other investors in the syndicate.

For example, we require:

• the date of birth of all individual investors (to ensure we correctly identify the persons concerned)
• the date and country of incorporation
• the residential (for individuals) or registered address (for companies).

If an investor is a fund, make sure you provide the details of the party that will execute the convertible loan agreement (CLA), including the name and address of the fund and the party who will be executing on behalf of the fund (if different to the fund itself).

For parties who have received state aid in the past, please tick the “State Aid” box as part of the application and have the details of the nature of the state aid funding available for submission.

Please check the “Private Investors” definition as per the glossary and take legal advice if required.

Provide information to confirm the nominated solicitor, in particular a Solicitors Regulation Authority number (England and Wales) or practicing certificate number (Northern Ireland or Scotland).

Be accurate

Check the name and contact details on the applications are correct for the appropriate parties and are spelled correctly.

Make sure the email addresses and telephone numbers for all parties are correct.

Make sure the amounts the third-party investors are to invest have been totalled correctly and the amount requested as the matched funding amount provided by the Future Fund is correctly recorded.

Be prepared to provide other information during the application

Provide a clear passport image for the representative completing the application.

Provide supporting evidence to demonstrate that at least £250,000 of third-party equity investment has been raised in the past five years (investment cannot be accepted from individuals who are; founders, employees, consultants or connected persons).

Provide the nominated solicitor’s client account details when requested.

If an investor is located overseas, please provide the registry documents that show ownership and directors as required, and if a regulated investor supply the supporting evidence.

For an investing company, please provide details of the individual who will be signing the CLA on behalf of the investor to facilitate the signing process. If the investee and the investors propose that any of the four variable terms (interest rate, conversion discount, headroom amount and valuation cap) should be amended, please have the details of the proposed amendments available for submission when requested during the process. Note: the interest and discount rates cannot be lower than 8% and 20% respectively. If no headroom amount or valuation cap is agreed, they will default to zero and void, respectively.

Should your application be successful, the CLA will be issued to all parties for signature based on the details you have provided. Please do not download the CLA from the website as this will not be valid.

Scheme update – 01 February 2021: The Future Fund scheme has now closed for new applicants. We are now processing applications which were correctly completed and submitted by a lead investor and matched by the investee business before 23:59 GMT on Sunday, 31 January 2021, when the scheme closed to new applications. The online portal will remain open for Investee companies with legally completed CLAs to submit information and MI for portfolio monitoring purposes.

Scheme update – 2nd November 2020: The Government has announced an extension to the Future Fund. The Future Fund will now close for new applications on Sunday 31st January 2021.

For your application to be considered, it must be submitted to the portal by the lead investor and matched with a business (i.e. the investee company has also completed their part of the initial application) by 23.59 GMT on Sunday 31st January 2021. Note: the Future Fund can accept only one application per investee company.

All applications, if successful, will need to have been accepted and legally completed, with the relevant CLA executed by all parties, including the Future Fund, by 23:59 GMT on Sunday 31st January 2021.

Please read our FAQs for more information about the scheme. If you have any further questions, you can reach our Contact Centre via email, web portal or telephone.