A women-led angel investment syndicate in Wales which launched earlier this year is set to receive financial support from the British Business Bank. Women of Wales, led by lead investor Jill Jones, launched to help women entrepreneurs in the early-stage investment community in Wales by investing equity into companies with female founders and co-founders.
As a syndicate of over 30 of Wales’ most successful female business leaders, all deals can have access to co-investment of up to £250,000 from the Development Bank of Wales’ £8m Wales Angel Co-Investment Fund. Now, the British Business Bank has partnered with the Development Bank of Wales to help grow the syndicate for women.
The UK’s Government economic development bank will provide financial support, jointly-funded with the Development Bank of Wales, to enable it to accelerate its growth. The funding will be used to support the syndicate to develop its digital infrastructure and administrative support. The value of the funding was not disclosed.
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It follows a £130m fund from the British Business Bank to back the growth of Welsh firms from which is due to be operational this autumn. Susan Nightingale, director for devolved nations for the British Business Bank, said: “We believe that women angels have a critical role to play in supporting female entrepreneurship, which is why the Bank has been so keen to support Women Angels of Wales.
“Female representation in investor communities is directly correlated to investment in female led businesses and in 2021 only 6% of deals were led by all-female teams. We hope that the Bank’s funding and support will accelerate the growth of WAW, attract new female investors and work to rebalance the early-stage investment landscape in Wales.”
Jess Phillips, senior manager for Wales at the British Business Bank, said: “It’s important to understand that you don’t need to have hundreds of thousands, or even tens of thousands of pounds at your disposal to be active in angel investing. There is a huge untapped resource of women in Wales who have both the means, experience, knowledge and passion, to support what WAW are doing.
“Maybe you’ve reached a stage in your career where you have a level of disposable income that would make angel investment a potential route for you? Or perhaps you’re a young professional with a healthy income and an interest in female focused investment?
“We want to help to find these women and work with them, alongside the Development Bank and Women Angels of Wales, to improve female representation in finance communities”.
Ms Jones said: “The support of both the Development Bank and British Business Bank means that we have the firepower necessary to accelerate our work in Wales; encouraging more women to become angel investors and creating new sources of capital for innovative businesses.”
