Active investors, funding innovators
HBAN - €10 Million Made Available for Early Stage Entrepreneurs Through New Investment Syndicates
• Four new syndicates to invest €10 million in early stage enterprises in next three years
• Announcement made at Ireland’s first ever national conference for business angels
Dublin, IRELAND - June 16th 2010: The Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN), the national network for angel investing in Ireland, has today announced the establishment of four new investment syndicates that will be targeting opportunities in the technology, telecommunications, life sciences and renewable energy fields.
HBAN said the four syndicates - Irrus Investments, Reddo Partners, the Technology Investment Group, and Clean Technologies - expect to invest at least €10 million between them over the next three years, largely in early stage, indigenous enterprises. HBAN was set up last year as a joint initiative of InterTradeIreland and Enterprise Ireland.
The announcement was made today at the first ever conference of business angels in Ireland. The Inaugural Business Angels Conference, held in Dublin, brought together a capacity attendance of 75 leading investors, including some of Ireland’s most noted entrepreneurs.
Diane Roberts, National Director, HBAN, said: “The angel capital industry is still at an early stage in Ireland but today’s conference will add significant momentum to its development. The new investor syndicates will provide support for early stage firms, especially those in industries geared towards innovation, like information technology, medical devices and life sciences”.
“To date, we have helped to secure angel financing for a number of early stage companies in these sectors. In fact, we have already helped raise funds for more than 30 of these firms. However, from today, we’re looking to take a major step forward and actively increase the number of syndicates who are willing to invest in Irish early stage enterprises,” said Ms. Roberts.
Attendees at today’s conference included Sean Melly, managing director, Powerscourt Investments; Paddy Holohan, founder and CEO, Newbay Software; Sean O’Sullivan, investment partner, SOS Partners; and Paul Atkinson, partner, investment firm Par Equity. All of the attendees at the conference are potential angel investors.
At the conference - chaired by former RTE presenter, Mark Little - delegates were briefed on the support structures available to investors, the key criteria on which to base investment decisions, the growth in the number of available investment syndicates, and the best ways to diversify a portfolio of investments.
Margaret Hearty, Director of Programmes & Business Services, InterTradeIreland, said: “Encouraging private investment in early stage firms has been a key strategy for InterTradeIreland since our formation. The announcement of these new groups of investors, who are actively looking for investment opportunities, will significantly increase the amount of funds available for innovative early stage enterprises on the island”.
HBAN was set up last year and focuses on supporting companies that are seeking to raise financing of between €250,000 and €1.25 million by linking entrepreneurs to individual investors or investment syndicates. It expects to link up to 100 early stage companies to potential investors over the coming year.
“Investors and entrepreneurs alike need to be aware of the potential of the angel capital industry in Ireland, both as a means of helping to raise funds for early stage companies and, on a wider level, as a way of supporting economic growth. This potential will become ever more apparent over the coming year,” said Ms. Hearty.
Also at the conference, serial entrepreneur and investor Brian Caulfield was honoured as the HBAN Business Angel of the Year. Mr. Caulfield founded technology companies Exceptis Technologies and Similarity Systems, and recently completed an assignment as interim chief executive of UK telecoms software vendor AePONA
About Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN): HBAN is an all-island umbrella group for business angel networks, dedicated to the promotion of angel investment and supporting the early stage entrepreneurial community in Ireland. HBAN operates regionally through the Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and Galway Business Innovation Centres (BICs) who each run local angel networks. Collectively HBAN actively works to increase the number of angel investors involved in investing in early stage companies and supports the formation of new and existing angel networks, both regionally and internationally, and within industry sectors. HBAN, which is a joint initiative of InterTradeIreland and Enterprise Ireland, also acts as a voice to Government, stakeholders, business and the media to promote the interests and needs of the angel investment community. Further information is available at: http://www.hban.org.
HBAN is delighted to announce that Ireland's first Business Angel Conference will take place on Wednesday June 16th 2010.
This is the first conference of its kind specifically dedicated to Ireland's Angel Capital Industry; a knowledge sharing event to upskill Ireland's private technology investors. The Business Angel Conference is a series of workshops on Best Practice and Strategic Angel Investing given by International Experts and local veterans of Angel Investing and will cover topics such as:
Business Angel Syndicates – Formation & Structure
Due Diligence/Valuations - Making investment decisions
Shared experiences – Super Angels discuss their portfolio structures
Ireland’s Angel Capital Industry – Policy & Supports to support Ireland’s private investors
In parallel to the Business Angel Conference will be HBAN’s first Angel Leaders Forum, this is a specialist workshop for leaders of investment syndicates to share experiences and address issues in setting up some of Ireland’s first formalised Business Angel Groups. The Business Angel Conference will give you the opportunity to ‘Meet the Syndicates’ and learn from the experience of a number of groups of investors which are starting to emerge.
This is a closed event run by business angels for business angels, admission is by invitation only.
For further information please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
UPDATES:
Leslie Buckley confirmed as guest speaker.
Leslie Buckley was integral to the start-up of Esat Telecom Group plc and Esat Digifone Limited. He held the position of Chief Operations Officer of Esat Telecom during the period 1996 and 1997. Leslie established his own consultancy business in 1990 and has since been retained on significant public and private sector projects, including the reconstruction of Waterford Crystal plc, the reconstruction and sale of Irish Steel plc, consulting with Irish Rail and the restructuring of Aer Lingus. Leslie currently serves on the boards of a variety of companies including Saongroup, the Irish Medical Organisation Financial Services Limited and Business Recovery Services Limited. He is a founder of Digicel and is currently Vice Chairman of the Board.
In 2008 Leslie founded Haven Partnership- a house and community building charity, working solely in Haiti. By training, up-skilling and employing local Haitian people throughout the year, Haven is creating jobs in a country where unemployment stands at approximately 80% and opportunities are few. Haven have been proveding emergency relief since the earthquake in January.
Nelson Gray confirmed as guest speaker.
Nelson Gray is a chartered accountant and entrepreneur who, following the sale of his own business, has become a ‘hands on’ mentor, business angel investor, non-executive director and fund manager. In addition to general management and strategic development, Nelson provides assistance to companies looking to secure outside funding from both banks and equity providers. He acted as the fund manager for Scotland's leading angel investment syndicate and later, managed two early stage investment funds that invested in over 50 Scottish companies. He has provided advice on funding to Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Executive and the Enterprise Committee of the Scottish Parliament, as well as a number of internationally based development agencies. As a business angel investor, Nelson has made over 20 personal investments in new and developing companies. In 2008, Nelson was awarded the title ‘Business Angel of the Year 2008’ by the European Business Angel Network (EBAN). Mr. Gray is currently a non-executive director of LINC Scotland.
Sean Melly attendee
Sean is Managing Director of Powerscourt Investments. Sean has been an active investor in early stage companies since 1997. Sean is one of Irelands leading entrepreneurs in the telecommunic
ations sector, giving him a wealth of experience starting, developing and managing companies through various stages of the life cycle. In the establishment of TCL Telecom in 1995, Sean played an important role in the early introduction of telecommunications liberalisation in Ireland. In 1999 Sean founded eTel Group taking up the position of CEO, after departing from the CEO role of MCI WorldCom. He built eTel in to the leading telecommunications provider across Central & Eastern Europe. eTel was acquired by Telekom Austria in 2007. Sean holds close ties with Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin and is currently a member on the board of both the Trinity Foundation and the Trinity Business School.
Paul Atkinson panel participant
Paul is an entrepreneur and serial angel investor with a substantial track record of building value for companies in the technology and services sector and taking them to a successful e
xit. Paul began his career in Semiconductor Manufacturing working initially as an Engineer with Phillips before joining Millipore Corporation in a Sales capacity. He then moved into selling IT Hardware and Software with US Company Data Translation before transferring to work in the IT Recruitment business with Computer People. Following this he became Regional Director of IT Recruitment business Trident Computer Services and then spent a period working in a consulting capacity for clients including Royal Bank and IBM. In 1995 Paul founded the IT Recruitment business, Direct Resources, which sold in 1999 to NASDAQ listed, Mastech Systems Corporation for £3.4m. During this period he also launched a spinout business, RecruitmentScotland.com, which was sold to TMP Worldwide in 2000 for £9m. Since this time he has invested in a number of early stage IT and Services companies, some of which have made significant progress, including Rocela and Mobiqa. Paul is currently Chairman of Head Resourcing. He is a Director with the Consulting business Medici Partners, and board member of HR Group, Devonshire House Management Club. He is also a Founder and Coordinator of the Scottish IT Directors Forum and a member of the ICT Industry Advisory Group working in conjunction with Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government.
Paddy Holahan panel participant
Paddy is founder and Chief Executive Officer of NewBay Software, previously, he was Executive Vice President of Marketing and Product Management for Baltimore Technologies (London
:BLM). Having joined Baltimore Technologies in 1996, he was a key member of the executive management team that rapidly grew the company from a small private company to a public company valued at over $10bn. During his tenure, Baltimore Technologies made 5 acquisitions worth in excess of $500m, completed its NASDAQ public listing, employed over 1400 employees and had annual revenues of over $100m. He left Baltimore Technologies in May 2001. Prior to his role at Baltimore Technologies, Paddy was co-founder and CEO of East Coast Software, a private software company specialising in PC utility software. He is a frequent speaker on technology, e-commerce, e-business and the software industry in general and has written numerous articles for national and international publications. Paddy has testified to the Irish Parliament on e-commerce policy and issues and has also testified to a US congressional sub-committee regarding encryption policies.
Sean O'Sullivan panel participant
Sean is an investment partner of SOS Ventures. SOSventures is a venture capital firm and investment management firm with an 18 year track record of investments in the software, telecommunications, and technology fields. Also investing in ETIT (Energy Technology Information Technology), with a 3 year track record in that area. The firm has a blended return of 27% per annum over the period from 1992-2010. Over this time, SOS Venutues have invested in 22 private companies, 6 of which have already become public companies or divisions of public companies, listed on the Nasdaq or NYSE, some of which continue to be privately held, and some of which have failed completely and no longer exist.
Paul O'Leary guest speaker
Paul O’Leary is an entrepreneur and business executive with 25 years industry experience. He is the Irish associate with PI Europe, an adjunct member of faculty at Trinity College Dublin, and a member of faculty at the Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship, DCU. Through his work with PI Europe, Paul assists CEO’s and Managers with the implementation and execution of their business strategies, creating a high performance culture through People, Processes and Science-based Systems & Methodologies. Areas of focus include assessment and review of executive management teams, management development, team assessment and development, sales force assessment and development, and corporate entrepreneurial and innovation assessment and development. At TCD and DCU, Paul lectures in Entrepreneurial Psychology on the MBA and other Executive Programmes. He has studied and researched entrepreneurial psychology to doctorate level, and continues to conduct extensive research in the area. Paul has experienced the “entrepreneurial trenches” having been involved in several entrepreneurial start-ups since the 1980’s.
Eoghan Jennings panel participant
Eoghan is a 15-year veteran of corporate financial management. Prior to joining Parklane Capital in 2009, he was XING AG’s Chief Financial Officer. He built and managed the accounting, controlling, investor relations, human resources, legal and administrative operations. Since October 2006, Eoghan also served on the company’s Executive Board. Eoghan joined XING in 2004 and played an instrumental role in growing the company to a successful enterprise. He assisted the company in raising the initial rounds of business angel financing and in securing Series A venture financing from Wellington Partners in 2005. In late 2006, Eoghan led the IPO team which brought the company to the public markets just three years after inception. Prior to joining openBC, Eoghan was an investment banker assisting private equity and industrial clients raise financing and transact mid-market acquisitions and divestitures for his former employers Lincoln International, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Credit Suisse First Boston. In these roles he gained years of experience as a trusted advisor to public & private companies in growth situations, M&A, reorganizations, & private start-ups in a wide range of industries.
Colm Rafferty guest speaker
Colm heads the growth companies group in Maples and Calder, Dublin which advises growth companies at all stages of their development. He has broad experience in company law and corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, venture capital and other private equity investments in particular. He has been involved in many of Ireland's most signficant corporate transactions involving technology companies. Colm joined Maples and Calder in 2007. He previously worked for a large Irish corporate law firm. Colm is a graduate of University College Dublin and was admitted to the Law Society of Ireland in 2002.
Margaret Hearty guest speaker
Margaret Hearty is Director of Programmes and Business Services at InterTradeIreland. Margaret is responsible for leading the development and delivery of InterTradeIrelands suite of programmes and business services. InterTradeIreland provides financial assistance and support to businesses across the island. InterTradeIreland’s support is centred around Trade and Innovation including helping companies to access new markets, develop new products and processes and raising early stage finance. Margaret is a business and marketing graduate. She completed an MBA in 2004. Margaret’s career to date has focused on supporting the development of SME’s and early stage companies. She lead the development of InterTradeIreland’s Equity Network Programme. She was appointed to her current position in December 2009.
Feargal Ó Móráin guest speaker
Feargal Ó Móráin is currently Director of Innovation, Commercialisation & Investment, with Enterprise Ireland and Chairman of Enterprise Ireland Committees of Research & Development (R&D), Industrial Research Commercialisation Committee (IRCC); and is a member of a number of committees including the Investment Committee of Enterprise Ireland; the Investment Portfolio Review Committee of the Board of Enterprise Ireland; member of Governing Body of University College of Ireland Galway; Board member of Bank of Ireland Venture Capital Limited and Board member of Invent Dublin City University Limited. Feargal holds post graduate degrees in economics (University College Dublin) and business strategy (University of Dublin, Trinity College).
Mark Little Master of Ceremonies
Mark is a current affairs reporter, broadcaster and author turned technology entrepreneur. He began his journalistic career at the Sunday Business Post before being hired by RTE as a TV news reporter in 1991. He was RTE's first Washington correspondent between 1995 and 2001, covering three US presidential election campaigns. He returned to Dublin to take up the post of RTE's Foreign Affairs Correspondent before joining Prime Time in 2002 until taking leave of absense in 2009 to pursue his latest venture new start up Storyful.com - a digital news agency to turn user content into journalistic output.
Proudly sponsored by Maples
Business Angel Conference – ‘Building Winning National Ecosystems’
June 16th 9am-1pm The Merrion Hotel Dublin
Master of Ceremonies: Mark Little
Agenda
08:30 Registration
09:00 Welcome Diane Roberts, National Director HBAN
09:10 The Importance of Angel Investment Feargal Ó Móráin, Executive Director, Enterprise Ireland
09:20 Keynote Speaker Leslie Buckley, Chairman Digicel
Panel: Serial Entrepreneurship – Recycling Success Paddy Holahan, CEO Newbay, Sean O’Sullivan, SOS Ventures, Eamon Brady, CEO NurAvi
10:10 The Funding Ecosystem - Angel Investing, Seed Funds, & Syndication, Nelson Gray, Executive Director, LINC Scotland
Panel: An Irish Model for Angel Investment? Leonard Kiely, Irrus Investments, Paul Atkinson, Par Equity, Diane Roberts, National Director HBAN
11:00 Coffee/Tea Break
11:15 Becoming an Angel Investor, Making your first Investment & Best Practice Investing, Peter Sandys, Seroba Kernel, John Breslin, Angel Investor, Tom Shinkwin, Enterprise Equity, Conall Lavery, Angel Investor, David Grahame, CEO LINC Scotland
12:00 Backing the right Entrepreneur Paul O’Leary, PI Europe
12:20 Winning Strategies: Keeping an Eye on the Exit Ian Shearer, Atlanta International, Colm Rafferty, Maples & Calder, Eoghan Jennings, Ex-CFO Xing
12:50 Keynote Close Margaret Hearty, Director InterTradeIreland
13:00 Lunch
HBAN is a joint initiative of
InterTradeIreland and Enterprise Ireland.
