Mercia Technologies is one of the loudest proponents of Patient Capital and its recent exit shows why. 

An Edinburgh-based startup enabling broadcasters and publishers to obtain the digital rights to Instagram photographs has secured almost £250,000 in seed funding from angels in syndicates such as Equity Gap and Gabriel with the support of the Scottish Investment Bank.

Nigel is responsible for Access to Finance at Innovate UK where he heads the organisation’s support for innovative SMEs in gaining access to business support and private sector funding to accelerate the journey from concept to commercialisation. Through his and others at Innovate UK he has enabled £ms of funding to our best technology companies via grants and matched funding.

FinTech is in fashion as we all know. News that Karadoo Finance and CrowdRating have joined Milamber Ventures and VestDeck at www.fundingforentrepreneurs.co.uk in reaching out to the AngelNews investor community only adds to the proof that the UK's entrepreneurs are solving unexploited opportunities in the sector. 

Last week Innovate UK published an interesting report about what investors look for in scale-ups. 

It's worth a read.  Click Here

Arthur Krebbers considers why the US has such a strong tradition for entrepreneurship.

Everyone has been talking about the Patient Capital Review, possibly the most important Government consultation to engage the angel world in living memory.  The inferred threat that HM Government might severely limit the S/EIS and VCT schemes either by constraining what types of company can receive investment and or a reduction in the tax breaks on offer was enough to get everyone pretty excited.  My LinkedIn post to encourage people to respond to the consultation received over 11,000 views in two days!

For the more sophisticated entrepreneur, crowdfunding can be a chore. Why strut your stuff in front of an uncaring public – who may throw $100 a piece at your idea - when you could be gladhandling clever, sophisticated institutional money?  Well, the odds of securing that dream VC “dream ticket” are often slim. Yet they can be enhanced. Execute a successful crowdraise, and the venture capitalists will be more likely to follow suit.

Here are 10 trends to watch out for in the angel market this autumn.

Frederick William was King of Prussia between 1713 and 1740. He gained fame, or perhaps infamy, in Europe both for an austere lifestyle, and for his short temper (beheading his son’s male lovers at the slightest provocation for example). However, his careful financial management included a deal of canny investment.

We're a couple of days late, but never mind - the cause is the best.  This month we encourage you to donate £1 to Macmillan Coffee Morning for every meeting you have wiith a cup of coffee or tea.

Gannons Corporate Partner, Helen Curtis, offers some advice to angel investors on managing their relationship with founders. 

Angels invest in people. Studies show that one of the top reasons for angel investment is the belief that the founder or founding team can grow the company. But life gets in the way and the founder may want to move on or may be forced by circumstances to leave the start up before you have realised your investment. What happens to the start up when the founder is no longer in the game?