Angel Investment Network Blog

“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

The life of a startup is exciting but also tough and this past year has seen a combination of challenges. Many tech firms’ valuations have been radically reduced and we have a more difficult funding climate with investors having more strenuous criteria in the startups they back.

Many founders are needing to change plans quickly, look at longer runways and make really difficult decisions on staffing. All the while working harder than ever to raise funds. This can create real pressure and have a negative impact on mental health. read more

In June 2022, MASTER Plant Holdings (“Master Plant” or the “Company”), an emerging force in the European cannabis industry, raised £500,000 in a seed funding round with Angel Investment Network (AIN), the world’s largest online angel investment platform.

Following this investment, Master Plant will aim to licence and redevelop a pharmaceutical distribution facility in Guernsey designed to develop high quality medical cannabis, unique strains and wider products for European distribution. read more

A pioneering Australian payment platform for hospitality called Payo has been named as AIN’s Startup of the Month. The platform was singled out from close to 150,000 startups currently raising on the AIN platform for having ‘a winning formula’ as an investable proposition. The business was given the accolade after a judging process involving AIN’s expert panel, combined with a high number of connections from investors.

Payo is a payments and software solution for small and medium restaurants. It solves the problem in hospitality of venues needing to use 4-6 different payment systems with an all-in-one solution enabling venues to make payments more simply and cheaply. The Payo founders came up with the idea following more than 10,000 conversations with venue owners and operators over the past decade in various roles.  read more

In our latest Guest Post, Justin Eames, Head of Innovation at digital product development studio fish in a bottle discusses how startups can create an ideation process to boost innovation.

Many studies show that startups who adopt an ideation process are more likely to succeed than those who don’t.

If coming up with great ideas is key to the success of your startup, then considering how you can manage and improve that can give you the competitive edge.

This is particularly true for digital startups, where the complexities of software development makes getting from ‘great idea’ to ‘great product’ especially challenging. read more

At AIN we believe that promoting female entrepreneurship is central to economic growth and meaningful innovation.

This IWD we wanted to celebrate female entrepreneurs and at the same time, acknowledge the need to boost both the number of female startups and also female investors to ensure we can truly democratise angel investment.

According to research from Pitchbook female-founded companies in Europe have received just 1.3% of VC funding since 2017.

Having more diversity across the whole startup ecosystem would help. Research by Beauhurst and the UKBAA found just 14% of female angel investors are women, but having more women investors could help to shift the dynamic. read more

Burnout is a common issue that affects millions of people around the world. No more so than for entrepreneurs placing everything on the line to launch their businesses. 

This article explores burnout causes and potential solutions from exercise and breathing exercises, to innovative potential solutions like water soluble CBD.

Whether working from home, in an office, or any other work environment, the pressure to perform can quickly lead to exhaustion, cynicism, and a lack of motivation. It’s a vicious cycle that can be hard to escape, but it’s not impossible. read more

Businesses are missing out on huge commercial opportunities due to a lack of gender diversity in early stage business investment. This is the message from experienced investor Roxane Sanguinetti in our latest Meet the Investor interview. Tackling the gender funding gap was her motivation in joining Alma Angels, which backs female and/ or minority founders. It is now 350 angels strong. As well being an investor with Alma Angels she is co head of the London chapter of Women in ETF’s.

In a wide ranging interview she discusses how to create a more level playing field, why it matters, the sectors that she is drawn toward investing and the common qualities of founding teams she has backed. Why dedication is what you need… read more