The Halo Business Angel Network plans to recruit 75 new business angels in 2019.
The new investors will have a combined total of at least €15 million available to invest in start-ups based in the island of Ireland.
The Halo Business Angel Network is an all-island organisation responsible for the promotion of business angel investment, and an initiative of Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and Invest Northern Ireland.
Since HBAN was established in 2007, HBAN angels have invested over €90 million in Irish start-ups.
John Phelan, national director, HBAN said, "In order to provide a consistent flow of investment for start-ups across the island of Ireland, we plan to recruit 75 new angels with a combined €15 million available for dynamic and innovative start-ups. Our aim is two-fold, of course, in that we also want to deliver a quality flow of pre-qualified, high potential investments to our business angels and for the eco-system to function at its maximum capacity ‘We need every player on the Pitch’."
The recruitment drive will begin at a conference on February 14, in Powerscourt Hotel, Wicklow. This year’s conference will focus on diversity and how a varied investment portfolio yields better returns for angel investors. Irish and international entrepreneurs and angel investors will be speaking at the event.
Marianne Hudson, a serial investor and executive director of Angel Capital Association, which is the world’s leading professional association for angel investors with more than 14,000 business angel members and 260 investor syndicates, is one of the keynote speakers. Drawing on her own experience as an investor and former director of entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation, she will talk about the importance of diversity for investors using data that shows diverse investment processes yield better returns. She will also discuss the latest trends in angel investing in the US market and ideas to help the Irish industry and HBAN meet its goals over the next three to five years.
Former BT Young Scientist of the Year, Shane Curran, the tech entrepreneur who founded QCrypt, a software platform to help companies manage how they process people's data securely, will participate in a panel discussion on how investors can engage younger entrepreneurs and how start-ups can engage younger investors.
Angel investing is part of the start-up ecosystem in Ireland. Since HBAN was established in 2007, HBAN angels have invested over €90 million in start-ups. These investments have leveraged a further €150 million from other public and private funds, bringing the total invested to €240 million.
