Yesterday the team behind the Funding Index agreed a go live, so you can now see one reason why I have been rather quiet in recent months! (There are a few more, … but that is for another day).

You can check it out at www.funding-index.com. The idea is simple; we the UK - from the Prime Minister to the entrepreneur about to start their first business - should understand just how much capital entrepreneurs need to make their businesses a success.  The Index is an entrepreneur-led data bank of companies that need equity, grant and debt funding.  We have been told there could be as much as £10bn of demand for equity alone each year (and that’s prior to the Pandemic).  The CBILs and BBILs volumes are testament to the level of debt demand – I believe is around £70bn.  Our view is that if we have transparency on where the demand is (by sector, geography, type etc) everyone from HM Government to upstart FinTechs will be able to better set strategy and help entrepreneurs, their businesses and the people who they employ, get the right funding at the right time.