The EIIS runs until 2020. Image: Honeybee49/Shutterstock
Investment manager BVP says millions of euro in investment is expected under EIIS.
According to estimates issued by investment firm BVP, approximately 100 Irish companies will this year collectively receive more than €50m in investment funding under the Employment and Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS).
What is the EIIS?
The EIIS is a successor to the Business Expansion Scheme (BES) and it is set to run until 2020. The scheme provides investors with tax relief on investments made in companies that meet the qualification criteria.
Under the scheme, investors invest an average of €20,000 and up to €150,000 in EII Funds each year. Qualifying companies will typically be new businesses or will have been trading for no more than seven years.
The tax relief, most of which is earned upfront by the investor, is an attractive incentive. A qualifying company can raise a lifetime maximum of €15,000,000 risk finance using this incentive, which may not otherwise be able to be raised.
The cost of an EIIS investor’s qualifying investment in such companies can be deducted from their total income, and it is one of the few remaining sources of total income relief.
As the scheme applies to SMEs in Ireland, investors can also have a hand in boosting job creation across the country.
December is a pivotal month
Elliott Griffin, CEO of BVP, said that December was a crucial time for the scheme: “This is a key month for EIIS investors and investee companies as the deadline for 2017 investors approaches. We have recently launched our 11th EIIS Fund, which will close on the 31st December, and we expect to raise €2m this round. We already have a number of EIIS qualifying companies lined up for investment in 2018.”
BVP itself has invested in four companies in 2017. The investee companies are tech businesses involved in parking, refrigeration and energy storage as well as an anaerobic digestion plant.
Investments from BVP usually range from €250,000 to €300,000. Previous investments made by BVP include UrbanVolt, a provider of energy-efficient lighting solutions.
