Angels Den is changing the way the UK finds suitable investment opportunities. It is all about gathering together the latest and greatest business ideas in one place and presenting them to people serious about making equity investments in a user-friendly way. It aims to remove the stuffiness, ego and mystique surrounding angel funding, and get on with the job of matching brilliant business ideas to investors quickly and simply.
It is as risk free as it gets, a payment is made by the entrepreneur for £99, which then means that a summary of their proposed business is posted on the site for Business Angels to see. Unlike other investment websites, Angel’s Den offers secure viewing for Angels who have signed up for the site, which means that only true investors are looking at the opportunities on there and ideas can remain the intellectual property of the entrepreneur, until a business partnership is made.
Entrepreneurs have access to over 1,000 Angels on the site, many of which act on behalf of other angels, so the true number runs into the thousands. In fact, on Christmas Day 2007, there were 207 Angels looking for deals to invest in. Searches for businesses are done so by sector so that the ‘pitches’ on the site are hitting the relevant investor making success rate higher.
Co-Founder of Angel’s Den, Bill Morrow, says: “If you ask anyone, there’s often a business idea inside all of us yet many never turn from dreams into reality. We are proud to boast that 17% of customers to Angels Den have found funding to date, which is ten times the national average. Funding and good business knowledge are often two reasons why many of the 20,000 businesses fail each year, Angels Den provides both, which is why our success rate is so high.”
Bill Morrow started his career as an accountant with Virgin before moving into investment banking in the City. He met many people looking for great ideas to invest in but in his words, “There simply weren’t enough good deals out there.”
After setting up an international financial recruitment company, which he sold to a Wall Street Bank, Mr Morrow has since been making his own investments with business partner Lois Cook. Angels Den is the result of 18 months researching the market and a system to link Angels to small businesses. It has been proven to be a great success and the partnership look forward to what they believe can be a prosperous 2008 – for those who enter the den.
