2014 was one of business angel syndicate Archangels’ most active years for investment in Scottish-based early stage and established technology and life sciences businesses and provided strong levels of returns for investors.
Archangels arranged funding of GBP12.2m for 14 companies, comprising GBP7.5m of investment from Archangels’ investors, with a further GBP3.5m of co-investment from Scottish Enterprise and GBP1.2m from other partners. Archangels’ annual gathering of investors and invested companies will hear that the biggest single investment was GBP2.5m in Scottish bionic prosthetic upper limb producer, Touch Bionics, in May last year.
In 2014, Archangels also invested GBP100,000 in Cytomos, a company whose progress the angel investing group has been following for the past two years. Edinburgh-based Cytomos has technology that uses electronics to analyse cells. The company is at a very early stage and Archangels’ investors agreed to support the company because of its strong prospects, underlining Archangels’ appetite for investing in early stage, higher risk ventures.
Investors in the Archangels portfolio were provided with returns from disposals and dividends of GBP17.3m in 2014, with GBP11.2m going to Archangels members. This included the successful sale during the year of the electricity supply business, Flexitricity, to Swiss energy company, Alpiq, for an undisclosed sum.
John Waddell, Chief Executive, of Archangels, says: “This was one of Archangels’ strongest years and, against a background of crowd funders and other early stage investors entering the market, I am delighted to be able to report that the traditional investment model, pioneered by Archangels, is going from strength to strength. We will continue to actively manage our portfolio of investments, exploring ways that we can enhance value for our investors and invested companies through further investment, sourcing partners and creating exit opportunities.
“There is a misconception that Archangels only invests in relatively developed companies and this isn’t true. Our investment of GBP100,000 in Cytomos reminds me of Archangels’ initial investment of GBP25,000 in Optos all those years ago to fund proof of concept. The Optos story is, of course, well-known and I look forward to seeing the current investments by Archangels’ members develop to the stage where they can either float or result in a trade sale.”
