‘North has huge capacity for growth in numbers of angel investors’

The North has a huge capacity for growth in the numbers of angel investors, according to Helen Oldham, a director of NorthInvest, which aims to increase the number of technology businesses.
26 February 2019 ......    Helen Oldham, of Northinvest  speaking at The Great Northern Conference 2019 at New Dock, Royal Armouries in Leeds. Picture Tony Johnson.26 February 2019 ......    Helen Oldham, of Northinvest  speaking at The Great Northern Conference 2019 at New Dock, Royal Armouries in Leeds. Picture Tony Johnson.
26 February 2019 ...... Helen Oldham, of Northinvest speaking at The Great Northern Conference 2019 at New Dock, Royal Armouries in Leeds. Picture Tony Johnson.

Ms Oldham also said the number of female investors remains very low and this needed to change.

She told the audience: “Think of somebody you know who could become an angel investor. They are key to growing small businesses.”

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NorthInvest is a not for profit investor platform which has the goal of accelerating the growth of businesses in the fintech, health technology, cyber and media sectors across the Northern Powerhouse.

Ms Oldham said that, while collaboration was often talked about, it was not always happening, because people have got a “slightly different set of imperatives”.

She added: “Stats from the British Business Bank say that only five per cent of angels had invested in a business in Yorkshire. So the angel investment sector is very under developed at the moment and can create a huge increase in the pipeline in terms of funding for those very early stage businesses.”