For this service a Fee must be paid in advance anything from between £1500 - £15,000 depending on the amount required and the complexity of the funding, plus a success fee and in some cases options. The Question is is it all worth it?

That depends on the beneficial impact  of having the required Capital as Equity rather than a Debt. The risk is on the Investor as well as the possible rewards.   Increasingly Black Businesses along with mainstream are finding it difficult to attract the sort of funding to take their business to the next level, with Banks being classicaly conservative in their lending criteria.

Depending on what sort of Deal is struck the Business Owner may opt to buy back hisher shares later down the road or Sell the Business at a profit as a part of the exit strategy.

Essentially, due to the illiquid nature of Private Equity whereby investors will usually keep their money invested for 3-4 years the exit strategy for the investor is very important.

A Private Equity Advisor will hold the hand of a business owner to groom them to be investment ready and presentable to investors.

Increasingly, Goverment Grants or European Grants with their opaque criteria are dewindling and socalled Public sector agencies seem to exist to support their own funding by government funding rather than being judged on thier delivery. 

At the same time the Private Equity Sector in the SME and Wider environment is growing at rapid pace.

Why would a "Business Angel" want to risk his money rather than invest in the stock market? There are many answers to that question but here are a couple:

The EIS tax breaks, Higher rate tax payers can get full relief on investments unde this scheme. What that means is that even if their investment is static for the required three years of investment they still will get tax breaks on the £200,000 invested.

These Men (some times women) are too young to retire and too old to start again. They have sold their business for £50,000,000 and dont want to sit in front of a screen all day and are a bit more wiser about investments than that hot shoot, wet behind thier ears Stockbroker. By being active in their investment and taking proper due dilligence prior to investment they may well be gaining a foothold in the next Google, Mircosoft or what ever. If not there is always the tax gain.