BBAA identifies potential of the new £50m Angel Co-investment Fund to catalyse the early stage market
The British Business Angels Association welcomes the announcement that the bid organised by Capital for Enterprise Ltd to the Regional Growth Fund for a new Angel Co-Investment Fund has been accepted, with £50m being identified for allocation to this fund. Although this is less than the £100m BBAA was recommending it still represents a significant investment.
Anthony Clarke,Chair of BBAA, said, “This new Fund has the potential for catalytic impact on the capacity and size of the angel investment market and will leverage a very significant supply of much needed new angel money into innovating SMEs in the key target areas around the UK. BBAA has been lobbying successive governments for several years for such a Fund to be established, so we are pleased that the current Government has seen the opportunity to back this Fund. Our BBAA network members have been able to demonstrate that there is a strong level of angel investment available to leverage alongside the new Co-investment Fund. Furthermore BBAA has already received contacts from a significant number of individual angels who have expressed interest in forming syndicates to potentially co invest with the new Fund post launch. We shall be pleased to work alongside Capital for Enterprise Ltd and the bid consortium to promote this new Co-investment fund to the investment community to ensure that achieves the objective of encouraging more personal risk capital into the market to create jobs and growing businesses.”
Ken Cooper Managing Director of Equity Investment at Capital For Enterprise Ltd and a BBAA board member said “BBAA has a key role to play in promoting and supporting business angel investment and provides research, resources and networking opportunities for business angel networks and syndicates. BBAA provided welcome support for our Regional Growth Fund bid and we expect BBAA members to feature strongly as partners of the fund.”
The award of funding is subject to contract and the fund is expected to become operational later this year.
Notes to editors:
BBAA is the UK trade body for Angel and Early Stage Investing. For further information please visit: www.bbaa.org.uk Or contact BBAA Business Development Director Jenny Tooth: jenny@bbaa.org.uk.
