Our seed funding solicitors are experts in helping ambitious businesses
Our seed funding solicitors are experts in helping ambitious businesses like yours get off the ground by ensuring all the legal i’s are dotted and t’s crossed when accessing early-stage investment.
We’ll advise you on how funding will impact your business in the future, whether it’s family and friends providing hands-off pre-seed funding, or you’re looking to partner with an investor who’s experienced in your sector. We’ll help you understand your options, make clear the costs and risk, providing you with the information you need to make informed decisions.
But it’s not just about securing investment, our supportive and knowledgeable seed funding lawyers will help you build the right foundations as you scale your sales and marketing, grow your team and develop your offering.
“The lawyer’s truth is not Truth, but consistency or a consistent expediency.”
Henry D. Thoreau
What we do: Pre-seed and seed funding
Our team of seed funding solicitors can provide you with the necessary expertise and support to move your business forward. As part of our legal services for pre-seed and seed businesses, we can:
Advise you how funding will impact your business in the future, including the considerations for different investment options such as debt, convertible loans, equity or a quasi-equity (hybrid).
We’ll explain the different funding stages from seed onwards, so that you’ll understand what each one means for your company’s growth and prospects.
Walk you through the steps needed to secure funding
This includes getting your company valued, creating a capitalisation table, and providing feedback on your business plan to help you meet any regulatory or investor requirements.
Help you evaluate whether the investor is right for you, bearing in mind your sector, track record and any risks involved.
Advise if you qualify for tax-advantaged schemes
Such as the Enterprise Investment Schemes, and Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes to attract investors, obtain advanced assurance and issue tax relief certificates.
Help you prepare your company with the necessary due diligence for a fundraise and deal with issues raised by potential investors.
Resolve any outstanding issues between you and your business partners and existing shareholders/investors
These relationships will have to be disclosed in your pitch and any problems sorted out, pre-pitch. For example, having clearly identified roles for existing founders, shareholders agreements and the formalisation of and Resolve any issues around Intellectual Property Rights such as who owns what along with any current and planned registrations. Putting in place a clear IPR strategy will demonstrate the value in your business to investors y existing loans or service agreements.
Clearly define any third-party involvement before you go any further
If you’ve asked others to contribute to your business, whether that be creating part of your offer, lending you money, or working for you, their status should be clearly documented, and any outstanding obligations settled in a proper way.
Explain how any state aid or grant funding will interact with the investment so that you continue to meet any qualifying criteria.
Ensure your business is funded in a tax efficient way by facilitating questions and discussing if it is necessary to take professional tax advice.
Advise on, prepare or update the necessary formalities and documents needed to complete the fundraise, from shareholders’ agreements to new Articles of Association and service contracts for your company.
Explain the potential impact of employee share options on founders, investors and other stakeholders.
We understand the considerations of pre-seed and seed funded start-ups
Supporting start-ups is what we specialise in at Harper James. We understand the pressures and challenges you could face as you unlock your company’s growth potential. Working by your side, we’ll get to the bottom of these kinds of tricky issues that are common to most early-stage businesses:
- I’m really grateful for the help that I’ve had from others to get to this stage. But I need to get my business on a proper footing so that I can move forward in a professional way. What legal documents do I need to protect my rights while recognising their contributions?
- If I offer someone shares in my company in return for their help, what will I be committing to?
- How can I protect my business ideas? What’s involved in getting a patent and do I need one? And how do I go about choosing a company name and making sure no-one else can use it?
- How do I choose company directors, and what are their duties?
- How much risk am I exposing myself to in my contracts with suppliers and customers?
- Can I take advantage of government-backed, tax-efficient schemes like the Enterprise Investment or Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes? What do I need to do to ensure my business qualifies for tax-advantaged funding?
Who we help
We aim to help start-ups at a critical time in their business’ growth. With our transparent pricing model, you can access expert legal advice from partner-level solicitors at a fraction of the cost of traditional law firms. We understand that during the early stages of growing your business you need to protect your interests as best you can, without impacting your cash flow. And you need a legal team you can rely on to be as passionate as you are about your business.
