Category Archives: Business Investment

Business Investment, News

Growing angel investment activity in Wales as the Development Bank of Wales details high expectations for 2021

Investments in Welsh businesses by syndicates of angel investors in Wales has grown despite business uncertainty in 2020 according to the Development Bank of Wales.

With six new lead investors and 57 new angel investors registered with Angels Invest Wales in 2020, almost £2million was invested in nine deals. Six of these were completed post lockdown in the last quarter of 2020 prompting expected continued growth in 2021.

During 2020, lead investor syndicates invested £1.045m which leveraged £931,800 of match funding by the Wales Angel Co-investment Fund, managed by the Development Bank of Wales.  Over 230 angels have now registered their interest in investing in Welsh businesses with bio-tech, fin-tech, health-tech and SaaS proving particularly attractive industries.

In the last three months of 2020 Angel Invest Wales facilitated deals included:

  • Cardiff-based Rescape Innovation Limited is pioneering the use of virtual reality to solve challenges in healthcare. Lead investor Andrew Diplock led a syndicate that raised over £482,500 with £42,500 of match funding from the Wales Angel Co-investment Fund. This is in addition to the first fundraising round giving an overall total of £250,000.
  • Atherton Bikes Limited is a manufacturing business based in Llanrhaedr. Lead investor Rhys Owen led a syndicate of eight angel investors from North Wales raising over £76,000 with a further £76,000 from the Wales Angel Co-investment Fund..
  • SaaS business Mercury Labs Limited specialises in the prioritisation of high volume email control. It has the backing of David Hulston as lead investor with a syndicate of eight angel investors. A total investment of £250,000 included £125,000 from the Wales Angel Co-investment Fund.
  • £300,000 for Cardiff based Elen Financial Software Ltd. A syndicate of angels invested £150,000 with a further £150,000 from the Wales Angel Co-investment Fund.

David Hulston is the lead investor in Mercury Labs Limited. He said: “The early stages of a business can be challenging and many of the successful companies that we know today wouldn’t have got off the ground without angel investment, especially in the current economic climate. By backing entrepreneurs, investors like myself can help drive innovation and share risk by co-investing alongside others. That’s where the Development Bank plays such an important role with their Wales Angel Co-investment Fund. By working together we can make sure that our patient capital is having real impact. It’s also really exciting and rewarding to be part of a start-up’s growth journey.”

Steve Holt, Director of Angels Invest Wales said: “Obviously 2020 has brought a period of real uncertainty for business and investors alike but we finished the year on a positive note, with six supported deals completing in the last quarter.  This increase in activity in the Wales Angel Co-investment Fund reflects the appeal of ‘syndicate’ investing for angel investors more generally.

“The benefits of sharing risk and knowledge with like-minded co-investors is an attractive strategy for many angels in Wales and has definitely influenced angel investment decision making recently.

With six new ‘lead’ investors now appointed, some of the key sectors being supported are fintech, biotech, healthtec and ICT, all of which align with the Welsh Government’s economic growth strategy.

“As business and investors in Wales plan to recover from the impact of the pandemic we expect to see a continuation of these positive angel investment trends. There is still plenty of work to be done in growing the angel eco system in Wales, but with the significant expansion of our Angels Invest Wales investor cohort in the last year, we are optimistic that many successful deals will follow in 2021.”

The £8 million Wales Angel Co-investment Fund provides Welsh business with a key source of alternative finance through the encouragement of more active angel investment. The five year fund supports the creation of angel syndicates and networks across Wales by providing loans and equity up to £250,000 to investors looking for co-investment.

Tom Preene is the Operations Manager of Angels Invest Wales. He said: “Our Wales Angel Co-investment Fund is available to syndicates of investors seeking to co-invest in Wales based SMEs. Syndicates are managed by lead investors who have been pre-approved by the Development Bank and we are actively seeking new lead investors in key sectors to expand the reach of the fund.

“All of our investors have access to our bespoke online investment platform which provides a really useful tool for matching investors with businesses. It also allows businesses to upload deal information to the platform, showcasing directly to registered high-net-worth individuals while providing investors with an easy and accessible source of business opportunities to review at any time. We’re certain that it will continue to play a key role in 2021.”

Image credit: Photo by Matt Horton

Business Investment, News

Angel Investment Network reports impressive annual growth

Angel Investment Network (AIN), the world’s largest online angel investment platform, has announced impressive growth, with annual revenues up 5% year on year and the last quarter seeing revenues increasing by 14%. AIN connects startups with angel investors and now has more than 1.4 million users in total on the platform. In the past twelve months AIN has overseen a record 192,000 new registrations from entrepreneurs. The figure has almost tripled in the past five years with new entrepreneurial hotspots developing across the globe.

Despite the pandemic, there has been impressive growth across Europe, with Germany seeing a 40% increase in revenue, the Netherlands up 130% and France up 27%. The USA has also seen a rise of 27%. Encouragingly for the businesses on the platform there is also more investor activity than ever with a record number of connections made despite the unfortunate circumstances this year. Alongside the online platform, AIN also runs a successful broking division. Despite the challenging conditions it has seen stable revenues year on year, despite longer funding rounds in today’s climate. AIN has been involved in several significant high profile raises in the past 12 months for a variety of businesses, including edtech startup BibliU, digital addressing startup OKHi and YouTube karaoke channel Sing King.

Despite the backdrop of the global recession and pandemic, AIN’s results reveal the embedded startup culture both in the UK and internationally. They also highlight the enduring popularity of passion-driven angel investors as a source of early stage funding.

According to AIN co-founder Mike Lebus: “2020 has been a time of unprecedented turbulence for the startup world, as it has for general society. Despite the challenges, we continue to see record numbers of startups look for funding on our platform and angels willing to invest. The solutions to so many of the problems we face are in the minds of startup founders and we are proud of the work we are able to do to help them fund their ambitions.”

He continues: “We continue to see strong international growth with startup communities developing throughout the world. We now have 40 networks extending to 90 different countries. We are also building new partnerships with accelerators and continue to offer tailored offerings in the property sector with BrickTribe and impact investment with SeedTribe.”

For more information please visit: https://www.angelinvestmentnetwork.co.uk/

Business Investment, Tech, Wales News

Smart technology pioneer prepares to unveil portal solution to global water crisis

A DISRUPTIVE smart technology company is preparing to unveil a new pipeline portal that will revolutionise the water industry.

Already being trialled in Europe, the Middle East and parts of the UK, the invention from North Wales-based iVapps is creating waves in the sector and will be launched into the global market next year.

The marine-grade stainless steel portal features the world’s first smart cartridge valve complete with inflow technology sensors, enabling the user – from water companies to the pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries and more – to digitise their pipelines and control and monitor temperature, flow, pressure, turbidity and quality.

This will enable the user to identify and resolve issues in a number of areas, including contamination, bursts, and leakages, allowing them to move quickly to prevent further environmental and financial damage and reduce the loss of our most valuable resource – water.

Nigel Roberts, National Business Manager for the UK and Europe, said the St Asaph-based firm has big plans for the future.

He added: “The response and support we’ve had has been very positive, from water companies to governments and large manufacturing organisations across the UK and Europe.

“They and the industry in general now accept that digitisation of the pipeline networks is critical for their future sustainability.”

During the summer, it was reported by the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) that more than 3.3 billion litres of treated water – 20% of the nation’s supply and 234 million litres a day more than a decade ago – are lost due to leaking pipes in England and Wales.

“The water lost would meet the daily needs of 21.5 million people,” said Nigel.

“We have the technology to help eliminate this problem and deliver fundamental benefits to the environment and the water industry by supporting the development of a future proof network in partnership for generations to come.”

The iVapps portal solution has AI (Artificial Intelligence) capabilities which can be serviced without having to shut down pipelines or excavate roads, causing major disruption.

Once installed any future sensor technologies can be introduced or upgraded within 10 minutes and reused again. Delivering a low cost, low carbon, green friendly advance on the current process.

Celebrating victory in the Wales Start-Up Awards – where iVapps was nominated in three categories and won the Innovative Start-Up of the Year prize – Nigel said there is nothing like this anywhere in the world.

“Our potential in the global market is huge, and with very little valve innovation in the last century, certainly in terms of smart technology, we believe this has the potential to be a game changer.”

For more information, visit the website www.ivappstech.com and follow @iVAPPST on social media.

Business Investment, News, Software News

Preservica accelerates product innovation with $3.8m funding

Preservica today announced an additional $3.8 million (£3m) investment from Mobeus Equity Partners.

Demand for Preservica’s market-leading Active Digital Preservation software has continued to grow as government, academic and business organizations around the globe seek to preserve and provide access to critical records, including those related to the pandemic and other recent world-changing events.

The funding will accelerate product innovation including new product-led initiatives that will make it easy for organizations of all sizes to start preserving critical records, as well as further innovation in Preservica’s core technology platform. The investment builds on the recent appointment of Phil Beckman as Preservica Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Preservica’s software future-proofs all types of digital content against technology obsolescence, ensuring it remains accessible and trustworthy over decades to meet legal, compliance, statutory and brand value needs. Available as SaaS or on-premise, the solution is trusted by a growing global client base including HSBC, Yale University, the Associated Press, Transport for London (TfL), Amnesty International and twenty two US State archives.

Matt Mead, Venture Partner, Mobeus Equity Partners, said:

“Mobeus supported the spin out of the original Preservica technology platform from its successfully exited portfolio company Tessella. Since 2016, we have partnered with Preservica to drive its international expansion and further technological development by providing an overall commitment of $12.8m (£10.0m). We continue to be impressed by the team’s progress against its core operating KPIs and believe the long term market drivers around privacy and governance make this a very exciting opportunity.”

Mike Quinn, CEO Preservica, added:

“Everyone at Preservica is delighted with this additional investment by Mobeus Equity Partners. It reflects a real confidence in the business especially at this time of global change. The funding will enable us to accelerate our plans to further innovate in our core product as well as make it easy for organizations of all sizes to quickly start using digital preservation to protect critical information”

Business Investment, News, News from Wales

New investment in Rural Economy to support sector’s recovery

A £106m financial investment could contribute to the rural economy’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The funding package from the Welsh Government and EU Rural Development Programme will be delivered over the next three years to support projects that boost the rural economy, enhance biodiversity and improve food sector resilience in Wales.

The funding has been welcomed by the sector including Don Thomas, Chair of ACCA Wales, who supports businesses who deliver services to the rural economy.

Don’s work primarily focuses on quality assurance in the food production supply chain, ensuring businesses demonstrate compliance and due diligence.

Responding to the financial investment announcement, Don said: “This financial package is a welcome investment for the rural economy and will build upon the sector’s experiences during the pandemic to contribute to a green recovery.

“The rural economy has adapted its practices this year, embracing remote working and sharing knowledge across the sector online which has reduced emissions and the need to travel beyond the local area. However, moving forward we will need to manage a healthy balance of remote and physical work. Funding projects that support the sector to be able to do both will be beneficial.”

Other financial schemes will also be developed in response to the pandemic and other challenges such as Brexit.

Don added: “The rural economy will be greatly affected by Brexit, particularly the food supply chain, as the EU is our primary exports market. The resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic this Autumn has shifted the focus away from Brexit, leaving great uncertainty within the sector about what agreement will be reached by the end of the year and the impact it will have on us.

“As the financial package will be delivered over three years, we hope the investment will also support businesses through any challenges they will face when we leave the EU.”

Business Investment, Insurance, News, Pensions

Barnett Waddingham turns to CAMRADATA for Manager Research across ESG investment strategies to add value to its clients

Barnett Waddingham, a leading independent UK professional services consultancy focused on risk, pensions, investment and insurance has partnered with CAMRADATA, a leading provider of data and analysis for institutional investors, to use its Assisted Search service.

Barnett Waddingham used this manager search service to source bespoke ESG manager research, specific market insights and establish universes and strategies for ESG-related funds for its clients.  This will also enable them to monitor ESG strategies on an ongoing basis.

One of the key benefits was the fact the service is run anonymously and selects and connects users with the right investment managers. The Assisted Search is run through CAMRADATA’s online platform, CAMRADATA Live, is supported by the CAMRADATA team and provided at no charge to institutional investors. It results in a unique custom universe, additional unbiased reporting and research analysis.

Amy Richardson, Senior Director, CAMRADATA says, “We were delighted to help Barnett Waddingham with an Assisted Search across ESG-related strategies.  This has enabled them to collect unique information on ESG funds and investment opportunities, as well as the performance of investment managers.  This has also given them the ability to monitor ESG strategies, which is a growing area of interest for their clients. More than ever, investors and consultants need up-to-date information and insight to help make informed investment decisions in these challenging times.” 

David Lewis, Co-Head of Manager Research at Barnett Waddingham said, “Barnett Waddingham recently used the CAMRADATA Assisted Search service to establish universes for ESG-related funds so we can add value for our clients. The database has excellent coverage of managers and products, and the information is summarised in useful standard reports.

Particularly convenient is the way CAMRADATA acts as a buffer between us and the investment managers and can answer many of their questions independently. This helps reduce the communication burden when establishing potentially large universes where a significant number of managers are engaging. The help we received throughout was prompt and attentive. CAMRADATA gave useful guidance in how to compose the initial request. We would be happy to use the service in the future.”

CAMRADATA has seen a growth in demand for its assisted searches since the Covid-19 crisis. During Q2 2020, CAMRADATA had 17 Assisted Searches totalling £1.2 billion AUM and Q3 is looking similar.

Amy Richardson concludes, “We have seen a spike in demand for our Assisted Search service, particularly as it offers unique comprehensive qualitative and quantitative information across asset classes for asset owners, on an anonymous basis, which is unavailable elsewhere. This enables institutional investors to find strategies across specific asset classes or for consultants to create buy lists to recommend to their clients.”

For more information on CAMRADATA visit www.camradata.com

Business Investment, News, Tech

World-leading UK based AI intelligence company SeeQuestor raising capital through private equity

World-leading AI provider SeeQuestor is raising £2.2m of growth capital for its new generation of cutting-edge real-time CCTV analytics tools through Growthdeck, the private equity investment firm.

SeeQuestor is a London-based, UK artificial intelligence company providing patent protected, comprehensive video analytics solutions to law enforcement and intelligence communities, critical infrastructure and smart cities around the world. The company harnesses world-leading AI technology and super-computing power to turn terabytes of CCTV video into actionable intelligence.

Video infrastructure is everywhere, and camera installations are growing internationally at double digit rates every year. However, current practice has been to “eyeball” this video, hour for hour. This inefficiency leads to only approximately 1% of available video being watched, meaning crimes go unsolved, live incidents are poorly managed and threats are not foreseen. SeeQuestor is changing this paradigm, delivering vastly improved public safety outcomes.

SeeQuestor’s Post Event and Intelligent CCTV systems are in demand internationally by airports, government agencies, smart cities and law enforcement. Many successful police manhunts have been completed using SeeQuestor’s technology, including a number with

high media profiles. Systems have been successfully deployed by a national intelligence organisation at a major international airport as well as with law enforcement agencies.

SeeQuestor’s Post Event System can be used to quickly review thousands of hours of video (from any video source, including poor quality footage) to help conduct investigations in a fraction of the time taken using conventional viewing methods. It can immediately locate and identify persons or objects of interest, generate reports and maintain the evidential chain.

SeeQuestor’s Intelligent CCTV (iCCTV) System can monitor live video feeds from thousands of cameras. It automatically tracks and identifies persons of interest; creates alerts from watchlists; makes associations between individuals; provides alerts for abnormal or suspicious behaviour, potential threats such as guns, weapons and suspicious bags or packages; tracks vehicles and monitors traffic violations. iCCTV provides actionable, real time intelligence delivered not just to a control room but also to field agents’ cell phones.

The business will use the capital to launch and promote its product internationally, grow its team and launch an integrated mobile version. Growthdeck already reached a first close of more than £400,000 on its investment in early July.

SeeQuestor’s competitive advantages are that it can recognise whole people (not just their faces), suspicious objects (bags, packages, weapons) and vehicles. Its systems can uniquely use almost all existing CCTV cameras, even old and low-quality ones. Its analytics are more accurate, using multiple algorithms. Additionally, SeeQuestor products are uniquely designed for large camera networks (up to thousands) to deliver critical public safety benefits.

The business prides itself on its stance on data privacy and ethics, and is advised on ethics by Professor Tom Sorell, Head of Interdisciplinary Ethics Research Group at Warwick University and fellow at Harvard.

As Covid-19 forces governments worldwide to invest in contact tracing, SeeQuestor’s systems are likely to be in even higher demand as a public health tool.

The management team at SeeQuestor includes renowned figures from the technology and security sectors, including:

  • Co-Founder and non-executive Chairman Tristram Riley-Smith, a national security expert and Director of Research at Cambridge University’s Department of Politics and International Studies. He has also sat on the Ministerial Board of the Government’s Security & Resilience Growth Partnership.
  • Co-Founder/CTO Henry Hyde-Thomson, a former research fellow in the Department of Computing at Imperial College, London. He was the founder and entrepreneur behind ‘Speech Machines’, a speech recognition software company successfully sold to Philips.
  • Co-Founder/COO William Addison, who founded and led the growth of several high technology companies in various C-level and board roles via his investment vehicle Anglo Scientific Ltd. He also serves as Advisor to a Singapore Government Fund for new technologies.
  • CEO Thibaud Weick, who has 20 years of C-suite experience at global telecoms businesses, including Vodafone and Orascom Telecom, and in entrepreneurial ventures operating across multiple markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Thibaud was appointed in October 2019 to lead SeeQuestor’s expansion.

The business is also advised on science by Roberto Cipolla, Professor of Information Engineering at Cambridge University.

Paul Boon, Investment Director, at Growthdeck, says: “SeeQuestor is already a true world leader in the AI and CCTV field, delivering a genuinely revolutionary product.”

“SeeQuestor is not a start-up hoping to eventually produce something market-leading when its technology matures – this is a product that has delivered results for law enforcement worldwide many times over. It is far ahead of its competitors and winning contracts ahead of products developed by multinationals.”

“The demand for such innovative technologies shows no signs of slowing down. For example, the Covid-19 pandemic presents an additional need for sophisticated contact tracing technology. This is a technology that will become commonplace worldwide in the coming years.”

Growthdeck’s investment in SeeQuestor qualifies for tax reliefs under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). EIS is an investment scheme which allows private investors to make tax savings by investing in growth businesses. The EIS allows investors to:

  • Invest up to £1million per annum.
  • Reclaim 30% of the cost of investment against their income tax bill.
  • To not pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on any gains realised after three years.
  • Claim further income tax relief should an investment result in any form of loss.
  • Defer capital gains tax due on the sale of another asset by re-investing the gain in an EIS-qualifying company.
  • Save inheritance tax on any EIS-qualifying shares held for over two years.
Business Investment, Business News, News

UK scaleups face £15bn growth capital gap

Urgent action is required to close the UK’s growth capital gap, according to a report released today by Innovate Finance, the ScaleUp Institute and Deloitte in collaboration with the Business Action Council (BAC), by accelerating, evolving and expanding existing initiatives under a national framework for growth.

The report, The Future of Growth Capital, stresses that closing the emerging £15bn gap will provide opportunities for aiding the UK’s economic recovery post-Covid, generating future prosperity and boosting regional economies, productivity, innovation and internationalism.

Growth capital refers to the financing that enables scaling innovative companies, both young and established, to reach maturity.

The gap — the difference between demand for and supply of growth capital — stood at £5bn-£10bn a year before the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic has significantly exacerbated the issue and effectively doubled the gap, with it now reaching £15bn.

The report lays out five specific and practical recommendations to tackle the long-standing, structural problem of a lack of available capital for scaleup companies. The recommendations are:

  1. Create a ‘National Blueprint for Growth’ that delivers a strategic joined up approach to support and champion more consistent and effective economic growth across all regions and sectors
  2. Accelerate the unlocking of Institutional and Corporate Funding through changes in legislation and organisation that crowds in the existing significant private sector capital that can make inroads into closing the growth capital gap
  3. Expand and build upon the British Business Bank (BBB) by strengthening the regional presence of the BBB with empowered decision making deployed under a national framework, and continue the developments of its products along with Scottish Investment Bank (SIB), Development Bank of Wales and Invest NI
  4. Expand the role and scale of Innovate UK and its direct deployment of innovation capital to our most innovative, early stage and scaling businesses
  5. Create a “Future Opportunity Fund” to develop diverse sectors and impact investing potential that is focused on emerging, socially inclusive markets, including the carbon net-zero economy

There are a number of potential benefits from closing the growth-funding gap and laying to rest the long-term structural issues identified in the report. These include a 10-20% boost in business investment, doubling the number of scaleups in the UK and supporting levelling-up objectives delivered through strong growth across all regions.

The UK’s 33,860 scaleup businesses constitute a critical portion of UK small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and contribute £1 trillion to the UK economy annually. These scaleups represent 50% of the SME economy and are twice as likely to innovate and have international businesses than their peers.

The UK is the top destination in Europe for FinTech investment and has strong growth in sectors such as life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and media. Although it ranks third in the world for starting a business, it only ranks 13th when it comes to scaling them.

The report looks at what the UK can learn from the targeted support that many of the UK’s international peers have developed for scaleups. The five recommendations draw on lessons from what Germany, Canada and the USA are doing to deploy growth capital to scaleups in their own countries as a means to drive economic revival. This is often also in tandem with structured long-term business support measures.

Irene Graham OBE, CEO of ScaleUp Institute, commented: “Scaleup companies are key to economic recovery. They make a significant contribution across the country in every locality and sector. As this report highlights, even through the Covid-19 period, they remain highly innovative and are still investing in R&D and job creation. As we seek to build back better we must be bold in addressing our scaleup challenges and the widening gap in long term patient capital.

“We believe that the combination of approaches set out in this report can finally solve long standing growth capital issues and make significant inroads to the leveling up agenda. As this report emphasises, the public and private sector must work together in a collaborative effort to deliver the step change required.”

Charlotte Crosswell, CEO of Innovate Finance, commented: “As we reset our economy in the wake of Covid-19, this is the moment to address the growth and innovation-capital gap with long-term policy solutions. We accept that there is no silver bullet or single policy that can resolve a complex issue. That is why our recommendations spread across different areas and feed into a long-term solution.

“The problem is abundantly clear, and it’s now crucial we make the changes and address it. Areas of our growth economy such as the FinTech sector – which is full of scaling, innovative companies – are advancing at a rapid pace, and we risk losing an entire generation of vitally important businesses if we don’t make the necessary structural adjustments.”

Richard Kibble, UK Head of Banking at Deloitte, commented: “No one can deny the widespread disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In the short and medium term, it’s vital that we find new ways to get the economy growing again. However, longer term it also represents a unique opportunity to reset some of the fundamental challenges the UK has faced for quite some time – regional levelling up, diversity, carbon emissions, unemployment – to name but a few.

“We believe therefore that Covid-19 should act as a catalyst for change. Now more than ever it is vital that businesses are encouraged to start and scale up to their full potential. After all, it could be a chance to create a positive and lasting legacy from the upheaval of this crisis.”

Download the report here: https://growthcapital.report

 

Business Investment, FInance, Finance News, News

Ace Entrepreneurs launches £25,000 crowdfund to support 10 early stage black-owned businesses

A new crowdfunding initiative has been launched by ACE Entrepreneurs to support early stage black-owned businesses. The ‘small diverse business’ crowdfund is for £25,000, being raised on GoFundMe, which will be distributed to 10 small diverse businesses with initial stage growth investment. Led by businesswoman and entrepreneur Nadine Campbell, ACE Entrepreneurs is a community for diverse entrepreneurs and is also a champion of women in business.

The crowdfund has been launched to tackle a funding gap for black-owned businesses. Currently only 0.67% of UK businesses are black-owned despite black people accounting for 3.3% of the population.* The funding will include business support and upskilling to get the selected businesses to a stage where formal investors would be interested. The businesses will be selected by an expert investment panel. Additionally at least 50% of the businesses selected will also need to be female led with female founding teams getting less than 1% of all funding.**

The expert panel selecting the funding recipients includes: Nadine Campbell, serial entrepreneur and marketing expert, founder of the marketing consultancy The Digital Helpdesk and e-commerce business Mummy Kit; Kevin Edwards, Director at Deutsche Bank and senior international trader; Rashida Adbulai, Founder and CEO at Strand Sahara and Xavier Ballester, Director of Angel Investment Network’s brokerage division.

According to Campbell: “I have launched this initiative following requests directly from the black community, to increase opportunities for funding for small business and to tackle the lack of investment in the diverse community. Looking at and speaking to formal investors, I have noticed that the black community is grossly under-represented as accessible angel investors, which is having a knock on effect on diverse businesses being invested in. As a result, I have become a disruptor in this space.”

She continues: “Thankfully, I have seen there is a rise in investment for female led businesses, which are typically proven to be more successful than male only led businesses. For this reason, I want to focus on diverse led and especially diverse female led business. The fact that diverse entrepreneurs are not seen publicly, means there are generations of people who simply don’t believe starting a business is a viable, long term option. This initiative is intended to help break that cycle and help businesses with that vital first step.”

 

Business Investment, News

Launch of game-changer platform to connect start-ups and investors across the entire UK market

Envestors has launched its new integrated platform that connects the world of early-stage investments – making it easier for investors to find opportunities and for entrepreneurs to get the funding they need to grow and exit. With its ‘deal sharing’ capability it aims to be a game-changer in the industry.

Traditionally the investment industry has been slow to adopt digital. This has left it fractured and disconnected, which has constrained the industry by making it harder for everyone: for investors to build diverse portfolios; for start-ups to find investors; and for the networks who facilitate the process to get the best opportunities for their members.

The digital platform, Envestry™, will connect existing players. Its aim is not to replace the existing players, but rather to connect everyone – from accelerators to angel networks to matchmaking events – making investment easier and quicker.

The most exciting feature, the ‘game changer’, is deal sharing. Closed networks can have their own platform that they control. They can then opt to share certain deals, and not others, with other networks. For example, a clean tech network in Manchester may decide to showcase a green deal from a female founder network in Bristol. This way early stage companies reach a wider pool of investors, and investors have a greater choice of deals.

The platform is now available to any organisation involved in matching high growth companies with investors, mentors and advisors. These include accelerators, incubators, angel networks, start-up events companies, workplace providers, membership bodies and associations.

The need for the platform was identified by Envestors own experience of managing its private investment club. The company wanted a way to make it easier for investors to learn more about the deals, so Envestors launched their own platform. Quickly other networks expressed interest in accessing it.

“We saw that while the platform was solving a problem we had internally, there was a much bigger problem to solve – the fragmented state of the early stage investment market. This leads to issues with start-ups getting in front of investors, and means it’s challenging for investors to build a diverse portfolio. So, we set ourselves a new mission to connect up the investment space using the platform.” explains Oliver Woolley, CEO of Envestors.

“What sets Envestors apart from other platforms, is our history. We know how to run an investment club. As the saying goes; we eat our own dogfood! We’re still running the club, so when we work with other networks, whether they are long-running or emerging, they are not just getting tech, they are getting years of experience and support.”

The new integrated Envestry platform allows investors: access to increased deal flow by allowing them to see all the deals in the country across multiple networks; to follow deals and receive automatic updates; interaction with founders online through Q&A, as well as seeing other investor questions; online access to documents, videos, pitch decks, business plans, sales forecasts; ability to pledge, transact, manage and track progress online; to upload existing investments; receive shareholder updates through the platform; rest assured that deals are clear, fair and not misleading, knowing that all opportunities on the platform are signed off for FCA compliance.

For companies looking for investment, Envestry allows them to: create a company and deal profile with ability to edit; track investor interest using analytics; engage with investors through updates and Q&A tools; track pledges and progress; transact online; manage investor relations online (this is important because companies often do multiple raises and, in most cases, return to previous investors). In addition, Envestors offers expert services to help companies get ‘investment ready’.

For investment networks Envestry enables them: to have their own branded platform with complete control; offer share deals on a platform or deal-by-deal basis; maintain a database of investor interests to facilitate matching; empower their investors to build their portfolio by making it easy to find opportunities and conduct due diligence online; increase the chances that your companies will raise capital by making it easy for investors to learn more about them; comply with regulation; and reduce manual processes (for example, paper-based investor application forms, deal summary handouts etc.)

The platform, prior to launch, has been Beta-testing with early customers including:

  • SetSquared – the number one global incubator, a collaboration between the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey
  • CQRS – works with unlisted business to prepare and pitch for investment
  • Conviction investment partners – a syndicate of global investors that offers milestone-based investing
  • Plerith – a Bristol-based investment network
  • Prospedia – UK’s first private equity seed-funding platform focused exclusively on co-investing into early-stage future mobility technology
  • The Business Group – Sussex-based network
  • OBN Ventures – life sciences membership organisation
  • Kickstart Capital – focuses on S/EIS opportunities
  • Stakeholderz – matches high growth businesses with investing directors

After a successful pilot stage and testing, the Envestry platform is launching this week and is now available for start-ups, investors, and networks. This the start of a drive to connect the entire investment industry across the UK by creating a single place to go to in order to find investment or to find investment opportunities.

To learn more, visit https://www.envestors.co.uk/