Halo Reaches £2 Million Investment Milestone

Halo, the NI Business Angel network has just reached the £2 Million milestone for investments it has made since it restarted in 2009 underpinning its recent recognition as BBAA Angel Network of Year.

This latest milestone has been reached following an investment as part of the round in Vertical Wind Energy and coincides with the network growing to over 140 angel members within the last year. This includes a significant number of business angel investors from across the UK and Ireland.

Vertical Wind Energy manufactures a new type of wind turbine which requires much less maintenance as they generate electricity. The Halo EIS Fund was a significant investor in their £800,000 funding round. This fund was raised by Halo angels under the Enterprise Investment Scheme which provides  for highly tax efficient angel investment into companies.

Speaking about the latest developments Alan Watts, Halo Director said; “This year has seen tremendous growth within the Halo angel network in NI and as traditional investing models remain challenging we only expect angel investing to grow in popularity in the years ahead. Having invested over £2 million in local companies since we restarted in 2009 is yet another indication about how far Halo has come in such a short space of time. From a network that was inactive for a period to one that’s almost quadrupled investor numbers to over 140 and is actively investing and constantly breaking new ground with the development of the latest EIS funds, we continue to be very excited about the future.” 

“Halo continues to look for and recruit high net-worth investors. It’s interesting so see how many non NI-based angels have joined Halo making use of our private video website. This allows angels who are unable to make a Halo meeting to review the pitches very efficiently within 24 hours. And these angels have invested, attracted by the excellent and little known deal flow available in Northern Ireland”, he added

Halo is a joint initiative of Invest Northern Ireland and Intertrade Ireland and is based at the Northern Ireland Science Park.