BBAA Launches Be an Angel Portal to Double the number of Angels to back Britain’s Entrepreneurs
In the wake of the latest Report launched this week “Make Business Your Business” and the new Start-up loans initiative, led by Lord Young, the Government’s Enterprise Tsar, the British Business Angels Association is launching its new Be An Angel portal and campaign aimed at encouraging more individuals to put their spare finance and business experience to work behind Britain’s entrepreneurs. The Be an Angel site www.bbaa.org.uk/be-an-angel led by the UK trade body for angel and early stage investing, is part of a new wide ranging awareness raising and education programme, led by the angel investing community, seeking to double the number of Business Angels across the UK and which has the backing of Government and Lord Young. With Angel Investing being recognised as a major source of finance for start-up businesses to accelerate their development and achieve successful growth, the BBAA’s Be an Angel web-site offers a new platform to encourage more private individuals to engage in this vital area of entrepreneurial finance. The site offers new and would-be angels an important online resource detailing information and advice about the whole angel investing process, the risks and rewards of angel investing and key tips drawn from the experience of the existing angel community, many of whom are featured on the site telling their story of why they became angel investors. The Be an Angel site especially draws attention to the major tax benefits available to angel investors through the Enterprise Investment Scheme, including the new 50% tax break to support those prepared to back seed and start-up businesses. It also offers access to further downloadable materials and factsheets, links to other relevant sources and details of how to get engaged in local activities including access to pitching events and sources of entrepreneurial investment around the country.
Lord Young who is himself a long term angel investor said: “I know from my experience of being a business angel investor that there are tremendous opportunities and rewards from angel investment in dynamic small firms. The very generous incentives offered through tax relief like the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme mean rewards for investors can now be even greater. For an investee business, it can not only gain from an angel's financial investment, but also the expertise and business and professional nous that can come with it.
I very much hope that Be An Angel can whet the appetite of many people looking for somewhere to invest their money and time, and encourage them to use this superb online resource to find out how they can go about joining this exciting and important investment community.”
The BBAA Be an Angel portal is a cornerstone of a major campaign which is backed by a number of some of the most active angel investors including the TV Dragons who will act as ambassadors to the campaign, combined with the support of other key players and organisations in the entrepreneurial finance landscape who are combining forces to establish a new programme of awareness and educational activities over the coming months. This will include both direct delivery of specific events and workshops taking place around the country, as well as online and social media actions over the coming weeks and months to help develop Britain’s new pool of Business Angels. Further details of the campaign’s progress and the ongoing programme will also be revealed at the forthcoming BBAA National Investment Summit, being held on 2nd July at ICAEW, 1 Moorgate Place, EC2 when over 200 players in the angel and early stage marketplace will come together to discuss how they better work together to reinforce the potential of angel investing.
For more information visit: www.bbaa.org.uk/be-an-angel
For more information on the web-site and new campaign Contact: Jenny Tooth, BBAA jenny@bbaa.org.uk tel: 020 7321 5675
