Angel Academe, the pro-women angel network makes its first investment in Buddybounce, an online tool to engate the super-fan

In the age of the super-fan, where the most passionate followers of an artist, such as the Justin Bieber fan account @JustinCrew, can themselves have over one million followers on Twitter. In recognition of this trend, Angel Academe, a new, pro-women angel investment network, has just given its first seed capital to Buddybounce: an online tool that gives artists and their management teams the knowledge and insight to identify their super-fans, understand who they are as individuals and engage with them in new ways.

Buddybounce was launched in April 2013 by Emma Obanye and Giulia Piu and has attracted over 25,000 registered users to its beta site as well as the attention of artists, labels and brands including Transmitter, Union J and Conor Maynard. In that time they have given away over 150 prizes including Meet & Greets, Skype calls, signed merchandise and gig tickets.

As Emma explains, “the rise of social media has allowed fans to get closer to artists in a way that never existed before. When artists start having fans across various social media platforms, managing their relationship with them becomes tricky. We are here to help to provide them with a solution.”
This is the first investment by Angel Academe, a network whose mission is to encourage senior professional women to become angel investors, especially in women founded tech businesses. Sarah Turner, the founder of Angel Academe, explains that “we loved Emma and Giulia’s passion, we were very impressed by the momentum they’d achieved so far with extremely limited resources and immediately, crucially for us, saw where we could add value to their business.”

Lead investor Hannah O’Shaunessy will be joining the Buddybounce board and taking a hands-on role in the business. She brings extensive finance and operations experience. Other investors in the round include long-term advisors Alicia Navarro, CEO at Skimlinks and Geoff Heath OBE, former Climax chairman, Founder of Activision Europe and NCsoft Europe. Legal support has been provided by leading law firm Kingsley Napley who are Angel Academe sponsors.

For more information on Buddybounce contact:

Emma Obanye: emma@buddybounce.com
Giulia Piu: giulia@buddybounce.com
For Kingsley Napley, contact:

Louise Willows: LWillows@kingsleynapley.co.uk