Karen Hanton, who was inspired to start the restaurant booking website toptable.co.uk in 1999 out of frustration at the sight of empty places in her London restaurant, has served up £35million after agreeing to sell to US firm OpenTable. The deal will see the Scottish entrepreneur receiving a £16million windfall for her majority stake.
Luke Johnson, the prolific and outspoken business investor, has taken a majority stake in Ego Group, a chain of Mediterranean restaurants run by James Horler, former chief executive of La Tasca.
The business angel network Beer & Partners have helped entrepreneur Sally Chamley secure £300,000 from angel investors for her luxury furniture design business, Black Orchid Interiors.
Intellectual property (IP) has become the genie in the lamp of the 21st century business landscape; an overblown smokescreen that entrepreneurs and businesses are afraid to release in fear of idea theft.
Envestors, the London based investment company which also has offices in Manchester, Jersey & Dubai, have announced that they have been acquired by the AIM listed Braveheart Investment Group.
Over 175 guests gathered together in the contemporary surroundings of the Lowry Hotel, Manchester to celebrate the achievements of the angel and early stage investment industry at the British Business Angels Association 6th Annual Awards Gala Dinner.
A new online service has launched, into the fairly crowded space, to connect investors with businesses looking for funding.
Luke Johnson, chairman of private equity firm Risk Capital Partners, which recently took a sizeable investment in leading business Angel company Beer & Partners, said that the new rate could hit angel investing at a time when it is becoming the only viable source of risk capital for start-ups.
Octopus Ventures has announced an investment of £1.3m into Gymbox, a highly distinctive London based health club business. The deal with Gymbox represents the tenth deal Octopus has completed this year, heralding a clear resurgence in venture funding.
Four London Business Angels investors actively participated in the most recent £580k round of funding for London based AudioBoo with the lead angel from the syndicate joining the Board as Chairman. Coined as the Twitter-for-audio, LBA investors now join Channel 4’s media 4iP and Imagination Technologies (supported by both Apple and Intel) in backing this early stage business.
Online customer reviews site TrustedPlaces.com has been acquired by the international directories business Yell Group Plc for an undisclosed sum just four years after it was founded.
Anyone with a good idea and adequate common sense can start a business, but establishing and growing it is another matter.
In the current climate, where money lending has all but dried up, orders are falling, and firms are trimming all the fat possible by cutting costs, the hard part is often working out how to grow your business.
Place some of the UK’s most influential businessmen and women in a room with a group ambitious and driven entrepreneurs and what do you get? Answer, the UK’s first Speedfunding event, which recently took place in London.
