Looking for Seed Capital Investors

Hi. Myself and a business partner has come up with an idea for a new IT business which we feel could be hugely successful for a relatively small outlay. We have spoken with stakeholders in the sector and feedback has been enormously positive. At the moment we are pitching the idea the idea to Enterprise Ireland and they have been most complimentary in their feedback also. We are at the stage where we need to raise finance for the business. We are both willing to invest our own capital in the business but would still need outside investment. We are looking to get two investors through the seed capital scheme. Ideally we are looking for two investors who are maybe recently retired but feel they would like to be involved in a new business start up. The reason we have decided on the seed capital scheme is to insulate the investor from risk. They won't be asked to put up any capital of their own- only what is contributed through the scheme.
Has anyone raised finance in this way? How did they meet their investors?

What seed capital scheme are you talking about?

The only one I'm aware of (and am about to use) is:

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it15.html

However, one of the conditions is that you need to be employed by the new venture, so it is not suitable for an external investor.

Also: "reason we have decided on the seed capital scheme is to insulate the investor from risk" and "They won't be asked to put up any capital of their own". I'm sure everyone would be interested if there was a scheme that involved not putting up any capital and was risk free. I doubt such a thing exists.

On a more positive note, I'd recommend you speak with EI again in more detail. They should be able to point you at various sources of finance and business mentors, who may in turn have contacts.

Are you confusing this with the Employment incentive scheme where external investors can secure tax relief on their investment into a company. The seed investors have to put cash in and are therefore exposed to risk.

Hi thanks for the replies. I maybe could have gone into more detail. Yes the scheme we are looking at it the Revenue Seed Capital Scheme. The reason we are looking for someone who is recently retired is that the return on the investment will be primarily through wages. As per the scheme you have to take up employment in the business within 6 months of making the investment. What we are proposing is that within 6 months the investor takes employment in the business which generates an income/return- whether or not they are involved in any day to day basis will be based on their skill set and if they are looking for a new challenge. The investor will be given 15% of the shares in the business which in 3 years are convertible into a loan debenture by the business. From our figures(and I'm using rough estimates)- the investor would invest 100k on paper. From this they can claim relief of approx 30k against their previous income. We(as personal directors) would lend the investor the 100k in order to raise the relief- dthus insulating the investor. The business can claim the relief, the investor gets an income and in 3 years the shares in the business are converted to a repayable loan and we as directors get our personal loan repaid.
Apologises if this is long winded but I hope it is followable.