An award winning and experienced SEIS and EIS Fund manager, specialising in AI & enabling technology
Business overview
| Location | London, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Social media | |
| Website | www.symvancapital.com |
| Sectors | Finance & Payments Mixed Digital/Non-Digital Mixed B2B/B2C |
| Company number | 08772369 |
| Incorporation date | 12 Nov 2013 |
Business highlights
- Investor of the Year, Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2025
- Specialist investor targeting B2B SaaS products harnessing AI
- Marked our 6th Exit in 2025
- EIS benefits of up to 30% income tax relief
Pitch
About the Campaign
We are an award winning and experienced SEIS and EIS Fund manager, investing in exciting, early-stage, growth technology businesses. With our investment minimum usually being £10,000 we are delighted to offer this to Republic Europe investors for a minimum investment of £2,000.
Since opening the doors of our funds back in 2014, Symvan has invested in 56 technology businesses with a current AUM of £52m. We are a boutique, specialist investor meaning simply, we believe in quality over quantity.
Each year we take on roughly 5 new companies that fit our thesis and we know we can add value to. We work to support them intensively and adopt a unique principle which we call our Lifecycle Approach, explained further below. We don’t just invest - we partner with our chosen founders.
Investing via the Symvan Technology EIS Fund means:
• Full Deployment: Your subscription will be deployed across multiple specialised sectors harnessing AI or other technologies.
• Star Performers: Roughly 76% of the EIS Fund are companies which have graduated from our SEIS Fund, of which we are typically the lead investor. Meaning investors get to benefit from Symvan’s ‘top of the crop’.
• Risk Mitigation: Having worked with these businesses successfully through their SEIS stage, investment is going to founders and teams we know well and have seen consistently deliver results.
• Diversified Portfolio: We will target a fund portfolio size: 8-10 companies.
• Tax Efficient: EIS tax reliefs are available (subject to personal circumstances).
• Carry Back: Subscriptions that meet the deadline will be deployed before 5th April 2026. This will allow you to take advantage of the ability to carry-back the investment to the 24/25 tax year.
• Fund Target Return: The EIS Fund targets a £2.85x return for each £1 invested before any impact of tax relief.
• Target Exit period: We will aim to exit after the 3 year holding period to benefit from EIS tax reliefs. Expect this to be between 5-7+ years for maximum return on investment.
Investment Strategy
We say ‘yes’ to: Pre-Seed to Series A B2B Software companies, across verticals including but not limited to FinTech, RegTech, InsurTech, HRTech, AR/VR, and Cyber Security. We look for companies solving real problems. Companies harnessing enabling technology such as AI, Web3, DLT, etc.
We say ‘no’ to: University spinouts, life sciences or hardware plays, B2C models and consumer technology.
Focused on Winners — With Risk Management Built In:
Any decent VC is targeting x10 return on each investment, you aim for the sky always. Every company we invest in should have the potential to scale and disrupt. In fact, through our EIS Fund, we are targeting a return of £2.85 for every £1 invested - a clear demonstration of our belief in finding standout companies that can scale successfully. However, we also believe in being smart with your money. Ignoring the failure rate of this industry and hoping one company sticks to return investors capital is making an already risky game pretty extreme!
Therefore, a key pillar of our investment thesis is our Lifecycle Approach. Seeding companies early through our SEIS fund, providing intensive support, before graduating those top performers into our EIS Fund, crucially mitigating risk of early failure (as is all too common in this early stage market) and participating in follow-on funding through to exit. The results of our experience and carefully curated strategy speak for themselves, with a c.15% loss rate currently for our EIS Fund - a relatively low rate compared to the 60-90% failure rate generally accepted in the Venture Capital market.
You can read this article to understand our strategy further: https://www.symvancapital.com/why-symvan-challe...
Traction & Key Accomplishments
• The EIS Fund has been operating and investing in early stage, growth technology companies for 10+ years
• 6 Exits: The most recent in summer 2025, delivering a 1.93x return (inclusive of EIS tax relief) to fund investors
• We are a signatory to the ‘Investing in Women Code’ - an important initiative and commitment to back female founders and females seeking careers in the VC space.
• c.15% EIS Loss Rate - before taking into account, EIS Loss Relief on failed portfolio companies.
Recent Award Winnings:
• Winner - Investor of the Year. Nov 2025 - Great British Entrepreneur Awards
• Finalist - Best EIS Manager - Specialist. Nov 2025 - Growth Investor Awards
• Winner - Best EIS Manager - Up and Coming. Nov 2024 - Growth Investor Awards
Additional Stats:
• 56+ Investments
• £52m AUM
• 800+ Subscribers
• 100 Founders
Team
A growing, diverse and dynamic team of 10 led by ‘Investor of the Year’ winning founders, Kealan Doyle and Nicholas Nicolaides. Symvan prides itself on hiring individuals with unique backgrounds and specialised skill sets. The startup ecosystem is competitive, unpredictable and challenging — which is why we’ve focused on building a team that not only thrives in this environment, but also brings distinctive knowledge to support our portfolio companies and clients through every stage.
Selected strategic advisers supporting the investment committee bring a range of expertise from M&A, taxation, risk management and cross-border financial operations and guidance.
About the founders:
Nic and Kealan have spent over 20 years building, scaling and exiting high-growth technology startups together, having founded Symvan Capital in 2013.
Before moving into venture capital investing, Kealan led a structured equity products team at HSBC, where he was responsible for developing and managing innovative investment solutions and complex financial products.
Nic brings experience from his involvement in technology, media and telecoms IPOs while at Paribas and Lehman Brothers, ranging from the privatisations of telecom incumbents such as European Telecom, through to the IPOs of tech companies such as Autonomy.
Across their careers, they have both led multiple M&A transactions and IPOs, holding roles across corporate finance and investment banking at institutions including Deutsche Bank, UBS, BNP Paribas and Lehman Brothers. This journey has shaped a long-standing passion for backing and developing early-stage businesses.
Learn more about the Symvan team here: https://www.symvancapital.com/meet-the-team/
Fund Terms
Target deployment: This campaign will complete before the end of 2025/26 tax year.
All investments are EIS eligible. Please note that tax relief depends on an individual's circumstances and is liable to change.
Initial investment fee: No upfront or ongoing management fees for investors from the fund. There is a Republic Europe Investor fee of 2.5% of your investment amount. Please see the Key Information tab for details.
The Fund charges portfolio companies a 6% initial fee, a 2% due diligence fee, and a 2% annual monitoring fee on the amount invested.
The Fund charges a Performance fee to subscribers of 20% on profits once the full and initial subscription has been returned to you.
Key Information
EIS Fund
Symvan Technology EIS Fund (the “Fund”) pools funds from multiple investors in order to invest in a portfolio of companies. Investee companies are selected with the EIS criteria in mind. The Fund is structured in such a way that investments are eligible for EIS tax relief. Please note, tax relief is dependent on individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.
Documents
Please refer to the “Documents” section of the campaign, which includes the key relevant documents for the investment opportunity.
Direct Investment and Data Processing
Please note, investors in this round will be making a direct investment in the Symvan Technology EIS Fund. Seedrs Nominees Limited will not act as nominee for investors and investors will be Platform Direct Investors for the purposes of the investment agreement entered into between investors and Republic Europe.
By investing in this campaign, you acknowledge and agree that you have read and understood the relevant documents in the “Documents” section of this campaign and agree to be bound by them.
Details of your investment will be submitted by Republic Europe to Symvan Technology EIS Fund on your behalf. In so doing, we will be sending the information set out below (which includes certain elements of your personal data) and your investment monies to Symvan Technology EIS Fund in order for them to admit your investment into the EIS Fund:
(i) Your name, email address and residential address;
(ii) NI number; and
(iii) Your investment amount
(iv) The fund may also request information on the identity verification (KYC) for investors, which Republic Europe will pass on to the Fund.
Following your investment into the campaign, Symvan will reach out directly to each shareholder to collect additional information for their due diligence process, including:
(i) occupation; and
(ii) source of funds
If you do not respond to these requests from Symvan, within 7 days, your investment will be cancelled.
Investment Holding
Investors in this campaign will hold an interest in the Symvan Technology EIS Fund and will be beneficial owners of the companies into which the Fund invests. WCS Nominees Limited will hold the legal title to the shares issued by the Fund’s investee companies.
Symvan Capital will be responsible for providing investment updates and tax certificates via the Symvan Capital online portal and will send distributions to investors directly.
Investor Fees
1. Initial Investment fee:
Symvan Capital does not charge an initial investment fee for investors. There is an initial investment fee charged to the portfolio companies of 6%. The Fund reserves the right to charge an additional 2% to companies for due diligence if required.
Republic Europe will charge investors a standard 2.5% transaction fee upon investment (with a min. fee of £5, and up to a max. fee of £250).
2. Carry fee:
The only investor fee the Fund charges is a performance fee of 20% of the return. This is charged only after an aggregate positive return and the fund has to return the investors full subscription amount before any performance fee is taken.
Republic Europe will not charge a carry fee. The reference to the carry fee in the check out journey is related the the carry fee the Fund charges.
3. Ongoing Fees:
Neither the Fund nor Republic Europe charges any ongoing annual management fees to investors. The Fund charges an Annual Administration and Monitoring fee of 2% to the portfolio companies.
UK Investment Opportunity
You can only invest if you are a UK tax resident. Even if your browser does allow you to invest, your investment will be cancelled at a later date if you do not meet the eligibility requirements of being a UK tax resident.
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