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The £500 million earmarked through the ENABLE Guarantee programme is a welcome acknowledgment of something we see every day working with start-ups and scale-ups i.e. that a company's most valuable asset is often intangible and traditional lending has never been well-equipped to reflect that. Founders with strong patent portfolios or proprietary technology have historically been asked to compete for finance on the same terms as businesses with buildings and machinery to put up as security. Recognising IP as bankable collateral should make it easier for innovative businesses to get the working capital they need to commercialise their ideas rather than dilute early through equity alone.
Access to finance comes up in almost every conversation I had with founders on our podcast, and it's rarely just about the amount available but about whether the finance on offer understands the kind of business being built. These newly announced reforms, particularly the expansion of the Growth Guarantee Scheme and the specific allocation for innovation-rich firms, suggest the UK government is starting to grasp that IP-heavy businesses in life sciences and the creative industries need finance products built around how they actually create value. This represents a meaningful shift and one we'll be watching closely as it filters through to the businesses we advise.
Guidance for the start-up and scale-up community can also be found in our free ebook, The IP Driven Start-up.
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