Public sector venture capital initiative, using the European ‘JEREMIE’ structure to attract European Structural funds and European Investment Bank funding. Heleen performed the project management, business planning and negotiations and designed a new procurement methodology for the VCs, which has been replicated in other JEREMIEs. 

Scottish Enterprise wanted to stimulate the early stage investor community, but traditional methods wouldn't work because the investors were mostly business angel syndicates. Heleen developed the passive co-investment methodology and its simplified process that has now been replicated in England and throughout Europe.

Each of the projects above required a market failure assessment to justify public money being spent financing SMEs. Heleen has also undertaken such demand studies elsewhere in Europe - including for the European Investment Fund.

Regional stock exchanges, new VCTs, better use of VCTs, angel-matching funds, loan funds. We've looked into them all! And not just in the UK - in Holland too.

Sitting on the other side of the table for a change, Heleen has supported private sector VCs through the procurement process for fund managers of public sector funds.