Business angel network HBAN Ulster announced its members have reached the significant landmark of investing over £10m into early-stage companies in Northern Ireland since the network was established in late 2018.
HBAN’s Ulster network, which is managed by Clarendon Fund Managers in NI, has more than 120 members who have done deals with an average investment value of £150,000, representing an overall investment of £10m from business angels within investment rounds totalling £50m.
Business angels are prepared to invest smaller amounts of finance at an earlier stage than venture capital funds, and are increasingly investing alongside seed venture capital funds and public co-investment funding.
HBAN angel investors typically invest between £20,000 - £100,000 per deal with 70% investing up to £50,000 per deal. To date, investors from the network have been part of 65 deals with 45 local entrepreneurial businesses.
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80 companies have pitched at 18 events over the last three years with nearly 20% of pitches being from entrepreneurial female founders.
Some of the companies to have secured funding from HBAN business angels in recent months include SeeMeHired, Sonrai Analytics and Kairos.
Clarendon Fund Managers also manages Co-Fund NI, a £47m fund that co-invests in business angel and private investor led deals. Invest Northern Ireland has committed £37m of investment support to Co-Fund NI since 2011. In 2020 British Business Investments also committed £10m through its Regional Angels Programme.
Speaking about the investments, Jim Curran, HBAN Ulster Regional Manager and Director of Clarendon, said: “We have been delighted to see the HBAN Ulster network grow, even during the pandemic and continue to see a really high percentage of active members doing deals together and investing in some of NI’s fastest growing companies and brightest prospects. As well as funding, HBAN angels provide unique insights and advice that has been invaluable to the founders they have backed. As we see more owners of indigenous businesses successfully exiting, I would encourage them to pass on their skills and expertise by becoming HBAN angel investors.”
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John Phelan, all-island Director of HBAN, also added: “It is really positive to see angel investment growing in Northern Ireland and right across the island of Ireland, which shows that entrepreneurs, start-ups and investors have been resilient to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. We’re also seeing how important angel investment is to helping start-ups leverage funding from additional sources they wouldn’t otherwise have been able to access. It is a great achievement that HBAN Ulster has reached the £10m milestone and I look forward to watching the momentum continue during 2022.”
Across the island of Ireland, HBAN facilitates more than 60 investments every year. Its investors consider a wide range of sectors, with deals particularly prevalent in ICT (38%), life sciences & MedTech (28%), engineering & manufacturing (14%) and food, beverage & agriculture (12%).
Co-Fund NI is part of Invest NI’s Access to Finance portfolio and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the EU Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.
Source: Written from press release.
