Need funding fast? Enter the Angels' Den

by Melissa Hancock - Wednesday, 16th April 2008 -

Launched nearly a year ago to connect budding entrepreneurs with angel investors, Angelsden.co.uk already has 1,100 angels and 5,000 entrepreneurs registered on the site.

Set up by Lois Cook and her partner Bill, Cook recalls that they launched the site in order to settle a dispute between them: “Bill felt that there weren’t enough good ideas for people to invest in while I held the view that start-ups are always struggling to find funding.”

So in May last year, Angels’ Den was born.

By registering on the site, entrepreneurs can post their full business plan on the site which gets stored in a database on Angelsden.co.uk. They are required to enter certain fields so as to make it easier for the angels to scroll through the plans and see which ones interest them.

“The angels can then search by certain fields such as market sector and the geographical location of the entrepreneur so they only need to look at the ideas that meet their requirements.”

After deciding which plans interest them, the angels can then arrange to meet the entrepreneurs individually rather than attending general pitches where they may have no interest in the ideas .

Similarly, entrepreneurs don’t need to waste their time trawling round visiting different investors.

“Many entrepreneurs are already in a job and can’t take the time off to attend pitches. Our site gives them the opportunity to use the power of the internet to connect with angels in a very efficient and time-saving way. They don’t have to put a suit on and trek into London.”

Check out the Angels' Den site here.

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