Female angel syndicate Mint Ventures hails support from British Business Bank

Scottish women-led angel investment syndicate Mint Ventures has cheered its support from the British Business Bank with a view to attracting new investors and improving access to finance for female business-owners.

Susan Nightingale of the British Business Bank says: 'We hope to help accelerate the growth of Mint Ventures and help it to attract new investors and women-led early-stage companies.' Picture: contributed.

The angel group, which formally launched its investment activities in 2021, says the backing of the state-backed development bank is helping it both raise awareness of the opportunities available to female investors and highlight the potential barriers that contribute to an angel investor gender gap.

The British Business Bank, which says it is “dedicated to making finance markets work better for smaller businesses”, is helping the syndicate with the development of new technology and processes to support further growth.

The lender has also provided £30,000 towards a series of roadshows Mint Ventures delivered across Scotland that the latter said has seen its membership increase by 20 per cent and helped create a community of more than 500 people interested in angel investing.

It is pointed out that access to finance remains the number one barrier to women starting and scaling their businesses, with only 2 per cent of all-female teams succeeding in raising investment, but while women are 50 per cent more likely to back female-led companies, they represent fewer than 12 per cent of Scotland’s business angels.

Mint Ventures said a report it conducted on the impact of the regional roadshows revealed growing appetite among potential new women business angels in Scotland to support female entrepreneurs. The organisation invests in early-stage companies with a social, ethical or environmental purpose and women can get involved by committing as little as £2,000 – while the syndicate made its first investment to Dundee-based Heero Technologies in April, with the deal helping the cleantech start-up to develop its home energy efficiency app.

Gillian Fleming, MD of Mint Ventures, whose key partners also include Scottish Enterprise, Women’s Enterprise Scotland, and The Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “Our mission is two-fold: to support women-led, diverse companies to unlock the capital they need to grow, and to debunk the myth that you have to be rich to be an angel investor.

Wisdom

Gillian Fleming, MD of Mint Ventures, which says it offers a fresh approach to raising early-stage capital, providing sums of about £50,000 to £150,000. Picture: contributed.

"The bespoke training we offer over six months is instrumental in bringing more women into angel investing, particularly as we seek to build a sustainable pipeline of investors from earlier stages in their careers. Women want to share their expertise as well as make financial investments, so we are keen to capitalise on this spirit of collaboration.

“There are a number of factors that influence the angel investor gender gap, and underpinning all of our activity is the fact that women typically have a different approach to risk. To improve the ecosystem, we need to keep providing access to relevant information and work closely with partners like the British Business Bank to maintain the growing momentum among the female investor community.”

Susan Nightingale, director, UK network, Scotland, at the British Business Bank, added: "Women angel investors play a critical role in supporting female entrepreneurship, but there remains a gap in the knowledge of this kind of investment among potential investors and investees. The Bank’s ambition is to improve access to finance for all, particularly among underrepresented demographics. We hope to help accelerate the growth of Mint Ventures and help it to attract new investors and women-led early-stage companies.”