UK Pre-Seed Investment & SEIS/EIS Compliance Management SaaS
The user's need to conduct a pre-seed funding round in the UK, using SAFEs without an upfront valuation, and wanting proportional share issuance, points to a common pain point for early-stage founders: managing investment mechanics and ensuring compliance, especially with UK-specific schemes like SEIS/EIS. A SaaS platform could significantly streamline this process. The product would be a web-based application offering:
- UK SAFE Document Generation: Automated creation of UK-compliant SAFE agreements, specifically designed to integrate with SEIS/EIS requirements.
- Investor Portal: A secure, intuitive portal for investors to review documents, make contributions, e-sign agreements, and track their investment status.
- SEIS/EIS Compliance & Reporting: Automated checks for eligibility criteria, guidance on applying for advanced assurance, and simplified generation of necessary compliance forms (EIS1/SEIS1 certificates) to ensure founders and investors can claim tax reliefs.
- Dynamic Cap Table Management: A visual cap table that automatically updates with new investments and clearly projects share distribution upon conversion events (e.g., a priced funding round), ensuring the 'proportional' issuance the user desires.
- Legal & Administrative Workflows: Tools to facilitate the actual share issuance process, reducing reliance on expensive legal counsel for routine tasks.
Expected Revenue: The UK startup ecosystem is vibrant, with thousands of companies raising pre-seed/seed capital annually. A tiered subscription model (e.g., based on amount raised, number of investors, or company stage) could range from £50 to £300+ per month or a per-raise fee. With 500 startups subscribing at an average of £150/month, this would yield £75,000 MRR, with significant growth potential as the platform gains traction and the startup market expands.
Origin Reddit Post
r/startups
SAFEs and SEIS (UK) I will not promote
Posted by u/DisobedientAsFuck•07/28/2025
I'm planning to do a pre seed funding round. I don't want to set a valuation at this point, instead, I'd like everyone to be able to invest, then issue shares proportionally to each investor
Top Comments
u/Dry_War_747
You don’t want to stack too many SAFEs, you aren’t wrong but you can be careful about it and there’s many protections against that now.
u/Sweet_Onz
If you’re UK based. You can raise using an Advanced Subscription Agreement (ASA). They are the UK versions of SAFEs. To qualify for SEIS benefits, it must convert into shares within a maximum
u/tied_laces
You are in the UK , I would look at ASAs...the UK SAFE. Are you certified for SEIS? Do you have a finance team vetting your SEIS application?
u/Dry_War_747
Yes you’re correct that they won’t get the benefit until it converts, however for a pre-seed I still highly recommend SAFEs to almost everyone. The benefit of doing a SAFE far outweighs the d
u/dbbk
I’m cautious of SAFEs cause I don’t want to be giving away an unknown amount of the business… or am I wrong?
u/tied_laces
You are in the UK , I would look at ASAs...the UK SAFE. Are you certified for SEIS? Do you have a finance team vetting your SEIS application?
u/dbbk
I’m cautious of SAFEs cause I don’t want to be giving away an unknown amount of the business… or am I wrong?
u/Dry_War_747
Yes you’re correct that they won’t get the benefit until it converts, however for a pre-seed I still highly recommend SAFEs to almost everyone. The benefit of doing a SAFE far outweighs the d
u/tied_laces
You are in the UK , I would look at ASAs...the UK SAFE. Are you certified for SEIS? Do you have a finance team vetting your SEIS application?
u/Dry_War_747
Yes you’re correct that they won’t get the benefit until it converts, however for a pre-seed I still highly recommend SAFEs to almost everyone. The benefit of doing a SAFE far outweighs the d
u/lillypady
There are various free spreadsheets available online to understand the dilution impact of SAFEs. I'll DM you a free, no-login modeling web app (not a spreadsheet) I've built to help entrepren
u/lillypady
There are various free spreadsheets available online to understand the dilution impact of SAFEs. I'll DM you a free, no-login modeling web app (not a spreadsheet) I've built to help entrepren
u/Sweet_Onz
If you’re UK based. You can raise using an Advanced Subscription Agreement (ASA). They are the UK versions of SAFEs. To qualify for SEIS benefits, it must convert into shares within a maximum
u/Dry_War_747
You don’t want to stack too many SAFEs, you aren’t wrong but you can be careful about it and there’s many protections against that now.
u/Dry_War_747
Yes you’re correct that they won’t get the benefit until it converts, however for a pre-seed I still highly recommend SAFEs to almost everyone. The benefit of doing a SAFE far outweighs the d
u/lillypady
There are various free spreadsheets available online to understand the dilution impact of SAFEs. I'll DM you a free, no-login modeling web app (not a spreadsheet) I've built to help entrepren
u/Sweet_Onz
If you’re UK based. You can raise using an Advanced Subscription Agreement (ASA). They are the UK versions of SAFEs. To qualify for SEIS benefits, it must convert into shares within a maximum
u/Dry_War_747
You don’t want to stack too many SAFEs, you aren’t wrong but you can be careful about it and there’s many protections against that now.
u/Sweet_Onz
If you’re UK based. You can raise using an Advanced Subscription Agreement (ASA). They are the UK versions of SAFEs. To qualify for SEIS benefits, it must convert into shares within a maximum
u/Dry_War_747
Yes you’re correct that they won’t get the benefit until it converts, however for a pre-seed I still highly recommend SAFEs to almost everyone. The benefit of doing a SAFE far outweighs the d
u/Dry_War_747
You don’t want to stack too many SAFEs, you aren’t wrong but you can be careful about it and there’s many protections against that now.
u/dbbk
I’m cautious of SAFEs cause I don’t want to be giving away an unknown amount of the business… or am I wrong?
u/dbbk
I’m cautious of SAFEs cause I don’t want to be giving away an unknown amount of the business… or am I wrong?