With the help of a commitment of £21.7 million from the government, Panoramic Enterprise Capital Fund 1 has surpassed its target by £1.5 million in its initial close, according to Panoramic partner Stephen Campbell.

Adds Campbell, ‘There are many first-class companies out there which do not have the means to raise capital to take them to the next stage using traditional debt financing routes because those sources are now in short supply.’

The fund is one of ten vehicles launched under the government’s Enterprise Capital Fund (ECF) scheme. This was established in 2006 to support growing businesses seeking to raise investments of between £500,000 and £2 million, the so-called “equity gap”.

Rory Earley, CEO of Capital for Enterprise, the body that monitors the government’s programmes of financial support for growing businesses, says the success of Panoramic in exceeding its initial fundraising target ‘highlights the benefits of the ECF programme’.

But Campbell says that trimming back tax reliefs to entrepreneurs and investors in next week’s “emergency Budget” would risk ‘cut[ting] off the oxygen supply’ to growing companies.