Edinburgh-based investment syndicate Archangels secures multi-million-pound tie-up to fuel more Scots start-ups

Edinburgh-based investment syndicate Archangels has bolstered its funding firepower by securing a multi-million-pound tie-up to help it catalyse Scotland’s next generation of life sciences and tech firms.

Archangels boss David Ovens says: 'We are in advanced discussions with a number of exciting new companies, and we anticipate seeing these deals coming to fruition over the coming months.' Picture: Peter Devlin.

The organisation has inked the £12 million co-investment agreement with British Business Investments, a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, via its Regional Angels Programme. Archangels will deploy the capital from British Business Investments alongside syndicate funding across all its investment activity.

The Scottish angel syndicate was founded by Mike Rutterford and Barry Sealey in 1992, and has invested in excess of £160m to date in innovative start-ups that offer disruptive technology, protectable intellectual property, and the potential to scale globally. At the end of 2022 it said it had invested £13.4m during the year, after stating that September that it had boosted the Scottish economy by £1.4 billion.

Recent investments include participation in a £2.2m funding round to support Edinburgh-based Bioliberty, which is behind a “robotic glove” that can help stroke victims, while significant exits to date include the sale of medical artificial intelligence business Blackford Analysis to Bayer Pharma earlier in the year and optical platform business Optoscribe being bought by Intel Corporation in 2022.

David Ovens, joint MD at Archangels, which has around 130 members and 19 companies within the portfolio currently, said: “The co-investment agreement from British Business Investments means that, in a challenging global market, Archangels will have access to significant levels of aligned co-investment capital.

"This additional funding will allow us to support current and future portfolio companies to grow their businesses and provide returns for both our investors and the broader Scottish economy. We are in advanced discussions with a number of exciting new companies, and we anticipate seeing these deals coming to fruition over the coming months.”

Judith Hartley, chief executive at British Business Investments, said: “The Regional Angels Programme plays a vital role in developing the early-stage funding ecosystem across the UK Nations and Regions, bringing together finance, business experience and skills to support the development of high-growth smaller businesses. By investing alongside Archangels’ syndicate, this £12m co-investment agreement from British Business Investments will support early-stage life sciences and technology companies across Scotland.’’