Companies raised £276m under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) in 2024 to 2025, 14% more than the £242m raised in 2023 to 2024, according to HMRC statistics published on 21 May 2026. The number of companies raising money grew more slowly, from 2,310 to 2,430, so the average SEIS raise rose from about £105,000 to about £114,000 (our calculation from HMRC’s rounded figures).
HMRC links the growth to the scheme’s expansion in April 2023, when the most a company could raise rose from £150,000 to £250,000 and the amount an investor could claim relief on rose from £100,000 to £200,000. Its commentary says the trend continued into 2024 to 2025 “but the increase has slowed”. Around 1,775 companies raised SEIS money for the first time, bringing in £229m, 26% more than first-time companies raised a year earlier.
SEIS statistics: the series since 2012 to 2013
SEIS applies to shares issued on or after 6 April 2012 (HMRC manual). The table covers every year in HMRC’s published tables. Counts are rounded to the nearest five and amounts to the nearest £1m.
| Tax year | Companies raising SEIS funds | Of which raising for the first time | Amount raised (£m) | Subscriptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 to 2013 | 1,175 | 1,175 | 87 | 7,855 |
| 2013 to 2014 | 2,140 | 1,825 | 174 | 32,885 |
| 2014 to 2015 | 2,405 | 1,910 | 182 | 34,210 |
| 2015 to 2016 | 2,455 | 1,880 | 184 | 30,730 |
| 2016 to 2017 | 2,465 | 1,900 | 189 | 27,945 |
| 2017 to 2018 | 2,470 | 1,870 | 197 | 38,365 |
| 2018 to 2019 | 2,125 | 1,645 | 171 | 25,560 |
| 2019 to 2020 | 2,090 | 1,630 | 171 | 29,310 |
| 2020 to 2021 | 2,120 | 1,715 | 177 | 39,860 |
| 2021 to 2022 | 2,285 | 1,825 | 206 | 44,020 |
| 2022 to 2023 | 1,845 | 1,475 | 161 | 33,820 |
| 2023 to 2024 (provisional) | 2,310 | 1,560 | 242 | 40,710 |
| 2024 to 2025 (provisional) | 2,430 | 1,775 | 276 | 57,780 |
Between the 2013 to 2014 and 2017 to 2018 tax years the scheme was stable, with £174m to £197m raised a year. After a peak of £206m in 2021 to 2022 it fell to £161m in 2022 to 2023, the last year under the old limits. The two years since are the largest in the series.
Subscriptions rose 42% to 57,780, much faster than the money, so the average subscription fell from about £5,900 to about £4,800 on HMRC’s rounded figures. A subscription is not an investor, since one person can back several companies.
Bigger rounds at the top
In 2024 to 2025, 565 companies raised between £200,000 and £250,000, up from 260 a year earlier, and together they raised £136m, almost half the total. HMRC says 32% of companies raised more than £150,000 and accounted for 63% of the money, against 19% and 39% in 2023 to 2024. At the other end, 170 companies raised £10,000 or less.
Sectors and regions
Information and communication is the largest sector by a distance: 980 companies raised £115m, 42% of the total. The next three, professional, scientific and technical (£40m), manufacturing (£29m) and wholesale and retail (£23m), took 33% between them.
Companies registered in London raised £143m, just over half the total, and London and the South East together raised £181m (66%), against 64% the year before. Scotland (£8m), Wales (£5m) and Northern Ireland (£3m) raised £16m between them. HMRC allocates regions by the postcode of the registered office, which may not be where the investment took place.
Investors and relief claimed
In 2024 to 2025, 11,200 investors claimed SEIS income tax relief through Self Assessment, up from 10,290, on £242m of investment; the amount claimed rose 3%. Most (56%) invested £10,000 or less, but investments over £25,000 made up 66% of the money. Investors putting in more than £100,000 were 3% of claimants but 23% of the investment.
These counts cover Self Assessment only; HMRC also lets investors claim through their tax code, so they are not a full census.
Advance assurance: the pipeline
HMRC received 4,085 SEIS applications in 2025 to 2026, up 24% on 3,285 the year before. By March 2026, 3,090 (76%) had been approved, 485 rejected and 510 were pending or not pursued. Of the 2024 to 2025 applications, 2,785 (85%) were eventually approved. An approval is an opinion on a planned issue, not a completed raise or a guarantee of relief (see what advance assurance tells an investor).
The EIS comparison
The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) was flat at £1,575m from 3,735 companies, and EIS investors claiming through Self Assessment fell from 35,675 to 33,220. HMRC cites higher interest rates and suggests the larger SEIS limits drew some money from EIS. EIS and venture capital trust limits rose on 6 April 2026, with no change to SEIS (HMRC policy paper); our SEIS, EIS and VCT comparison covers the current rules.
What is provisional, and what is missing
HMRC says companies have up to three years after issuing shares to submit a compliance statement, so figures from 2023 to 2024 onwards are uplifted for late returns and will be revised, as will the 2025 to 2026 advance assurance numbers. The next release is planned for spring 2027.
The statistics measure money raised, not returns, failures or exits. Our sister title SEIS Investments has its own read of the data; our piece on what the reliefs do to the maths covers the downside, and SEIS for investors explains the scheme.
