£40m Demand For Manchester’s New Co Angel Investment Service
Greater Manchester’s new Co Angel Investment service, the first of it’s kind in the North of England, www.coangelinvestment.co.uk has announced this week that in its first three months of trading it has already received over £40m of investment applications from businesses across Greater Manchester.
The service, launched by Sir Howard Bernstein and Michael Oglesby of Bruntwood, has already received over 50 enquiries for investment since it launched in November 2014 and is now in the process of reviewing and matching businesses with new individuals and groups of high net worth investors. Co are providing a doorway to Manchester for investors looking to invest in Manchester and who are genuinely excited about investing in the region.
The applications have come from a broad range of business sectors covering digital and creative, life sciences, med-tech, environmental tech and advanced manufacturing.
Supported by and in partnership with the UKBAA, Co is working with investors and investment syndicates from across the UK as well as a growing number of overseas institutional and private investors, to provide access to capital that the region would not otherwise have been able to access.
Co Angel Investment, which is delivered by Business Finance Solutions (BFS) in partnership the British Business Bank, brings together syndicates of business angels and co-investment from the British Business Bank’s £100m Angel Co Fund to invest between £200k and £4m in Greater Manchester businesses in single or multiple rounds of funding.
Co Angel Investment makes the investment process simpler and more secure by matching hand-picked groups of investors with businesses requiring investment. But unlike traditional Angel networks, Co Angel Investment provides an active vehicle and structured process to develop businesses to a state of investment readiness and create syndicates and complete deals.
Paul Breen, Director of Business Finance Solutions, said: “The reaction of the business community to the launch of the Co Angel Investment service has been phenomenal, both from businesses seeking investment and from investors. We knew when we launched Co Angel that the North West held huge potential for a better, more structured and shared risk investment platform: the growing businesses are here, the Angels are here and now we have the infrastructure to bring them together to release further potential in the region.
“Within the space of just a few months we have received an encouraging number of enquires for over £40m worth of funding. There are a number of well-considered and detailed enquiries that paint a very positive picture of the drive and ambition of Greater Manchester’s entrepreneurs and growing businesses. We’re now in the process of evaluating the pipeline, working with them on their plans and sourcing Angel syndicates and will be announcing the first completed investment very soon.”
The service is aiming to mobilise £10m of investment into Greater Manchester businesses on an annual basis. The British Business Bank can invest alongside the funds invested by angel investors, to enable syndicates to complete larger funding rounds and then follow on their investment in subsequent rounds.
