Connect set for record investment

CONNECT Scotland, the fundraising body for early-stage technology companies, is expecting record investment from business angels and venture capital sources this year in what is seen as another rebuke to the banks' lending policies.

Isabell Majewsky, the GO Group' chief executive behind the revival of the not-for-profit Connect network, claimed bank lending was not improving and that firms were turning to other forms of finance.

Connect stages an annual Dragons' Den-style conference which brings together venture capitalists and corporate financiers with potential stars of the future. Record funds of up to 3 million are promised, to back what it describes as "compelling investment propositions". A typical single investment is about 250,000.

Connect has made a final call for entries for this year's event. Scores of technology outfits will be taken through a rigorous selection procedure between now and the November conference.

By then a shortlist of 15 will be drawn up for the eyes of potential investors. In its heyday Connect was instrumental in securing 220m in private equity, helping 165 companies to pitch their business propositions to financial backers.

Based on a University of California model, success stories included Wolfson Microelectronics, Stem Cell Sciences and Microemissive Displays.

But Connect collapsed under a growing debt pile, and GO stepped in around two years ago to save it from extinction and revive the investors' conference.

Majewsky admitted staging the event at the height of a recession proved a far-from-easy time to relaunch such a money-raising platform.

GO backed up its effort by combining with two English business networking agencies - Connect Yorkshire and Connect Midlands - to acquire the assets of their Scottish counterpart and bring it back to life. "But it remains a testing time for everyone in business," warned Keith Inch, managing director of Digital IP.