Record numbers of business angels attend HBAN’s online pitching events

HBAN (Halo Business Angel Network), the all-island organisation responsible for the promotion of business angel investment, and a joint initiative of Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and Invest Northern Ireland, today announces the continuation of its pitching events to all-time-high numbers of investors.

Since COVID-19 restrictions were implemented across the island of Ireland, HBAN has continued to facilitate investment into Irish companies by holding its pitching events online. To date, seven events have been held with 25 companies seeking investment. A further three online events will be held in the next four weeks.

HBAN has recorded increased investor engagement for all events held online so far. Each event has attracted an average of 25 angel investors – which in some cases is up to 50% higher than normal attendance at in-person events. The highest online pitching event attracted 40 angel investors, with companies pitching from a number of sectors including ITC, life sciences and MedTech.

Companies have been pitching to individual angel investors, as well as angels from syndicates across the island of Ireland including the HBAN Bloom, Boole, MedTech, SEBAN, Ulster and WxNW syndicates.

John Phelan, all-island director, HBAN, said: “Since COVID-19, many of us have discovered how restrictive some of our previous ways of working were. Until March, we held events across the length and breadth of the country to allow Irish start-ups to pitch their businesses to potential investors. However, travel and time restrictions were always an issue, especially for many time-poor investors. The online events are now allowing us to introduce companies and investors that wouldn’t have otherwise met.

“We have always called ourselves a dating service for start-ups and investors; now we are moving that service online. Even when social distancing measures are eased – whenever that maybe – I don’t see us going back to solely in-person pitching events.

“Investors are a little warier of parting with their money in these uncertain times. However, we have heard from our investor community that they have a strong appetite for company pitches as they know this won’t last forever and are keen to continue investing in the businesses of the future. Some may wait until things return to a greater sense of normal, however, others are influenced by the countless cases of iconic companies that were founded in the teeth of recession, such as Microsoft, Apple and Netflix.”