Reid warns against “Wild West” funding
Toby Reid, the operations manager at Growth Investment Network East Midlands (GINEM), has warned if public sector money is pulled out of venture capital funds, there will be a “Wild West free for all” when it comes to providing funding to growing businesses. Reid’s comments came as he was speaking at an event hosted by Insider.
At the event, sponsored by Fraser Brown, Reid said: “What we have out there are genuine growth businesses who want to raise finance, but they need to be able to find out who they should be talking to. The problem we have is that a lot of the support out there is public sector funded – if that funding is pulled then who is going to put their hand up and say ‘we can help’.”
Reid said he thought the East Midlands was “sitting on a stampede” of businesses looking for growth funding, adding: “If the public sector pulls out of venture capital funds, I’m not sure the private sector can meet the demand currently out there. We’ll end up in a situation where businesses will be taking advice and funding from those not qualified to give or lend it.
"My message to central government is that we need to change the culture, the mindset and the connectivity of how we provide funding to businesses; else we’ll end up in a Wild West free-for-all situation which will seriously damage growth.”
GINEM is sponsored by outgoing regional development agency Emda as well as from its members’ subscriptions. The organization acts as a network of support for entrepreneurs, in which experts work together to get business propositions funded.
