The Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) have today announced their five-year business angel outlook that predicts business angels will invest €85 million in 264 high potential start-ups in the period running 2017 to year-end 2021.
It will mark a 79% increase in investment over the previous five years which saw €47.4 million invested in 244 companies.
Last year was a record-breaking year for business angel investment in Ireland with €13.6 million invested in 50 early-phase businesses. Those investments leveraged a further €20.5 million from other public and private funds, bringing the total invested to €34.1 million.
HBAN, a joint initiative of InterTradeIreland and Enterprise Ireland, expects that businesses operating in a number of key industries stand to gain from the predicted cash injection over the next five years. They will include innovative and globally scalable companies working in the fields of technology, ICT, enterprise software, medtech, food and beverages, fintech and agritech.
National Director of HBAN, John Phelan said, "These forecasts are based on the growth we have seen in angel investment over the past five years. They clearly demonstrate a very strong and growing appetite for investing in start-up companies. In an international environment where low-risk investment receives miniscule or even negative returns, there is an increasing interest in balancing investment portfolios with higher risk seed investments."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
