News

With the new year comes new opportunities.

As we look back on 2016, here is a selection of the most interesting and informative pieces as highlighted by the Seraf team, handpicked by co-founders Hambleton Lord and Christopher Mirabile. From human capital to flying cars, from startup risk to board directors, from scaling your business to avoiding the Series A crunch, we salute the authors and hope this collection provides insights to make 2017 the best year yet.

Galway-based company is developing medical devices to treat perianal fistula, a condition that affects about two in every 10,000 people More than €1M of funding round comes from angel investors in HBAN’s MedTech Syndicate Funding will help Signum Surgical finalise their technology and obtain regulatory clearance in the US and Europe Galway employs one-third of Ireland’s medtech workforce HBAN (Halo Business Angel Network) today announces that Galway medtech start-up, Signum Surgical, will add eight jobs following a €2.6M Series A funding round. HBAN’s MedTech Syndicate contributed over €1 million to the funding round, with additional investment coming from Enterprise Ireland, the Western Development Commission, Rising Tide Europe and other angel investors.

•    Italian Gianni Matera has already invested €900K in six start-ups in past 15 months •    He expects to invest in three more start-ups by year-end 2016 •    Focus on technology companies intent on breaking into the US market •    Gianni helped gym management software company, Glofox, attract 420 customers in 18 countries and grow 15% month-on-month

- Have you ever thought about business angel investing but don’t know where to start? - Are you interested in learning the ropes as to how you can support & invest in some of Ireland’s most exciting start-ups? HBAN, the Halo Business Angel Network, is hosting a series of informal talks taking place across the country for all new and potential Business Angels on the week commencing the 7th November. The seminars will be short briefings, during which attendees will hear insights from leading Irish business angels on their experiences, the benefits of investing in a syndicate, the risks and rewards of business angel investing and finally they will have the opportunity to network with like minded individuals from the region.

Investment will fund a new, larger brewing site in Wicklow, enabling 15-fold increase in production Investment includes €722,000 from HBAN Food Syndicate, which will help the company expand into International markets including the US, Asia and Europe Food Syndicate’s second investment in Wicklow Wolf this year brings its total investment to over €800k in 18 months Company sold its first beer just two years ago and now has produced over 16 varieties of beer HBAN seeking new business angel investors to invest in businesses like Wicklow Wolf at its Business Angel Roadshow this November   HBAN (Halo Business Angel Network), the all-island organisation responsible for the promotion of business angel investment and a joint initiative of InterTradeIreland and Enterprise Ireland, today announces a €2 million investment in craft beer company, Wicklow Wolf. HBAN’s Food Syndicate is one of the leading stakeholders in the deal, which is also supported by Enterprise Ireland and a number of private investors.

Are you a FinTech start-up ready to disrupt the Financial Services sector? If so, then the FinTech Innovation Lab is the accelerator for you. Applications will close on 31st October.

The lack of statistics on business angel investment is a major issue in the early stage ecosystem, an issues which both EBAN & member organisations including HBAN have been working to solve since their creation. This year, EBAN have teamed up with the European Commission to undertake a study on “Understanding the Nature and Impact of Business Angels Funding in Research and Innovation”.

HBAN, the all-island organisation responsible for the promotion of business angel investment, today announces that it will seek to raise new funds of €6M in the space of just 48 hours, starting Wednesday 9th November in Waterford. The organisation will also visit Cork, Dublin and Galway, speaking to potential new business angels looking to invest in some of Ireland’s most promising start-ups.

Angels love the thrill of the hunt. We like learning how entrepreneurs are going to change the world or which is the new Unicorn that will go public and bring a 100X return. Perhaps this is why many stories about early-stage investing focus on the first part of angel investing – finding good deals, negotiating good terms, and due diligence.