My journey into Angel Investing
An angel investor is someone who invests their own money in a small business in exchange for a minority stake (usually between 10% and 25%). Angel investors tend to be entrepreneurs or people with extensive experience in the business world. However, angel investment is about more than just money.
(Source: British Business Bank).
Pivoting out of corporate life
I started looking into angel investing when I left United Technologies Corp. in 2019. I knew I wanted to diversify my interests, keep my business skills sharp and get better connected with my chosen home town of Manchester.
After some google searches, I got myself on some distribution lists for investment syndicates and frankly, was immediately overwhelmed by the volume of opportunities that flooded my inbox with requests for investments that were way out of my comfort zone.
And don’t start me on the acronyms, it’s like having to learn a new language.
Getting started
I took a deep breath and signed up for the Northern Women’s Investment Forum hosted by UKBAA and it was here that the fog started to lift. I met entrepreneurs promoting their ideas, investors and would-be investors and I started to get my head around the angel investing eco-system. I also learned about the huge disparity in funding provided to female-founded businesses compared to mixed- or male-founded businesses.
Equally, it became clear that there were many women like me who were interested in investing in early-stage businesses but didn’t have a clue where to start.
Did you know that only 14% of angel investors are women? (Source : https://ukbaa.org.uk/our-programmes/women-backing-women/women-angel-insights-report-launch/)
Finding my tribe
I attended a few pitch events organised by GC Angels, did some more reading, signed up with CrowdCube and Ethex and started refining my investment strategy. I decided to focus on start up businesses with a focus on sustainability and wellbeing, and ideally with a female founder and a northern base. It was here that the breakthrough came for me - joining the Women Angels of the North was like finding my tribe. A group of exceptional women with diverse careers but unified by a motivation to support other women and hopefully make some successful investments.
In 2023 I became a founder member of the Lifted Ventures syndicate. Lifted Ventures exists to increase the flow of early stage capital to female founders, and promote the business benefits of backing women. (https://liftedventures.co.uk/)
An investment journey
Lifted Ventures and my other syndicates organise pitch events, a bit like Dragon’s Den. If I’m interested in any of the pitches, we have follow up calls where we can ask more questions. There’s no obligation to follow up with an investment, nor are huge sums involved - maybe £2.5k, £5k or more at a time per individual investor but aggregated within a syndicate this becomes a meaningful sum for the entrepreneurs. I do some due diligence of my own, chat to other members of the syndicate and my own network before I commit to a deal.
Once the funding round is closed and all the paperwork returned, the founder is able to get back to growing the business. I get board meeting minutes and plenty of opportunity to ask questions about progress and get further involved if appropriate.
Five years later and I am an active, award-winning Angel Investor
I’m building my portfolio, learning more as I go and thankful for the training and support from Lifted Ventures, UKBAA, NorthInvest, WAOTN and others along the way. I can’t give any financial advice of course, but would recommend taking a look at angel investing as part of a broader investment strategy. Yes it’s risky, but I’m enjoying the experience and hopefully will see a return in the longer term.
Why invest in women?
Better returns
Women-led businesses when backed by venture capital, generate 12% higher revenue than start ups run by men
(Kauffman Foundation)
12%
Higher revenue
Businesses founded by women deliver higher revenue - more than two times as much per dollar invested
(Mass Challenge and BCG)
2x
More & faster exits
Female founders are 12% likely to exit vs 9% for male founders; female founders exit faster at 7.2 years vs 8.1 years for male founders
(British Business Bank)
7.2 yrs
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