Startup Funding Club, the award-winning network of Business Angels and early-stage Investment Fund, has successfully closed first tranche of its SEIS/EIS funds for investments made in the 2017/2018 tax year. SFC invested over £2M under the (Seed) Enterprise Investment Schemes across four funds in 36 UK-based startups, 28 of which are part of the organisation’s flagship fund, the SFC Angel Fund.

Chelverton Asset Management, a specialist investor in sub-FTSE 100 quoted equities and unquoted SMEs, has completed its first transaction of 2018 with a further investment in VeloVixen.

Statistics collected by Finnish Business Angels Network ry (FiBAN) and Finnish Venture Capital Association ry (FVCA) show Finland blasting to another all-time high on investments made into Finnish startups and early stage growth companies in 2017. 

As the impact investing movement rounds the corner into its second decade, organizations across the industry are taking stock in how far we’ve come—and indeed, there has been remarkable progress—and identifying with increasingly clarity what work remains to be done. Earlier this week, The Global Impact Investing Network launched their Roadmap for the Future of Impact Investing, offering a compelling view of priorities for the sector over the next decade, sourced from over 350 key players from across the ecosystem. The roadmap calls for mobilizing increased capital to achieve impact at scale and meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as having a fundamental effect on investing writ large by ingraining impact considerations into all investing decision making.

With the new tax year upon us, why not make some resolutions to be a better investor next year?

Over the last few years Ukraine has seen its digital markets and innovation scene grow very fast. Ukrainian startups (or startups founded by Ukrainian entrepreneurs), raised $265 million in 2017, up 231% from the previous year. This is one of the key findings of “The Dealbook of Ukraine,” an annual industry report published by AVentures Capital in partnership with local industry associations UVCA (Ukrainian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association) and UAngel, as well as Ukraine Digital News.

AngelNews is delighted to announce that Iain Martin, founder and editor of Rection, a political and news commentary website, will be a keynote speaker at the Great British Private Investor Summit on the 24th May in London.

Newsvoice.com, a news app that aims to change the way we read the news, raises 2 million SEK from private business angels and Almi Invest for further expansion of their service.

Caroline Halliday, a member of the Green Angel Syndicate, considers the reasons that ‘green’ angel investment presents a particular opportunity to  attract more female investors.

The Invested Investor helps increase the success rate for entrepreneurs by sharing stories from those who have done it. The enterprise has announced its latest podcast interview, focusing on the challenges and triumphs faced by the Founder CEO of Healthera Ltd, Quintus Liu. 

The Finnish Business Angel Exit of the Year 2017 has been given to a business angel syndicate including seven business angels: Toni Mattila, Tom Lindgren, Anna-Kaarina Lipsanen, Maarit Gockel, Jussi Heinilä, Jukka Hienonen and Jukka Mäkinen. 

LendingCrowd has secured an external funding round of £2 million following a strong 2017 for the peer-to-peer (P2P) lender, with the proceeds earmarked for ramping up its sales and marketing activities.