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Get ready for a loan, a grant or investment, and choose the one that fits.

We help you understand your cash position, prepare forecasts and records that a lender or investor can check, and weigh up whether borrowing, a grant or selling shares suits the business. The work is priced separately from your monthly fee.

Loans and grants on SwoopTalk to us about funding

Where to apply for loans, grants and investment

Loans and grants on Swoop

Compare business loans, grants and other finance on Buzz's page on Swoop's funding platform.

Swoop Finance Limited is a credit broker authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 936513). We may receive a referral fee from Swoop if a facility completes.

See your funding options

Find Investment

List a raise of £100,000 to £2 million with a plan, a deck and a short video, and let investors make the first approach.

For professional investors, certified high net worth individuals and self-certified sophisticated investors. Run by Founder Capital LLP. Founders pay a monthly fee to list.

How listing works

SEIS and EIS

Tax relief that makes your shares more attractive to individual investors.

Advance assurance £499 + VAT before you pitch. The compliance statement and investor certificates £599 + VAT after the round.

SEIS and EIS

Start Up Loans

Government-backed loans of £500 to £25,000 per founder at a fixed 7.5%, repaid over one to five years, with up to 12 months of free mentoring.

For businesses trading for less than five years. The loan is personal to the founder.

How Start Up Loans work

Founder Capital invests in and lends to businesses that fit its two mandates, which are set out on its own site. Find Investment and Founder Capital are run by Founder Capital LLP, a separate firm from Buzz Accounting Ltd, the company behind this site. Andy Jackson is a director of Buzz Accounting Ltd and a designated member of Founder Capital LLP. Swoop is an independent company. Each site applies its own criteria and makes its own decisions.

For business news and practical articles, read Business Stuff. For deeper learning about running a business, try Business Nous.

We help UK startups get ready for funding. We work out the cash position and runway, build a forecast with its assumptions written down, bring the books, filed accounts and share records up to date so a lender or investor can check them, and help you judge whether a loan, a grant or equity fits.

The best time to prepare is before you need the money. Lenders and investors ask for the same few things, and a business that can hand them over quickly avoids the delay of rebuilding its figures first.

Plenty of startups grow on their own revenue for years, and plenty borrow for stock or equipment before they ever sell shares. The work on this page is for the point where you are weighing it up, whatever the amount.

How we help you get ready

  1. 1
    Know your cash position

    Books reconciled to the bank, a twelve-month cashflow and the number of months of runway you have. The tax bills a monthly average hides, such as VAT quarters, PAYE and corporation tax, go in on the dates they fall due. Our free cashflow template is a good place to start if you want to try it yourself.

  2. 2
    Decide what kind of money fits

    What the money is for decides most of it. Borrowing suits spending with a visible return, a grant suits a defined project that matches what a funder wants to pay for, and selling shares suits work that is years from revenue. The comparison below sets out the differences.

  3. 3
    Prepare the evidence

    Current books, filed accounts, a forecast with its assumptions, share history and, for an equity round, the SEIS or EIS paperwork. The list is below.

  4. 4
    Go to the right place

    Loans and grants, investors, or neither for now. Where to apply sets out what each route is for.

The financial evidence we can help you prepare

Lenders and investors ask for the same few documents. This is what we can prepare or bring up to date, and what each one shows.

Current books
Bookkeeping reconciled to the bank up to the latest month end, so the figures in an application match the bank statements behind them.
Filed accounts
Statutory accounts and corporation tax returns filed and up to date at Companies House and HMRC, with any late or missing filings dealt with first.
Forecast assumptions
A monthly cashflow and profit forecast with every assumption written down, including prices, volumes, hires and payment terms, so a reader can test it.
Share history
The register of members, each share issue and transfer, the register of people with significant control, and a cap table that agrees with what Companies House holds.
SEIS and EIS documents
For rounds that use the schemes: the advance assurance application and HMRC's reply, the compliance statement after the round, and each investor's certificate.
Ongoing reporting
Management accounts and regular updates after the money arrives, in the form your lender or investors ask for.

What a loan and selling shares each cost

Illustrative figures. They show how differently the two are priced, and suit opposite situations.
A Start Up Loan of £40,000 across two foundersSelling 10% of the company
What you give upNothing. You keep the whole company.A tenth of everything the company ever becomes.
What it costsAbout £8,090 in interest over five years at a fixed 7.5%.If the company is worth £4m when it is sold, that 10% cost you £400,000.
Who carries the riskYou do, personally. It is a personal loan to each founder, and the founder still owes it if the company closes.The investor does. If the company fails they lose their money and you owe them nothing.
When it suitsThe money buys something with a visible return, such as stock that sells, kit that earns or a hire with measurable output.The work is unproven and years from revenue, where fixed monthly repayments would be hard to meet.
How to choose

Selling shares can feel cheaper because nothing is repaid, but it is paid for with a share of everything the company becomes. A loan has a known cost and you keep the whole company, and the repayments are due whether or not the revenue arrives. So borrowing suits spending with a visible return, and equity suits work that is unproven and a long way from revenue.

Grants do not need repaying and do not dilute you. They are competitive and take time to win, they usually pay for a defined project rather than day-to-day costs, and many cover only part of a project so you fund the rest. Your local growth hub and the government's business finance support finder are the places to start, and Swoop's funding platform lists grants alongside loans.

What lenders and investors look at

A lender is checking that you can repay. They want to see money coming in covering money going out, with room to spare, in most months. That means clean, current accounts, a cashflow forecast that holds up to questions and, for a Start Up Loan, your personal credit file, because it is personal borrowing. Unexplained gaps and figures that do not match the bank statements slow an application down.

An investor is judging how valuable the business could become, and whether you are the person to build it. The numbers matter for what they show: whether you know what each customer is worth and costs, whether the forecast bears any relation to the last six months, and whether the share structure is clean enough to invest in without weeks of legal work.

Prices for funding work

Business Pulse set-up

From £750 + VAT, one-off
  • Annual budget and 12-month cash flow forecast
  • The KPIs worth tracking
  • A planning meeting to agree the assumptions

SEIS and EIS

£499 then £599 + VAT
  • Advance assurance before you pitch
  • The compliance statement after the round
  • A certificate for every investor

Share structure

£750 + VAT, then £195 an issue
  • The share you incorporated with, subdivided
  • Allotted between founders, registers updated
  • Section 431 elections inside 14 days

Funding work is priced separately from your monthly fee and quoted in writing before we start. The fee is the same whatever you raise, and lenders and investors make their own decisions.

Funding questions

How do you help us raise money?

We get you ready: the cash position and runway, a forecast with its assumptions written down, books and filings a lender or investor can check, and SEIS or EIS for an equity round. We also help you judge whether a loan, a grant or selling shares suits what the money is for. When you are ready to apply, Swoop's platform covers loans and grants, and Find Investment lists companies for investors to find.

How much does funding help cost?

SEIS and EIS advance assurance is £499 + VAT, and the compliance statement with investor certificates is £599 + VAT. A founder share restructure is £750 + VAT. Business Pulse builds your budget and 12-month cash flow forecast from a £750 + VAT set-up, and a forecast or business plan can also be priced on its own. Books that are behind are brought up to date first, quoted after a first look. This work is priced separately from your monthly fee, and the fee is the same whatever you raise.

Is Swoop a lender?

No. Swoop runs a funding platform where you can compare business loans, grants and other finance. Swoop Finance Limited is a credit broker authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 936513). We may receive a referral fee from Swoop if a facility completes. Any loan is between you and the lender, on the lender's terms.

Who can invest through Find Investment?

Only professional investors, certified high net worth individuals and self-certified sophisticated investors. It is not available to retail investors. UK companies and LLPs raising £100,000 to £2 million can list with a plan, a deck and a short video, and investors make the first approach. Interest shown on the platform is not a commitment, and money and documents are handled away from it. Find Investment is run by Founder Capital LLP, and founders pay a monthly fee to list.

Should a startup contact Founder Capital?

Only if the business fits one of its two mandates. Its private equity work is buying accountancy, legal, financial advice and compliance firms, usually with £500,000 to £5 million of recurring fees. Its private credit arm, Found Credit, lends £100,000 to £2 million to limited companies and LLPs for business purposes, backed by assets, revenue or guarantees. Read the criteria on its own site before you get in touch.

Is a Start Up Loan a business loan?

No. It is a personal loan to you, which you then put into the business, and you remain liable for it whatever happens to the company. That does not make it a bad choice, but it does mean it should be sized against your own finances as well as the company's forecast. Our Start Up Loans page sets out the terms.

When should we start preparing?

Before you need the money. Books and filings that are behind take time to bring up to date, SEIS and EIS advance assurance waits on HMRC's reply, and a forecast is easier to believe when there are a few months of actual figures to set it against. Starting early also leaves room to decide that you do not need outside money yet.

Talk to us about raising money

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