Foundations
Part of The startup funding market in England, from grants and loans to EIS and SEIS
Startup funding market size in England: EIS lower bound
Use HMRC EIS and SEIS figures to estimate a lower bound for the startup funding market size in England, and see what that figure leaves out.
HMRC's published EIS and SEIS figures give a lower bound for the startup funding market size in England. The regional calculation rests on the registered-office basis, and the result is not a measure of all English startup finance. The figure can be described accurately alongside other data, without turning incompatible counts, values and geographies into a single grand total.
What the lower-bound figure means
HMRC's EIS and SEIS statistics give UK totals and regional shares by companies' registered offices. London and the South East are both in England, so their combined share gives a minimum amount attributable to England under each scheme. No population-based estimate of an English share is needed.
The word "minimum" matters. The regional figures include London and the South East, but not the rest of England. The calculation therefore supports a lower bound, not a complete England-only total. It also covers investment reported under these two tax schemes, not all startup finance.
Keep the two schemes separate. Their reported company counts and amounts have different denominators, and a combined total would not tell readers what each series measures. If a report needs one headline, describe it as a lower bound across the two named schemes, rather than as the total size of the market.
Derive the EIS and SEIS amounts
In 2024 to 2025, EIS companies raised £1.575 billion and SEIS companies raised £276 million, according to HMRC's EIS and SEIS publication. London and the South East accounted for 60 per cent of EIS value and 66 per cent of SEIS value, by registered office.
| Scheme | UK amount raised | London and South East share | England lower bound |
|---|---|---|---|
| EIS | £1.575 billion | 60 per cent | At least £945 million |
| SEIS | £276 million | 66 per cent | At least £182 million |
Apply each regional share to the UK amount raised. The lower bounds are at least £945 million under EIS and at least £182 million under SEIS in 2024 to 2025. Keep these amounts and the period together in any chart, report or presentation; separated from their year or scheme, they are easy to misread.
The geography is based on registered office. State that basis next to the figures rather than implying the data locate every investment's business activity. The published shares are a way to attribute the reported scheme value geographically; they do not turn the UK scheme totals into a complete census of all funding received by startups in England.
Why this is not the whole market
First, the calculation only captures EIS and SEIS investment. HMRC's figures are not a count of every angel or venture investment, and they do not include all other funding instruments. Do not present the two scheme totals as if they represented the entire startup funding market.
Second, the calculation only uses the London and South East shares. Investment attributed to other English regions is not added, so the result cannot stand for all EIS or SEIS investment in England. The regional shares provide a floor, not a complete English distribution. The wider picture of grants, loans and EIS sits in the market guide.
Third, the period and unit are specific: these are amounts raised by companies under the named schemes in 2024 to 2025. Do not combine them without explanation with another series that counts businesses, announced deals, grant opportunities, awards or lending. Those measures describe different things, even if each, like funding demand signals, is relevant to a funding question.
HMRC's latest years can also be revised as compliance statements arrive. When updating a report, check the relevant publication and its tables again rather than making the measurement mistake of carrying an earlier figure forward as though it were final. Preserve the release and period used so that a later change can be explained.
Use other data for the question it answers
Other series add context but do not complete this calculation. The ONS business demography release for 2024 reports 317,000 UK business births and an 11.1 per cent birth rate; London had the highest regional birth rate, at 12.7 per cent. These count business births, not funding raised.
UK business births, 2024
- 317,000UK business births
- 11.1%UK birth rate
- 12.7%London birth rate
ONS defines a birth through an enterprise becoming active on the Inter-Departmental Business Register, using turnover or employment activity. It is not a count of companies incorporated that year, finance applicants or venture-defined startups. Use those figures to describe business creation, not as a multiplier for estimating funding.
Equity data answer a different question again. The British Business Bank's Small Business Equity Tracker 2026 announcement reports UK smaller-business equity activity and regional changes, while its full tables contain deal count, value, stage and geography.
Deal value can move sharply with a few large deals, so it is not interchangeable with HMRC's scheme amounts raised. If the decision is about which investors are active at a particular stage, see active investors; that is a different question from calculating an EIS or SEIS lower bound.
Grant directories show opportunities rather than funds received by startups. The Find a grant service can support a dated opportunity count after eligibility screening, while Government Grants Register data may include public spending beyond business competitions. Neither should be added to the HMRC amounts as though it were a comparable total of capital raised.
Debt data include several products and business stages. The British Business Bank finance markets report is a starting point for UK smaller-business finance, but its coverage is wider than startups in England. Keep any lending measure distinct from the EIS and SEIS calculation, and label its own geography, period and unit.
How to state the result
A careful sentence names the schemes, amount, period, geographic basis and limitation together.
For example: "In 2024 to 2025, the London and South East registered-office shares imply that at least £945 million was raised under EIS and at least £182 million under SEIS in England; these are lower bounds, not a total for the English startup funding market."
Do not call these figures an England-only HMRC total: the underlying amounts are UK-wide, and the English amounts are derived from regional shares. Do not add a funding amount per business birth, infer the missing regions from population, or silently combine these scheme values with deal counts, grant opportunities or debt.
If a new report needs a fuller market estimate, first use benchmark research methods to establish whether its available data actually cover the same population, period, geography and funding instrument.
For a defensible comparison over time, as in a reporting dashboard, retain the same scheme definitions and period basis, check whether the latest data have been revised, and state any change in method. That keeps the lower bound usable without implying it measures capital the data do not count.
