HBAN All-Island Business Angel Conference 2022

  • HBAN, the all-island organisation responsible for the promotion of business angel investment and a joint initiative between Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and Invest Northern Ireland, will stream its annual All-Island Conference on Wednesday 2nd February 2022. 

    The event will focus on impact investing, while also encouraging more first-time and experienced investors to consider business angel investing. It will also feature an all-island online pitching event.

    Angel investment on the island of Ireland is now growing beyond pre-pandemic levels; helping entrepreneurs to shape, and succeed in, a new era of doing business. This angel funding is also helping start-ups to leverage investment from additional sources. Last year, HBAN announced that since its inception in 2007, the funds leveraged from additional sources have now passed the €400M milestone.

    In the morning, speakers at the conference will discuss their experiences of impact investing and how it is not only benefiting their own portfolios, but is also contributing to a more diverse and socially conscious start-up ecosystem. Speakers will also break down the perceived barriers to angel investing by helping prospective angel investors to understand what is involved – and the rewards that follow.

    RELATED: HBAN angel investments exceed pre-pandemic levels

    The afternoon will feature an all-island online pitching event, from 2pm to 4.30pm, which will see six companies from across the island of Ireland pitching for a combined £830K in investment from HBAN’s network of hundreds of angel investors.

    Marcia Dawood is Chair of the Angel Capital Association (ACA), the professional society for angel investors in the US and globally.  She has invested in more than 200 early-stage companies and is also a Venture Partner at the female-run venture firm, Mindshift Capital. She is a founding member and current chair of the ACA’s Growing Women’s Capital group, enabling collaboration among US investment groups focused on female-led companies. Marcia will draw on her experience as a super-angel to demystify angel investing for conference attendees.

    Norman Crowley is Founder and CEO of Cool Planet Group, which includes Crowley Carbon and Crowley Solar under its umbrella. Norman is a serial entrepreneur and in 2019, he founded electric car company, Electrifi, which re-engineers classic cars and turns them into electric vehicles. He founded and sold three businesses for more than $750M before the age of 40. At the all-island conference, Norman will discuss ‘impact in action’ – showcasing the far-reaching benefits of impact investing.

    Loretta McCarthy is Co-CEO and Managing Partner at Golden Seeds, an US-based investor consortium that invests in early-stage female-led businesses. She manages the nationwide network of more than 300 angel investors at Golden Seeds, which has become one of the largest and most active angel investment organisations in the US. Loretta will discuss the value of diversity in angel investment and how it is empowering a new generation of business leaders and their start-ups.

     RELATED: HBAN business angels have invested median of £167K each in start-ups

    Henry Whorwood is Head of Research and Consultancy at Beauhurst, a data platform that allows users to discover and track high-growth companies, accelerators and funds. Drawing on his insights into early-stage business finance and investment trends, he will discuss the growth of impact investing and the value of getting involved.

    Lisa and Charly Kleissner are a husband-and-wife team using their experience of working in Silicon Valley to help social entrepreneurs to scale their companies and access impact investors across the globe. They will provide an overview of the global impact investing market, while giving insights into where to invest and the returns that investors can expect.

    For more information about the HBAN All-Island Business Angel Conference, and to register, visit www.hban.org/conference.

    Source: Written from press release.

    About the author

    Aoife is a Sync NI writer with a previous background working in print, online and broadcast media. She has a keen interest in all things tech related. To connect with Aoife feel free to send her an email or connect on LinkedIn.

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