News

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 that angel investment on the island of Ireland is thriving beyond pre-pandemic levels.

Business angel group HBAN Ulster, as part of the Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN), announced today its members have invested £8.5m into 38 early-stage companies in Northern Ireland in less than three years and urged more businesspeople to join its ranks.

Finding investors and raising enough money to fill a round is something many entrepreneurs and their deal leads have to endure. After exhausting friends and family money, most startups are financed using a process that we investors refer to as “syndication.” For entrepreneurs the syndication process can be long, arduous frustrating and tedious. And for deal leads it is not only a lot of work, there is some reputation at risk as well. However bad it is, there is something even worse: going through the process and failing. 

Economic impact of COVID-19 leading to investments in early-stage businesses being delayed, stalled or abandoned In order to stimulate growth and employment, HBAN proposes temporarily increasing EII tax relief to 60% HBAN’S proposal to Dept of Finance also calls for annual amount eligible for tax relief to be increased from €250k to €1m Angel network argues current administration of EII Scheme is not fit for purpose and proposes significant changes in order to incentivise investments Some investors still waiting for tax certificates two years after application

These are uncertain times for both investors and entrepreneurs alike – however even in the downturn there is always opportunity. A quick scroll through twitter will reveal how our community has come together to support each other and the start-up ecosystem in Ireland.

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Active angels work with term sheets regularly, but not every investor fully understands the sometimes arcane language in these highly-specialized documents. What are term sheets, what do they signify, and why are they so important? As a member of HBAN (complete our angel registration form here) you will have access to a range of template investor documents including term sheet, syndicate agreement and due diligence check lists.

Claudine Owens is HBAN Coordinator in NI and Portfolio Manager at Clarendon Fund Managers

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