The purpose of the Venture Capital Fund is to create an investment fund for Montserrat to support equity investment into commercial enterprise where commercial lending is not appropriate. With the envisaged growth of the private sector, access to equity investment will be required to cover financial requirements when loan funding, when collateral requirements or business cash flow, is inappropriate.
While up to £250,000 will be available for investment in the VCF, in order to ensure local ownership and buy-in, access to this funding will be only be available on a matching funds basis in or exceeding a ratio of 1:1 (business owner’s equity or loan capital to MDC VCF equity). In developing matching funds, it is intended the VCF should aim to attract largely Montserrat-based investment, whether local residents or overseas based, both corporate and individual, but not exclusively so. Funds will be available for up to 5 investments in the period.
The Montserrat Development Corporation will engage the active participation of regional or international investment funds in the VCF to increase the total amount available to local businesses.