Coronavirus: The stress of leading a start-up through the pandemic

Priya Lakhani was just days away from a crucial moment in the life of her start-up, Century Tech, an education firm which uses artificial intelligence to track a pupil's progress. She had a signed term sheet from an investor, which is a big deal in the start-up world, as it typically confirms a substantial investment and lays out the commercial and legal terms of that deal. But on 21 March, amid growing concern over coronavirus and with just 10 days to go before completion of the funding round, Century Tech's investor pulled out, leaving Ms Lakhani and her team worried about what would happen next. Term sheets are not usually legally binding, and pulling funding at such a critical point can leave start-ups in a precarious position. At the time, the government was yet to announce any help for start-ups specifically, but it soon did with its coronavirus Future Fund, which enables UK-based start-ups to apply for government loans ranging from £125,000 to £5m, subject to at least equal match funding from private investors.