Angels@Essex joins UK Government’s Investor Partnerships programme

Investment platform Angels@Essex has entered an exciting new phase after being included in the UK Government’s Investor Partnerships programme.

Innovate UK has selected a ‘pool’ of investor partners who have demonstrated that they have the credibility, capability, capacity and appetite to invest in innovative, technology-led businesses in areas that align with the UK’s objectives in programme areas including net zero, health and wellbeing, next generation digital technologies, and technology families.

The investor partners work with Innovate UK to consider innovative businesses that apply for grant funding alongside their investment. The investor partners include venture capital funds, corporate investors, business angel groups and social impact investors, coming from across the UK, Europe, and the US.

Since being established, Angels@Essex based at the University of Essex’s Knowledge Gateway research and technology park has already helped 99 businesses secure more than £53m of investment.

John Stenhouse from Angels@Essex said: “We have an amazing track record for supporting innovative small and medium-sized companies to connect with investors and secure funding from Essex and across the UK. Being included in the Investor Partnerships programme will allow us to build on this success and help even more highly ambitious businesses.”

Recent Angels@Essex successes include supporting pioneering driverless car company Conigital to secure access to £500 million in funding. Angels@Essex team offered invaluable advice and guidance as the start-up launched.

Previous investor partnership programmes unlocked more than £370 million in private partner backing. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), through Innovate UK, is investing over £110 million together with private investors to drive vital cash into scaling-up UK businesses that are putting game-changing technologies into action to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges, from climate change to healthcare.

Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Michelle Donelan said: “We know that unlocking investment is critical, if we are to seize the potential for science and tech breakthroughs to create new jobs and industries, grow the economy, and tackle problems from health to energy. That is precisely why we are deepening our links with private investors to help UK businesses scale-up, deepening the UK’s skills base, and working with the sector to build proportionate regulations that encourage innovation, and keep people safe.”

The announcement was made at the Global Investment Summit, which is showcasing the pioneering companies across the country that make the UK one of the world’s most attractive investment destinations. The expansion of the Innovate UK Investor Partnership Programme is the government’s latest push to bring innovative small and medium-sized UK companies together with investors, to support them to take their businesses to the next level. The 15 investor partnership programmes that ran between 2017 and 2022 unlocked £42.8 million in grant funding for UK SMEs, £123 million in aligned equity investment, and a further £373 million in additional investment from private partners.