The Invested Investor speaks to angel investor and is a Senior Partner for Frog Capital, Shirin Dehghan

Shirin has a fascinating story about resilience, understanding when to make tough decisions and planning for her company’s sale. Shirin is a successful entrepreneur, having founded and sold Arieso. She is a seasoned angel investor and is a Senior Partner for Frog Capital. In Part 1 of her podcast you will hear how she learnt so much from the pitfall of a lost contract, and how much time and effort she spent to ensure the company was ready for a potential buy-out. This is a truly exciting entrepreneurial story, that includes a tough decision to ask her husband to step down as her CTO in order for the company to succeed in the States.

Angel investment is one of the most notable avenues for capital in the UK. Business angels tend to invest in businesses who are either in the early stages of their growth or in established companies seeking to achieve expansion, in return for equity shares.

Aside from the capital, angel investors offer a wealth of experience and have access to a depth of valuable contacts from a range of industries. Their value is signified by a study conducted by ‘Oxford Economics’, who found businesses that were backed by angels between 2010 - 2015 boasted an astonishing turnover of over £9 billion and contributed £4.5 billion to gross domestic product (GDP).

Interestingly, research conducted by ‘Company Check’ discovered that from 3,000 business owners and entrepreneurs, 38% believed a business plan was the paramount deciding factor in an angel’s intention to invest in a business. After a business plan – they thought sales figures (27%), the founder (15%), business idea itself (9%) and then the economy (8%) were focal in a business angel’s considerations.

The Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Early & Growth Stage Funds have invested €1.7M in Sytorus Ltd, this is in addition to simultaneous investment from Enterprise Ireland and private investors.

A novel anti-bacterial agent which has been developed in Scotland by MGB Biopharma for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infections, is to enter Phase II clinical trials following a newly-completed £1.3m fund raise from existing and new investors, supplementing a £2.7m grant awarded earlier this year by Innovate UK.

Enterprise Investment Partners (EIP) and Start Up Funding Club (SFC) have announced the launch of the SFC SEIS Fund, a new generalist SEIS Fund targeting a portfolio of primarily early stage SEIS companies across all sectors with strong growth and compelling exit prospects.

In partnership with The Invested Investor, a project founded by Peter and Alan Cowley to help entrepreneurs and early stage investors achieve greater success by sharing lessons learned, Angel News is delighted to publish this interview focusing on the altruistic, enterprising, human genomic data expert and CEO of Repositive, Fiona Nielsen. 

This interview was originally published on The Invested Investor https://www.investedinvestor.com/articles/2018/9/11/start-up-spotlight-with-fiona-nielsen

CupClub, a returnable packaging service for drinks centred on the reduction of single use plastics, has received investment from a Henley Business Angels member, raising a total of £200k from their seed round.

CupClub’s packaging as a service is designed to hold both hot or cold drinks serving initially across offices, universities and closed campuses across cafés and canteens, self-service coffee/tea points and drinks vending. The service uses half the amount of carbon dioxide compared with ceramic or disposable cups (e.g. paper, Styrofoam or compostable).

A Manchester solicitor who has developed an app to help law firms communicate more effectively with clients has closed a £344,000 investment round backed by NPIF - Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia Fund Managers and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, as well as existing and new angel investors.  Lauren Riley, a former BBC The Apprentice star, founded The Link App in 2014 after working in a law firm and becoming frustrated at outdated working practices, including having to send sensitive documents by email and post.

An interview with business angel and mentor to start ups Sukhendu Pal.

UK agri-tech start-up PBD Biotech, developers of the first rapid test for live mycobacteria, has secured £400,000 in its first major strategic investment round to fund international trials and launch a suite of products.

Maven Capital Partners has led the £2.5 million investment in Bright Network, a media technology platform which enables blue-chip employers to reach, identify and recruit high-quality graduates and young professionals. The transaction includes a £2.15m investment by Maven VCTs, together with £0.4m from existing and new angel shareholders. 

A number of the original HBAN investors in software developer Phorest have been bought out for a sum averaging 10 times their initial investment.

Phorest, which provides management software for hair and beauty salons, raised €700,000 from 12 HBAN angel investors in two funding rounds in 2011 and 2013. In June of this year, the company completed a third investment round of €20 million with US investment firm, Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE).