Intellectual property (IP) refers to a set of intangible assets which are owned by a business and which are legally protected. It is not a physical asset, but includes items such as a patent, copyright, trademark or trade secrets. Broken down further, this can include items such as inventions, literary or artistic works, designs, logos, names and images.
Over recent years ever more businesses are investing in intangible assets. By unlocking the potential that IP has in a business, it can be far more financially rewarding in comparison to other less profitable business assets. There are also some lending initiatives being introduced which are solely aimed at businesses who are putting a number of initiatives in place that focus on the development of IP.
Some of the key benefits of IP Finance include:
- Having a defined IP asset shows strong business performance and is looked at favourably for business security and future lending opportunities
- Any IP will increase over time providing strong financial stability, a typical business asset will generally decrease in value
- IP values are often high which means lending against them can provide a higher loan sum
- As IP is integral to the business there is a high incentive to ensure repayment commitments are maintained
- IP is a much stronger foundation for lending compared with personal guarantees and as such the success rate for future lending is in turn much higher
The NGI team have seen a number of new IP Finance deals being completed in the last 12 months and the predictions are that this is only going to rise in the future. If you are looking for advice, guidance or help with funding we would be happy to help. Please call us on 01993 706403 or e-mail enquiries@ngifinance.co.uk.