A consortium of angel investors has launched the Beer Enterprise Fund, a UK enterprise venture, to fill a gap left by venture capital firms who have grown wary of financing companies at the earliest stages of their development.

The amount of investment in seed financing opportunities across the whole of Europe fell to just €27m ($27m) in the third quarter of 2002, according to recent figures from the European Venture Capital Association (EVCA). Michael Elias, the chairman of the EVCA's hi-tech committee, warned that this could result in a famine of investment opportunities for venture capitalists later on.