Mike Lebus writes for EU Startups on Winning over Angel Investors in a New Landscape

Our co-founder, Mike Lebus, was recently featured in an article in EU Startups, a leading publication for the European startup ecosystem. The article considers the significant shift in the angel investor landscape for 2024, offering valuable insights for startups seeking funding. Lebus referenced a recent survey AIN conducted of investors across our network.

Key Takeaways for Founders
  • Focus on Fundamentals and Impact: Lebus emphasised the move away from inflated valuations based on potential. Investors now prioritise strong fundamentals and a clear path to profitability. Additionally, he highlighted the growing importance of showcasing your venture’s positive social or environmental impact.
  • Craft a Compelling Narrative: As Lebus highlights, simply having a good idea is no longer enough. Craft a compelling narrative that showcases not just your product or service, but also the positive impact it will create.
  • Avoid Common Pitfalls: Overvaluation and inadequate market research are major red flags for today’s cautious investors. Be realistic about your valuation and focus on demonstrating your true potential for growth. Conduct thorough market research to showcase a deep understanding of your target market and industry trends.
  • Build Strong Relationships: Regular communication with potential investors is key to building trust and fostering a long-term partnership.

The full article on EU Startups provides a comprehensive analysis of these trends, along with additional insights and investor wishlist traits. We recommend checking it out for a deeper dive into navigating the new landscape of angel investment. read more

Angel Investing for Everyone: Mike Lebus on Creating an Angel Investment Paradise in the UK

Our co-founder Mike Lebus was recently interviewed for an article in Digital Frontier discussing how the UK could become an angel investment paradise by lowering barriers to investment and also supporting more diversity in angel investment.

Lowering the Barriers

Mike Lebus, co-founder and director of Angel Investment Network, argued that the current system unfairly excludes many potential investors. Lebus proposes a non-means-based approach that focuses on education and informed decision-making.

“Anyone can sign up to a crypto trading site or a stock trading website without being either [a sophisticated investor or HNWI]. Anyone can take out an insurance policy without being either,” Lebus commented. “As long as you’re explained what you’re signing up to and the risks of what you’re signing up to, that’s generally accepted to be OK, except in the startup world where they pose these barriers to people. And really, it’s very frustrating.” read more

AIN urges UK Government to reverse forthcoming changes to definition of High Net Worth (HNW) individuals for investment eligibility

Together with hundreds of other angel investors, founders, and tech industry leaders, AIN has signed an open letter to the Chancellor, presenting a case for reversing the forthcoming changes to the definition of High Net Worth (HNW) individuals for investment eligibility.

At Angel Investment Network, we are committed to democratising the startup ecosystem, connecting the world to enable investors to back the great businesses of tomorrow.

In order to ensure those connections can flow freely, it is imperative to reduce barriers for startups to raise funding and for investors to access deals and invest. read more

Angel Investment Network launches new investor focused app

Angel Investment Network, the world’s largest online angel investment platform, has launched a new app, enabling investors to access thousands of startup opportunities.

The new app, which is free for investors, provides instant access to AIN’s 40 global neworks. This will  enable investors to grow their portfolios through exploring deals, connecting and investing with entrepreneurs.

The app was developed after a rigorous research and a planning process involving input from investors and experts and is available for download from the App Store and Android read more

‘Perserverance is key for startups’ message delivered at launch of Scale Up Awards

“Never give up” was the message businessman and former jewellery magnate Gerald Ratner delivered at the launch of the Scale Up Awards by Business Leader magazine. AIN were in attendance to watch the launch of the awards with several prominent speakers discussing the challenges and opportunities faced by scaling businesses.

Ratner is the former chief executive officer of the British jewellery company Ratners, who famously demonstrated the power of negative PR when he notoriously made a speech jokingly denigrating two of the company’s products at an Institute of Directors conference.  read more

Five top tips for aspiring angel investors

Becoming an angel investor can be a hugely rewarding way of using your experience and capital to support innovative startups and potentially earn a return on your investment.

As this involves deploying your own personal capital this is of course, not something you want to tackle lightly. We’ve spoken to a series of experienced angel investors and investment experts to give you the low down. Here are their top tips for anyone considering the high octane game of backing early stage startups.

1) Educate yourself

Before going down this path, it is really worth taking the time and effort to learn about the startup ecosystem. Also learn about the different types of investments available, and crucially the characteristics of successful startups. This can include doing online research, reading books, attending conferences, and talking to other investors. It also means really understanding the minutiae of the various Government schemes to support investment like EIS and SEIS and their global equivalents. Particularly given there will be significant changes in April.  read more

AIV Capital completes investment into Zeotap, one of Europe’s leading marketing intelligence platforms

AIV Capital has completed an investment into next-generation Customer Data Platform (CDP) Zeotap. Founded in 2014, market-leading Zeotap is a customer intelligence platform designed to help companies better understand their customers and predict behaviour. 

Zeotap’s GDPR-compliant Customer Intelligence Platform (CIP), enables brands to unify, enhance and activate customer data in the cookieless future while respecting consumer privacy and ensuring compliance. Recognized by Gartner as a “Cool Vendor”, Zeotap works with over 80 of the world’s top 100 brands, including P&G, Nestlé and Virgin Media.  read more

Smart-EV startup WAU raises £650,000 powered by Angel Investment Network

Birmingham-based smart-EV and energy storage startup WAU (We Are Universal) has raised £650,000 in a pre-seed funding round with Angel Investment Network, the world’s largest online angel investment platform.

WAU, launched in 2018, is a fast-growing smart-EV vehicle platform transforming urban mobility. The product offering includes: WAU Bikes, a smart, long range electric bike with a powerful onboard computer, the 2 wheel version of the smart electric car; and soon unveiling the WAU Powerwall, enabling the bike’s power cells to be linked together to serve as power storage for solar homes and power plants among other uses. Finally WAU vision, its data gathering capability for an autonomous EV future, rolling out to all current and future riders of WAU across the world.  read more

How to become an Angel Investor

2021 saw a record number of investors join Angel Investment Network. We expect to see the trend continue into 2022, with both established investors and new investors joining the platform. 

If you are thinking about taking the plunge for the first time and getting involved in backing some of the great businesses of tomorrow, here’s our guide for getting started:

What is an Angel Investor?

An angel investor is an individual who backs one of a startup’s first rounds of funding, investing their own money, rather than a venture capitalist (VC) that invests pooled funds at a later stage. read more

Tips from the Top: Transitioning from founder to leader, how to be the one in five

In the next of our Tips from the Top series, we speak to Ed Lowther who leads The Soke’s Founders Development Programme, a first-of-its-kind course designed to provide vital knowledge, understanding and skills to founders at the helms of fast growth businesses.

When Harvard Business School spoke to its 141 HBS alumni who led start-ups, they asked: “What does someone who aspires to your role need to know?” The research revealed that of all the possible areas to focus on, there are two essential areas that over 80% of the group unanimously agreed on. read more

Cleantech energy company eleXsys Energy raises £640,000 through AIN

eleXsysEnergy has raised £640,000 through Angel Investment Network, the world’s largest online angel investment platform. eleXsys Energy has developed a unique, international award-winning, enabling technology that will drive the transition of global energy grids to a clean energy future. The eleXsys® technology enables large commercial and industrial rooftops to become grid-connected, solar power plants. eleXsys® is the critical enabling technology being installed to build the IKEA eleXsys Microgrid at IKEA Adelaide, which will become 100% powered by renewable generation by 2025. read more

Surging investor interest in agriculture, fintech and medical startups, finds AIN annual report

Angel Investment Network (AIN) has revealed its latest ‘State of the Angel Investment Nation’ findings. It is based on the data of more than 125,000 UK registered businesses looking for funding and 35,000 UK investors over the course of 2020.

Technology remained the top category of interest for angel investors looking to back businesses in 2020. Meanwhile, finance closed the gap, climbing five places to become the second most popular category for searches. In the year of the pandemic, medical & science climbed two places with a surge in investors backing entrepreneurs focused on improving health outcomes. We also witnessed a huge growth in interest in agriculture which saw a rise of 63% in searches and climbed seven places to become the eighth most searched term. read more

Predictions for impact investing in 2021

AIN’s Head of Impact and CEO of SeedTribe, Olivia Sibony peers into her crystal ball for 2021 to see what it has in store for the impact investment space.

With the huge focus on the pandemic over the past year – many might have thought impact investing was on the back burner. Luckily this didn’t prove to be the case. In the teeth of the first lockdown on the Angel Investment Network platform we saw renewables become the 11th most popular keyword for searches, a rise of 34 places compared to 2018. We also saw terms like Greentech rocket up the rankings for investors looking to invest. So looking ahead, what can we expect? Here are three predictions. read more

Digital Addressing startup OKHi raises £1.4M with support from AIN

OkHi, a Kenyan/UK startup addressing system for emerging markets, has raised more than £1.4M, supported by Angel Investment Network, the world’s largest online angel investment platform. 

Headquartered in Nairobi and registered in London, OkHi is solving a problem that affects 4 billion people and costs businesses billions every year. The company was co-founded in 2014 by Timbo Drayson, who was at Google for 7 years, where he led the launch of Google Maps across emerging markets and built Chromecast. OkHi’s pioneering technology enables any business to collect an accurate address from their customer, verify it and navigate to it without getting lost. Its primary focus is to solve address verification for financial services, an endemic problem that holds back financial inclusion across emerging markets.   read more

YouTube karaoke channel Sing King raises £550,000 via Angel Investment Network

The world’s leading online Karaoke channel, Sing King, recently raised £550,000 via Angel Investment Network (AIN). Sing King offers high quality karaoke content via its YouTube channel and has over 90 million views per month. The seed-funding raise took just seven weeks on the platform, with the original £400k target notably achieved within 4 days. The money raised is being used for launching standalone apps across IOS & Android as well as a web platform.

Founded in 2014 by Chris Michael, it is the only karaoke channel YouTube allows to operate due to licensing restrictions normally in place. The channel is run by a team of six full time staff from London. The business is approaching 7.5 million subscribers and has more than 2,300 songs, with dozens more added weekly. read more

Angel Investment Network reports strong annual revenue growth

Angel Investment Network (AIN) has announced strong growth, with annual revenues up 9.4% year on year and a record number of deals for the broking business. AIN now has more than a million users in total on the platform.

AIN received over 100,000 pitches in the past year from entrepreneurs across the globe, with the figure doubling over the last two years. Alongside existing markets there has been a rapid growth of startups coming from emerging markets. Meanwhile investors registering on the site have surged nearly 40% year on year, now standing at more than 200,000 registered business angels. read more

High-End London Baker Orée Raises £425,000 Funding in Angel Investment Round

London-based bakery, Orée, has raised £425,000 through Angel Investment Network (AIN) the UK’s largest online platform connecting angel investors with startup businesses.

The French-style, high-end bakery started trading in March 2016 and currently has two shops at 275/277 Fulham Road and 147 Kensington High Street. The concept is bringing ‘a taste of the boulangeries and patisseries of rural France to London’. The funding will finance the opening of the next shop based in Covent Garden with a further location in London Bridge set for later in the year. The ambition is for more than a dozen shops across London and an international expansion. read more

How to Make a Smart Angel Investment

This interview with Mike Lebus, founder and managing director of Angel Investment Network, was originally published in Sifted. You can read the full article on ‘How to Make a Smart Angel Investment’ with views from other industry leaders here.

Mike Lebus, angel investor & co-founder Angel Investment Network

Mike Lebus (UK)

Mike Lebus is co-founder Angel Investment Network, a platform catering to 205,000+ angels which has backed the likes of bed mattress startup Simba, geocoding business What3Words and kids media company SuperAwesome.

An angel investor for 6 years.  read more

Former Spice Girl’s Startup breaks investment record on Angel Investment Network

Investors really really want to invest in Emma Bunton: £420k raise for Kit & Kin fastest in Angel Investment Network history

The commercial magic of the Spice Girls remains as strong as ever, as Emma Bunton’s ethical baby product business Kit & Kin, was responsible for the fastest raise in the Angel Investment Network’s 14 year history. It achieved its target of £420k in just one week.

spice girl emma bunton investment record
Spice Girl, Emma Bunton, Founder of KIT & KIN

More than £1m was offered in total for her eco-friendly nappies, wipes and skincare business but Kit & Kin decided to only accept £420k at this time, an amount which included a key strategic investor. read more