Midlands Engine SME Growth Survey in the Midlands Medical Technologies & Life Sciences Sector

Midlands Engine SME Growth Survey in the Midlands Medical Technologies & Life Sciences Sector
This survey will take approximately five to ten minutes to complete.
1. Is your business headquartered in the Midlands?*

YesNo - SKIP to Q2
1b. Whereabouts in the Midlands is your business based?*
2. Where in the Midlands does your business conduct trading activity? Please include all locations where possible.*
3. What would you say is your company size?*

Micro (0-9 employees or less than £632k turnover)Small (10-49 employees or less than £10.2m turnover)Medium (50-249 employees or less than £36m turnover)Large (250+ employees or more than £36m turnover)I would rather not say
4. Which best describes your current business growth stage?*

Pre-seed (pre-start up)Seed (pre-start up)Early stage (start-up)Growth stage (start-up)Scale-up (20% + growth in employee count and/or turnover over three years)Established or IPOI would rather not say
5. Is your business considered a university spinout?*

YesNo - SKIP to Q6
5b. Which university have you spun-out from?
6. Have you sought any of the following forms of external funding for business growth in the past five years?*

Angel InvestorVenture Capital/other fund series A-CCorporate equity/acquisitionGrantsDebt financingI would rather not say
7. If you sought equity investment, how has the experience of seeking equity investment impacted your innovation progress, e.g. development or product?
7. Please rate from 0 (Not Applicable), 1 (Very Positive impact) to 5 (Very Negative impact)*

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8. If you have sought investment for equity (accelerator, angel, venture capital or corporate), have any of the following presented challenges to securing that investment?
- Finding potential investors in the Midlands
- Finding potential investors in the UK, outside of the Midlands
- Finding an appropriate interest/experienced investor (e.g. understanding of your business area)
- Finding an appropriate scale of investor (e.g. investment envelopes that fit your requirements)
- Finding patient capital investors (e.g. an investor agreeing to a long enough timeline to meet grow the business to their requirements)
- Understanding the requirements of the investor (e.g. terminology, requirements and milestones)
- Finding the right support to navigate investment options and requirements (e.g. from a university technology transfer office, accelerator or elsewhere)
- Articulating a business growth plan to secure investment
- Dilution of available equity due to previous investment (e.g. university share if spinout, previous rounds of investment holding equity)
- Securing a company valuation in the UK that is realistic
8a. Please use the below free text space to elaborate on any of the above, considering particular challenges you faced in seeking equity investment in the Midlands.*
8b. Please use the below free text space to highlight any other challenges you have experienced when seeking equity investment in the Midlands*
9. Conversely, please use the below free text space to highlight strengths and positive experiences from seeking equity investment in the Milands (support, fund availability, support services etc.)*
10. Have you sought funding from outside the Midlands? If so, please describe the experience using the following prompts:
- What motivated you to seek funding outside the Midlands?
- If you were successful, where did you obtain the funding?
- What was the experience like?
- In what ways was it better than other funding options (i.e., in the Midlands)?
- In what ways was it worse than other funding options (i.e., in the Midlands)?
11. Please rank the following statements from 0 (Not Applicable), 1 (Strongly Agree) to 5 (Strongly Disagree)
11a. I have access to sufficient support in the Midlands to identify and secure the investment I need to grow my business *

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11b. There is a better support offer outside of the Midlands*

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11c. I have been able to attract potential investors from within the Midlands*

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11d. I am considering moving my business outside ofthe Midlands to secure necessary investment*

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11e. I am considering moving my business outside of the UK to secure necessary investment*

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11f. I, or colleagues, are sufficiently informed of business growth processes and investment options*

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11g. There is a role for regional bodies (Medilink Midlands, Midlands Engine etc) to play in supporting businesses with growth, particulary investment *

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12a. In your experience have you utilised the support available from either Growth Hubs, Local Authorities, Growth Companies or support companies in signposting you towards funding, or making links with investors?*

YesNo - SKIP to Q13
12b. How effective were they? *

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Please rank the following statements from 0 (Not Applicable), 1 (Very Effective) to 5 (Very Ineffective)
13. Would it be helpful to have a centralised resource for accessing both private and public funding opportunities? If so, how would you prefer to receive information on these funding options, and what regional interventions could further support businesses in overcoming funding challenges? *
14. Is there anything else you would like to comment on accessing investment in the Midlands? *
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Midlands Engine SME Growth Survey in the Midlands Medical Technologies & Life Sciences Sector

This survey will take approximately five to ten minutes to complete.