[Shrezzing]

> I don’t think it’s any longer about access to capital

The link provided as proof for this comment is Wayve receiving a $1bn injection from Microsoft and Nvidia [1].

The $1bn raise is not the concern of a budding 23 year old graduate leaving Imperial/Cambridge/Oxford. They're looking at the first £100k capital to see them through the first few months. In the UK, the scene for the first capital injection is far weaker than in the US, which has an inevitable downstream impact.

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crgypzg4edvo

[thom]

Been a while since I was in this position but that first £100k used to be a cakewalk. SEIS made it almost a no-brainier for any high net worth individual to invest in startups.

[petesergeant]

> SEIS made it almost a no-brainer

and it still should, as I understand it. On a £100k investment that the business loses all of, the investor gets £75k (£50k tax relief + £25k-ish loss relief) back or something ridiculous, don't they? Makes me wonder how this hasn't made UK capital more readily flow

[Shrezzing]

The challenge in the UK at the moment is connecting willing high net worth individuals with entrepreneurs. Even with the tax incentives, and the relatively good incubator-ish organisations like Eagle Hub, there's some enormous disconnect between viable ideas and timely capital to execute on them.