In “Backing Innovation: The Story Behind UK Angel Investors,” Managing Director at UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA), Roderick Beer, shares his astute insights on the angel investment ecosystem in the UK with host, Andrew White.
Angel investors channel their money into startups and early-stage businesses, and their efforts are crucial for allowing innovation to blossom. In the UK, the angel investor community is larger than the rest of Europe’s combined and, having managed angel groups and investor platforms for over 20 years, Roderick Beer is the one to tell us how early-stage investment works and why it’s so important.
From an expert perspective, this episode looks at how the funding ecosystem has developed, making investing easier than ever before, as well as how there are barriers remaining. Businesses can attract investment through a robust commercial strategy and an established IP portfolio, but diversity on the investor level is also necessary to ensure all businesses are getting the attention they deserve.
This is a must-watch for both entrepreneurs in the making who are looking for angel investment and seasoned entrepreneurs who are considering reinvesting their funds into new ventures.
Watch the full episode below.
You can listen to the episode on Spotify here.
Episode summary
Topics discussed🎙️
- The role of angel investors in the UK innovation ecosystem, including how angel investors support early-stage companies, the types of businesses the back and why their role is crucial in bridging funding gaps.
- What investors look for in startups, from a strong founding team and a credible IP strategy to a clear market opportunity, and the balance between risk and return.
- The challenges faced by underrepresented founders in accessing capital and what initiatives are being put in place to drive diversity and inclusivity in investment.
- How the angel investment landscape has changed so far and the future of angel investing in the UK, touching on how macroeconomic factors, government policies (such as EIS/SEIS) and sector shifts shape the ecosystem.
Key takeaways💡
- Angel investors don’t just write cheques: They provide experience, mentorship and networks that help founders scale as well as capital.
- Intellectual property is critical to attracting investment: Investors want to see defensible intellectual property that protects innovation and builds long-term value.
- Diversity unlocks opportunity: There’s growing recognition that backing diverse founders creates better businesses and stronger returns.
- Government incentives matter: Schemes like SEIS and EIS play a pivotal role in encouraging angel investment in high-risk startups.
- The ecosystem is maturing: More professional networks, syndicates and cross-sector collaboration are driving a more robust UK investment landscape.
Notable quotes🔊
- “The UK’s angel ecosystem is the same approximately as the whole of mainland Europe’s combined. It is an absolute success story.”
- “Early-stage investment is […] crucial, because it’s the starting point for almost all innovation in the UK.”
- “We are all driven by that passion to support innovation in the UK.”
- “Our particular drive comes to supporting, championing, training, educating, hitting the angel community where needed. That’s what we really care about – making sure that capital continues to thrive, continues to grow, is employed efficiently, effectively, makes a big impact, not just on potential returns for investors but also fundamentally on great impact for the founder community too.”
- “Especially for deep tech companies […], having a pathway of understanding to ensure that [IP] is a core asset and that it can be protected is definitely an important thing that investors will be looking at. They’ll be looking at what the innovation is, but also how do you stop someone with more money doing it.”
- “Fundamentally, about 70% of the capital angel investors invest is invested in their own regions, so if you want to see more investment in Manchester, in key devolvements, you’ve got to generate angels that are there.”
- “The most recent report showed about 15% of [female investors], so it is increasing but it’s slow. We’ve done this research for years; probably around 8 or 9 years ago it was 10 or 12% so the proportion is definitely increasing, but it’s not enough. We want to see far more women investing and deploying into founders.”
