Bringing a new product to market requires multiple elements; tenacity, resilience, and the upfront capital to secure the talent necessary to drive the launch forward. For those who utilise crowdfunding to support this type of project, it can come with several complexities.
Manchester-based Symmetrical Power appointed Champion Accountants to help it overcome the associated challenges of crowdfunding in its quest to introduce a new electrical product to a variety of industries; a distribution board that significantly reduces a building’s energy consumption by distributing upstream electricity equally to single downstream circuits on three-phase systems.
Its founder had previously secured an element of funding from private investors but turned to crowdfunding to ensure it had the necessary financial backing to bring the prototype products to life.
Having utilised several accountants in the past for various projects, managing director, Prem Singh, was introduced to Champion and tasked us with supporting the completion of its crowd raise, carried out with Crowdcube. At the first point of contact, capital had already been raised but final documentation hadn’t yet been prepared, signed or lodged with Companies House.
In partnership with Symmetrical Power, we:
- Capitalised the Directors Loan Account pre-completion
- Dealt with a pre-emption share issue
- Assisted with a review of the Articles of Association
- Assisted with drafting resolutions, minutes and share certificates
- Assisted with the completion of EIS and SEIS eligibility criteria
While this support helped Symmetrical Power’s crowdfunding campaign get over the finish line, what has resulted is a blossoming relationship; we have now been appointed to support with the company’s general accounting and tax relief claims to unlock even more capital.
Namely, we are undertaking:
- R&D tax relief claims
- Bookkeeping and VAT returns
- Annual accounts and Corporation tax
- Monthly payroll
- Ongoing business advisory support
Prem said: “Previous accountants have been unable to support me with crowdfunding applications, so I sought to find a company that could help me with the formalities of the Crowdcube platform to understand its structure and how to successfully secure the funding we needed to bring our product to market.
“Champion put my interests first and made it clear they wanted to deliver for us. Such was Champion’s level of expertise that we have appointed them to take on a wider remit of services, for the foreseeable future. They have taken over in the areas I don’t have expertise which has made this a mutually beneficial relationship which works seamlessly for both parties.”
;
