Favourable regulatory environment and government initiatives promoting innovation made the UK a vibrant fintech hub. Still, there’s one more critical thing for any early-stage company to grow: capital. Besides fintech investment funds, startups can seek support from visionary individuals known as angel investors.
What is an angel investor? What kind of fintech deals do they tend to support? And, finally, who are the top angel investors in the UK? Let’s sort it out.
Who are angel investors?
Angel investors, also known as angels, informal investors, business angels, or seed investors, are people who put capital into businesses, including startups, typically in exchange for ownership equity. Unlike Venture Capital (VC) investment, where capitalists pool cash with multiple investors, angel investment is more about supporting innovative ideas. Business angels inject money into ideas they admire, expecting a profit only if the business is successful.
In addition to investing their capital, angels support their investees by sharing advice and expertise and introducing them to their network.
Angel investors are usually engaged in several projects on a professional basis, however, it often happens when individual angel investors support their friends or family members. The investor’s involvement can come as part of seed funding or continuous capital injection.
Besides investing individually, business angels sometimes form angel groups known as angel networks, which lets them combine their resources to invest in a larger number of innovative startups.
Which deals do angel investors typically invest in?
According to the European Business Angels Network, business angel investments are usually directed at pre-seed, seed, or early-stage startups.
Most angels are experienced entrepreneurs with extensive investment experience, allowing them to identify promising startups, so there’s little surprise that they invest in companies with high growth potential.
Three business types are particularly popular with business angels:
- Technology companies, since they usually have the potential to produce substantial revenue.
- Consumer-focused businesses, as they tend to have broad appeal and high chances to succeed.
- Healthcare companies, because investing in them helps make a positive impact on people’s lives.
How to find angel investors in the UK?
You can find angel investors in the United Kingdom through networking, using online platforms, and participating in relevant events. Here are some ways to help you connect with your potential angel investors:
UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA)
The UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA) is an angel and early-stage investment community with over 650 members that jointly invest over £2 billion every year.
ACF Investors
ACF Investors, a VC firm with offices in Sheffield and London, manages the Angel CoFund, an angel syndicate investing in early-stage businesses in the United Kingdom.
Angel Investment Network
The Angel Investment Network has 1,893,301 registered members (334,163 investors and 1,559,138 entrepreneurs), making it the largest angel investment community globally.
The UK’s most active angel investors focused on fintech
Now, here’s the most exciting part: let’s explore the list of the top individual angel investors in the UK who are keen on supporting innovative financial software ideas.
Chris Adelsbach
Number one on our list of angel investors in the UK is Chris Adelsbach, a London-based entrepreneur known as a prolific angel investor and mentor for fintech startups. He’s a co-founder and managing partner at Outrun Ventures, venture partner at Techstars, co-founder of Marlin Financial Group, and board member of the UK Business Angels Association.
Chris has over two decades of financial services experience and an impressive portfolio of 110+ companies. Fintech businesses dominate Adelsbach’s portfolio, including three unicorns — Atom Bank, Monese, and Marshmallow.
Will Neale
A professional British investor, Will Neale started his career in 1997 as a consultant for Arthur Andersen, which later became Accenture. Today, he is an LP at Entrepreneur First, LocalGlobe, and Seedcamp. Neale founded Fonix, a mobile payments company, and Grabyo, a cloud-based video editing platform.
Neale is an experienced investor — since 2014, he has supported more than 100 startups, mainly early-stage entrepreneurs in the fintech sector, such as Revolut and Marshmallow. Other names from his portfolio that will definitely ring a bell to you are acasa, Anorak, Credit Kudos, London House Exchange, Payable, Vauban and Yonder.
Taavet Hinrikus
Taavet Hinrikus is co-founder and CEO of Wise (formerly TransferWise), a UK-based foreign exchange fintech company specialising in cross-border payment transfers. Before starting Wise, Hinrikus was Skype’s director of strategy.
An inspired mentor and well-known angel investor, Taavet Hinrikus has made over 55 investments, focusing primarily on fintech, proptech, and communications. His significant fintech investments include Uncapped, Radix, Primer, and Qonto.
Charlie Songhurst
A founding partner of Katana Capital, Charles Songhurst also runs the Songhurst Group, a firm holding assets in multiple private companies. Charles Songhurst was formerly Microsoft’s Head of Corporate Strategy.
After leaving Microsoft, Songhurst became an active angel investor. He has invested in various technology startups, and his portfolio spans companies in multiple sectors, including software, information technology, artificial intelligence, and fintech. His most notable investments are accuRx, AimBrain, Bloomsbury AI, Cera, CoinDesk, Credit Kudos, Fanbytes, Perlegeo, Rahko, The Dots, and Tractable.
Matt Robinson
Matt Robinson, one of the most active angel investors in the United Kingdom, is the CEO and co-founder of Nested, a proptech company. Before launching Nested, he founded GoCardless, a fintech company specialising in bank payments, and remains a member of its board of directors.
As an active investor, Matt Robinson has supported 200+ companies, mainly European startups engaged in fintech and dev tools. His major investments include Acin, Cleo, Codat, Farewill, Griffin, Hopin, Hubble, Infogrid, Net Purpose, Otta, Permutive, Wayve, Vauban, Yapily, Yonder, and Zoe.
Paul Forster
Primarily known as one of the founders of Indeed, the largest job site in the world, Paul Forster also has a substantial background as a business angel. He is a member of the board of directors at several companies, including Cytora, MarketFinance, The Future Forest Company, and Sano Genetics.
As an investor, Forster largely focuses on the software, fintech, and financial services sectors. Some notable names on his portfolio are Nested, Personio, MarketFinance, Monzo, Griffin, and an open banking startup, Banked. In 2022, Paul Forster made five European fintech investments through his family office, including Munich’s treasury management startup finway and Berlin’s NFT startup Fuel.
Perry Blacher
Perry Blacher, a veteran fintech investor and advisor, has 25 years of experience building and running online businesses. Blacher also has an impressive background: after graduating from Cambridge and Harvard, he worked at McKinsey & Company and Microsoft.
He’s also known as the founder and CEO of Serum and Covestor and a Venture Partner at Amadeus Capital. Blacher has advisory or non-executive positions with Barclays UK, CDC, Clearscore, Google, Onfido, Transfergo, and other fintech companies.
His most notable fintech investments include Super Payments, Translucent, Light, Flowcast, Payhawk, re:cap, Vauban, and Volt.
Charles Delingpole
Charles Delingpole is the founder and CEO at ComplyAdvantage, a tech company focused on fighting financial crime with the help of ML, where he leads product development.
Charles launched his first business, The Student Room Group, at the age of 16. After obtaining degrees in Politics at Trinity College Cambridge and Management, Strategy, and Finance from the LSE, Delingpole became an associate at J.P. Morgan Cazenove.
As an investor, Charles Delingpole primarily focuses on fintech, financial services, and payments. His most prominent investments are Causaly, Codat, Credit, Kudos, Epoch Biodesign, Golden, Vauban, Sylvera, Sync Savings, and Wearepercent.com.
Tom Blomfield
One of the most active fintech angel investors (around 80 startups), Tom Blomfield, is mainly known as a co-founder of two large fintech companies, GoCardless and Monzo, and a group partner at Y Combinator, an American technology startup accelerator.
Blomfield’s first business was making a webpage for a local real estate agent. In 2004, during his studies at Oxford, he got a prize from a business plan contest organised by Oxford Entrepreneurs for his “eBay for students”, which expanded to 50 universities across the United Kingdom.
His latest investments include RobinAI, a regtech, Sequence, a payments startup, and Nous, a personal finance app.
Are angel investors regulated in the UK?
Angel investors are regulated to oversee how businesses seek investment and ensure that angels are genuine and certified. Two major regulations govern angel investments: Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, which give angels substantial tax breaks. According to the Enterprise Investment Scheme, business angels can take up to a 30% share of a business.
Final thoughts
Business angels’ strategic investments and deep sector experience in the financial industry fuel the growth of promising startups, facilitating a more inclusive and efficient financial ecosystem at the same time. Pitching investors with a track record of success in financial technology can go a long way toward securing crucial funding for your startup, so make sure to explore your potential angels’ portfolios before making your choice.
