Equity management platform Vestd has announced its latest offering to provide founders with the easiest way to apply for advance assurance from HMRC for the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).

In the September mini-budget, the Chancellor announced the extension of EIS beyond 2025 and major changes to the SEIS from April 2023.

This will allow firms to raise £250,000 in the first three years of trading - up from a maximum of £150,000 in the first two years – and increase the gross asset limit to £350,000, from £200,000.

Vestd’s new product will enable founders seeking investment to easily apply for advance assurance from HMRC, as well as the ability to issue shares and share certificates directly through the platform after receiving investment.

Explaining the launch, Ifty Nasir, founder and CEO of Vestd, said:

“SEIS/EIS are hugely popular with investors because of their tax efficiency. As such, securing advance assurance puts founders in a much better position to secure the investment they need.

“The announcement of the extension and widening of EIS and SEIS respectively was great news for UK startups and scaleups, minimising risk for investors and increasing the opportunities for innovative companies to access additional funding.

“With inflation reducing the value of savings, benefitting from generous tax breaks while investing in early-stage businesses through SEIS/EIS is increasingly attractive.

“The complicated HMRC application process is confusing and time-consuming, so our new product is designed to guide founders through the application and provide clarity on the conditions to get approved.”