Statistics on EIS/SEIS

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However, you can access up to date facts and figures about the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme on this page at all times, including key statistics annually released from HMRC and dynamically updated market insights. The SEIS and EIS have together facilitated £34billion of private investment into more than 59,000 businesses. These businesses generated £28.2billion in turnover and employed 386,000 people in 2023 alone.¹ A 2024 report from Beauhurst found that 46.5% of UK Unicorns had received investment through the EIS. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimates that the cost (in foregone tax) of the EIS was £520 million in 2022–23, whilst VCTs cost £330 million, and SEIS £95 million.² You can see the full estimate of EIS annual costs here. Each year, HMRC releases insights into the performance and regional data for the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme. On the 14th of May, 2025, it released the data for the 2023/24 period.

Enterprise Investment Scheme

• In the tax year 2023 to 2024, 3,780 companies raised a total of £1,575 million of funds under the EIS scheme. Funding has decreased by 20% from 2022 to 2023, the previous year, when 4,245 companies raised £1,971 million.
• Investment in 2023 to 2024 saw a further reduction compared to the previous year’s, which was itself a decrease from the high levels of investment in 2021 to 2022.
• Around £309 million of investment was raised by 1,010 new EIS companies in 2023 to 2024.
• In 2023 to 2024, companies from the Information and Communication sector accounted for £551 million of investment (35% of all EIS investment).
• Companies registered in London and the South East accounted for the largest proportion of investment, raising £997 million (63% of all EIS investment) in 2023 to 2024.

Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme

• In 2023 to 2024, 2,290 companies raised a total of £242 million of funds under the SEIS scheme. Funding in 2023 to 2024 has increased by 51% from 2022 to 2023 when 1,835 companies raised £160 million. This is largely due to expansion of the limits of the scheme in April 2023 that allows companies to raise more investment and allows more companies to qualify.
• Around 1,535 of the companies were raising funds under the SEIS scheme for the first time in 2023 to 2024, representing £181 million of investment.
• In 2023 to 2024, companies from the Information and Communication sector accounted for £99 million (41% of all SEIS investment).
• Companies registered in London and the South East accounted for the largest proportion of investment, raising £156 million (65% of SEIS investment) in 2023 to 2024.

EIS Association’s overview on the 2025 HMRC data

Christiana Stewart-Lockhart, Director General of Enterprise Investment Scheme Association, commented: “The 2023/24 data reflects a pivotal year for both schemes, with a challenging economic environment contributing to a fall in investment through the EIS, while the decision to raise SEIS limits supported a significant increase in funding to early-stage businesses through the scheme. “The drop in EIS is disappointing but not surprising. Significant economic headwinds and wider challenges in the global investment ecosystem are a key reason for this. A slowdown in exits over the 23/24 period has also limited investment from existing investors. However, we are starting to see some green shoots with a number of exits in the S/EIS space announced earlier this year. Despite the fall in investment through the EIS nationally, our focus on the regions has seen positive results with both Yorkshire and Wales bucking the trend with investment through the EIS increasing by 53% and 18% respectively compared to 2022/23. “A 51% increase in SEIS funding highlights the appetite for early-stage UK businesses, with companies across the whole of the UK benefiting from the extension to the scheme’s limits. This is the first data since the new SEIS limits and it’s fantastic to see the positive impact these have had. The age limit on businesses able to benefit from the SEIS disproportionately affects companies outside of London and the South-East and this has been borne out by the data. The North-East saw an 80% increase in the number of startups using the scheme, whilst both Scotland and the South-West saw 40% increases. This is a clear example of how collaboration between government and the private market ecosystem can result in positive growth, and we look forward to working with the government to continue this positive momentum.” “The EIS is an important success story and, despite the drop, it still drove more than £1.5billion of private investment into nearly 4,000 growth businesses. Since their creation, the SEIS and EIS have now resulted in a total of £34billion into 59,000 businesses across the UK.”

Annual HMRC statistics on EIS/SEIS

Each year, we, the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association, provide an overview of the key information that comes from HMRC’s data release. You can explore these below…