JustInvesting has attracted the interest of high-profile backers including Betfair co-founder Ed Wray and Robin Klein of Index Ventures as part of its maiden funding round.
The seed funding round also includes contributions from the Angel CoFund, a £100 million government-backed fund investing alongside others.
JustInvesting has been set up to address what it describes as the ‘growing Series A funding gap’ by bringing together all factors of the investment process into one platform. Its service, the business says, will include discovery, investment, management and exit as well as facilitating further growth capital.
Previous angel deals for Wray have seen the online betting entrepreneur join funding rounds for social media marketing business Footfall123 and taxi app service Kabbee.
Company CEO Paul McGuire comments, ‘Early-stage companies are important engines for economic growth, but providing funding to large numbers of small businesses in an efficient way, and across borders, is a problem that has not yet been solved.
‘The JustInvesting platform will underpin the transformation of this industry enabling professional investors, institutions, government and other industry players to make the transition to a dramatically more efficient economic model, to the benefit of entrepreneurs, investors and the economy.’
More on the Angel CoFund:
- Fund hits one-year mark with 18 deals worth £4 million
- Five angel networks to lead £50 million fund
- Angel CoFund makes first five commitments
Having been in operation for two years, the Angel CoFund has provided £2 million of direct investment alongside £50 million of business angel capital. It is backed by Vince Cable’s new business bank as well as the Regional Growth Fund.
Angel CoFund chairman George Whitehead says that the backing of JustInvesting is a two-fold win as the fund is supporting angel investing as well as getting cash to good businesses to scale. ‘It’s both a great business for us to invest in, as well as one that will have a really great positive impact on angel investing,’ he adds.
The Angel CoFund’s last deal came at the end of October when it joined the likes of the Rainbow Seed Fund and London Business Angels to back risk management software company Contego Fraud Solutions through a £900,000 transaction.
