Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Rejected
Remove the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) age limit on eligibility entirely.
Recommendation
The Government should remove entirely the age limit on eligibility for the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). The existing seven-year threshold does not adequately reflect the structural and social challenges faced by many 55 female founders, including longer growth trajectories typical of the sectors in which they operate and the impact of caregiving-related career breaks. Extending the eligibility period would better accommodate these realities, promote gender equity in access to growth capital, and support the scaling of female-led enterprises across the UK. (Recommendation, Paragraph 74)
Government Response Summary
The government rejected the recommendation, explaining that the current 7-year age limit for EIS effectively targets early-stage, high-risk companies, and expanding it would risk displacing investment from these companies.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
EIS in one of the three venture capital schemes intended to incentivise investment into early-stage, higher-risk companies. These companies are most likely to be affected by market failures such as information asymmetry due to their lack of track record. The current company age limits are set at 7 years (10 years for knowledge intensive companies) from the company’s first commercial sale. This works to effectively target the earliest-stage companies, who find it hardest to access finance due to this market failure. Expanding the schemes to larger, more mature companies would risk displacing investment away from these early-stage companies.