We are really pleased with how successful our move to online pitches has been, and are thrilled to say we have still been concluding deals during these uncertain times. Funding a hospitality business during lockdown has been one of our biggest achievements to date and it’s been fantastic following their journey since.
We are reminiscing on our past events and whilst we have enjoyed moving to an online version, we are really looking forward to getting back to having a coffee with everyone and congratulating businesses on their pitch in person!
Here’s a throwback picture of simpler times.
We are two pitching sessions down with one more to go in our biggest pitch week to date.
We have had 6 businesses pitching this week, all in different sectors and all at different stages in their growth journeys. We have had some fantastic comments from the Angels including: “Great concept, with considerable potential”, “very investible founder” and “great product”.
We are looking forward to this afternoon’s pitching session where we hope to gain even more investor interest for the businesses in anticipation for the due-diligence phase.
Leeds Digital Festival is returning this September!
We are thrilled to say we will be running an event as part of #LeedsDigi20 on ‘The Do’s and Don’ts of Angel Investment’ which we are really excited about.
Their last Digital Festival was fantastic, we were lucky enough to attend quite a few of the online events and they were great. We can’t wait to get involved with their September festival, which we have no doubt will be another fantastic round of events.
In the autumn of 2019, UKBAA collaborated with British Business Bank to carry out the most comprehensive survey of the UK’s angels.
The report following this survey was delayed in its planned publication due to the emerging crisis under COVID-19. In view of this, British Business Bank and UKBAA felt that it would be valuable to obtain some additional insights and information from the angel community about their investments so far in 2020 and the impact COVID-19 may have had. This information will then be incorporated into the final updated report on the UK angel market which will be published in the autumn.
The insights and views of the angel community are especially valuable at this time. It will enable the British Business Bank and UKBAA to identify what further relevant measures could be taken at national or local level to support the growth of the angel market as we move into economic recovery.
We would be most grateful if our Angel members would support this additional UK Angel Market Survey here:
If you took part in the previous survey, you will be sent a unique link to click on from PwC Research if you gave them permission to email you, it will automatically link your responses to the previous survey. If you have your unique link from PwC please complete the survey using that link. However, if you cannot find it, you can still complete the survey on the link above.
The survey should take around 10-15 minutes to complete. It is much shorter than the previous survey and all data will be treated as confidential and aggregated in the final report.
Thank you for your support.
It was fantastic hearing more about The Investing in Women Code at yesterday’s webinar hosted by Jenny Tooth from the UK Business Angels Association.
The Investing in Women Code is a HM Teasury sponsored programme designed to improve the access to finance for women, and to provide support to female entrepreneurs.
We fully support this initiative and are thrilled to be part of the bigger picture which looks to improve the outlook for UK women founders accessing investment.
Exciting news…. we are opening up a new Angel Group in Manchester!
We are really excited about the start of our new Manchester group, which will launch at the end of September. Manchester is a fantastic region with heaps of exciting entrepreneurial activity. We can’t wait to meet with local high growth businesses and introduce them to Investors who have a wealth of knowledge and experience at hand ready to support them with.
We are partnering with some fantastic firms; Weightmans, BDO and Brown Shipley, in the region and look forward to working closely with them as we grow our new group.
If you are an Angel Investor looking for investment opportunities or an SME business seeking funding and support, just get in touch as we would be delighted to hear from you.
Fantastic news… another Yorkshire business funded!
A huge well done to Nǎm Sông in securing their investment.
Born from a shared love of Vietnam discovered by a young couple travelling around South East Asia, Nǎm Sông is a multiple award-winning Vietnamese coffee shop and restaurant chain that aims to introduce a Western audience to the organised chaos of Vietnamese Street Food. Nǎm Sông opened in early 2017 and their first site was quickly voted as Sheffield’s best South East Asian Restaurant. The following year they were ready for their second site and have since evolved the Nǎm Sông brand into an all-day-all-night offering, which is the tried and tested model they aim to roll out across the UK within the next five years.
Founder, Jim Rose said “Going through the angelgroup process has been a fantastic experience, that has not only enabled us to secure the funding we needed to pursue our growth plan, but also challenged our way of thinking relating to how we operate as a business and also how I myself perform as an entrepreneur. The skills I’ve gained throughout the pitching process have increased my communication and presenting skills immeasurably, and the feedback gained from Angels following pitches has allowed us to identify key areas of our business proposition that we can improve. Of course the value in investment secured will be fantastic in terms of allowing us to achieve our goals, but what is arguably more valuable, is the collective business experience of the four Angels (and their contacts) who have invested into our brand and how their shared knowledge can be applied to help us improve all elements of our operations. If anyone is looking for funding to help grow their business then I would whole heartedly recommend the angelgroup process”.
Angelgroups Martin Avison said “It’s great to have been working with such an energetic founder with such a refreshing and new approach in the food and drinks sector. We are really confident that the Nǎm Sông brand is going to go from strength to strength.”
Yesterday was our latest pitching event for the Newcastle region and it was a fantastic session. We had four businesses from very different sectors and backgrounds pitching for funding and support, who all did a superb job.
Two of the businesses bought their current investors on the call so they could educate the group further on the investment proposition, which was a huge success. One of the best results of moving to an online solution is that we can welcome Angels from all over the UK to take part in our events.
Marketing Assistant
Leeds/Wakefield, Permanent, Full time, Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 5:15pm
Salary commensurate with age and experience
The right person will have the opportunity to work in an exciting industry where you will be able to develop key skills in a digital, online and social media environment. You will be working closely with our Marketing Manager who will support you in your day to day activities and help you achieve key milestones in your learning. As your skills develop, you will have the opportunity to be creative within your role and will quickly become a key member of the team.
Key Responsibilities
Event organising
Event administration
Video editing
Social media marketing
Email campaigns
Google Ads
Market research
General administration
Key Characteristics
Enthusiasm for business, marketing and a desire to learn about funding landscape
Great communication skills
IT Literate to a good standard
Team player
Willing to embrace new ideas and technologies
Work to targets and deadlines
Previous experience desirable but not essential as full training will be provided
About angelgroups
angelgroups is an Angel Investment network with groups across the North of England. Each group runs monthly pitching events where a number of businesses of all stages and sectors pitch for funding and/or support. In addition to the pitching events, we also have an online platform where businesses can create their own company profile. Our Angel members then browse the platform when looking for investment and mentoring opportunities. We provide access to a range of funding solutions including equity, debt (partners) and grant.
To Apply
If you would like to apply for this position, please send your cv along with a cover letter to our Marketing Manager at: [email protected]
It’s our experience, that when an SME is looking for funding, they spend a lot of time thinking about the investor readiness piece and the pitch itself. When in fact, the due-diligence phase post pitch is where a lot of time and efforts are spent. We guide our SME customers through this phase, to give them the best chance of securing the investment and support they need to grow. That’s why we say to our SME’s before they pitch, they are not pitching for investment, they are pitching to go to the next stage. It is at that next stage where our angels really get to understand the business and the investment offering on the table.
Over the past couple of months, all our due-diligence meetings have been online, which in most instances has actually made it more accessible for our angels to attend. With the new social distancing rules being in place, we have even managed to arrange some product demonstrations recently (at a safe distance) where the angels have been able to see the product first hand, and also meet the founders.
All phases of the investment process are important, so if you’re looking for funding make sure you are ready for the due-diligence phase prior to your pitch. Losing momentum along the journey not only costs you time, but could also cost you your investment, as the angels move on to other, more timely opportunities.
Our first Newcastle pitching session is well underway and we have a full house of successful local angels who are looking to invest in, and support, high growth businesses.
We are kicking off the events with 4 fantastic SME’s. Good luck to all the businesses pitching, we’re excited to see the angels comments and follow up with any interest asap.
A huge thank you to our partners Ryecroft Glenton, Barclays and Ward Hadaway for all their help pulling together this new angel group for Newcastle.
The latest Angel research found that 39% of Angel Investors look for an investment opportunity where they can contribute to the success of the business. The support an Angel can provide can add significant value to a growing SME. The support can include:
Strategic
Access to the supply chain and contacts
Operational
Further rounds of investment
Recruitment
Management
Sounding board
Having an Angel Investor involved can even increase the company’s valuation because of the skill set they are bringing to the team.
If you are interested in pitching at one of our online events just get in touch. We are always looking for businesses with high growth potential to introduce to our groups.
