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a former BBC The Apprentice star, founded The Link App in 2014 after working in a law firm and becoming frustrated at outdated working practices, including having to send sensitive documents by email and post.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).

Startup Funding Club has invested £570K into Blue Skies Space Ltd alongside the London Co-Investment Fund and Angel Investors, marking the 100th deal of the SFC Funds.

Blue Skies Space Ltd is a pioneering UK company providing access to space science data from low-cost space missions. Blue Skies Space is taking a private-sector approach to a traditionally government-driven area and will provide a commercial service worldwide. The deal marks the 100th investment made by a fund operated by SFC since the launch of the organisation’s first Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme Fund in 2014. 

Subsea services company, Rovco, is on track to rapidly grow its share of the global subsea market after securing angel investment. This will enable the firm to launch its cutting-edge live 3D visual subsea inspection systems, which could significantly reduce the time taken to complete subsea surveys and cut inspection costs by 80%.

Wistia, a video software provider for small and medium-sized businesses, has raised $17.3m in debt to pay back its angel investors, allowing it to remain true to its founders’ principles of being creatively-driven, long-lasting and independent.  “The decision was one of the most important in Wistia's history,” said Chris Savage (pictured), Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Wistia. “Our goal was to realign everyone involved in Wistia on the same vision.”

HBAN was crowned Globally Networked Organisation 2018 at the EBAN Awards Ceremony held in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Monday 25th June.

EBAN, the European Trade Association for Business Angels, Seed Funds and Early Stage Market Players has published the new edition of its much anticipated annual mapping of fiscal incentives available to business angels in Europe. This year, EBAN partnered again with BOFIDI to develop the annual publication.  Fiscal incentives have an important role in stimulating the activity of business angels and early stage equity investors in start-ups.