Scale-up

Your business foundations are built, now it’s time to focus on controlled growth.

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As your business grows, so do the opportunities – and the risks.

Scaling your business is one of the most exciting, and challenging, stages in the company lifecycle. You’ve proven your model and built momentum. Now, as your ambition shifts, your focus will need to be on growing with control and pace.

From expanding into new markets and securing further funding, to growing your team and developing new contracts, you will encounter different, more complex legal requirements and be exposed to additional risk.

The support you need from your legal adviser will need to be commercially focused and offer practical guidance. Formalising governance, strengthening compliance frameworks and ensuring that revenue is underpinned by strong legals is all about protecting the value you have created.

We have a proven track record of supporting business as they scale and many of our blue-chip corporate clients have been with us since inception. Our team also includes individuals that have led or worked in the legal teams of some of the fastest growing companies in the world and can use that hands-on in-house experience to support you as you scale.

Key priorities for scale-up

1. Raising capital

Scaling almost always requires funding, whether through venture capital, venture debt, growth capital or strategic partnerships. We will help you to:

  • Prepare for and execute funding rounds, balancing investor protections with founder and management interests.
  • Structure and negotiate strategic investments, joint ventures and acquisitions that accelerate growth.
  • Make sure that you are “deal ready” and can move quickly when opportunities arise.

2. Structuring for growth and expansion

As your operations and footprint extend, your legal structure needs to keep up. We advise on:

  • Shareholder and investment agreements to ensure there are no barriers to future deals.
  • Group reorganisations and company structures that support investment, tax efficiency and future exit plans.
  • Establishing overseas subsidiaries, branches and joint ventures.

3. Commercial contracts that can scale

Your key contracts underpin the value that you have created. We help you design and negotiate:

  • Scalable customer terms and supplier agreements that work for both enterprise and growth-stage parties.
  • Technology and data agreements that reflect how you deliver, and monetise, your products and services.
  • Partnerships and distribution agreements to support expansion while managing risk and brand impact.

4. Protecting IP, data and your brand

Your intellectual property, data and brand are central to your valuation. We support you to:

  • Identify, protect and commercialise core IP.
  • Put in place robust data, privacy and information security frameworks that can withstand scrutiny from customers and investors.
  • Develop an IP and brand strategy that is designed around your growth plan – from trademarks and domains, to licensing and partnerships.

5. Building a scalable people and incentives strategy

Scaling is heavily reliant on people. We work with you to:

  • Implement employment frameworks that can work across multiple locations and categories of employee.
  • Structure share options and incentive schemes (including tax advantaged and non tax advantaged plans) that can help to attract, engage and retain the team you need to support your growth.
  • Manage change as you evolve toward a more structured leadership and governance model.

6. Governance, risk and readiness

Investors and partners will look closely at your governance profile. We help you:

  • Develop a proportionate governance framework that is suitable for a high-growth business.
  • Navigate industry-specific regulation as your footprint expands.
  • Start thinking about your exit, IPO or secondary transactions, so that due diligence and deal execution are as smooth as possible.
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Venture capital support from Burges Salmon – supporting your investment journey

Securing the right investment as your transition from early growth to scale-up, is critical.

Venture Capital is often the catalyst that enables rapid expansion, entry into new markets, product development and talent attraction.

Our Venture Capital team provides strategic and commercially focused support to help scaling companies – and the investors who back them – navigate funding rounds with confidence.

Working across the UK and internationally, we advise high-growth organisations and their investors through every stage of the investment lifecycle, from early ownership structures through to major growth rounds and eventual exit.

Working with you as you scale

We know that scaling businesses need support that is flexible, accessible and aligned to growth.

Our lifecycle partnership approach and flexible pricing model means that we work with you from early through to exit. We get to know you, and develop a deep understanding of your business, providing continuity and reassurance at a price point that remains proportionate as you scale.

How we support scale-ups through the investment journey

Venture capital

We advise on everything from seed and pre‑Series A through to later funding rounds. Our work ensures companies are investment‑ready, their structures are robust, and negotiations move at the pace required by fast‑growing businesses.

Corporate venture investment

We support corporate investors as they take strategic stakes in innovative, scaling companies, helping both sides align commercial objectives, manage risk and structure long‑term partnerships that drive growth.

Venture debt and alternative financing

High‑growth companies often require flexible financing solutions. We advise funders and scale‑ups on venture debt, hybrid models and alternative funding structures that complement equity rounds and support rapid expansion without compromising control.

Growth capital transcations

As scale-ups mature and move into larger funding rounds, we help shape growth capital investments that fuel expansion into new markets, major product development, and increased operational capacity.

Exit planning

When scaling businesses reach the point of exit, whether through sale, secondary investment, private equity acquisition or IPO, we offer clear, strategic guidance to ensure founders and investors realise maximum value.

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