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Indian business angels to make first UK investment
India’s largest business angels group is set to make its first investment in a UK start-up.
The Indian Angel Network (IAN) is Asia’s largest angel network of over 250 investors comprising a who’s who of successful entrepreneurs and CEOs, spread across 10 countries.
The successful London-based company, SwiftShift, has invented a software solution that allows companies to quickly fill short notice shifts using their own staff through SMS, email, and mobile technology.
The announcement, which is subject to due diligence, follows a reception for the IAN investor group at Number 10 on Tuesday (25 February 2014) attended by the Prime Minister, Vince Cable, Matthew Hancock and Oliver Letwin.
In November 2013 the Prime Minister met the IAN in India where they agreed to set up a UK base to invest in British start-ups.
Minister for Government Policy Oliver Letwin said:
The UK consistently ranks in the top 3 places for global investors due, in part, to the dynamism and innovation of our start-up companies.
There is a wealth of British talent and potential that needs the right investment and bringing the Indian Angel Network to this country forms part of our efforts to ease access to finance for start ups and attract foreign capital.
I am thrilled that they are set to make their first investment and hope that this will be the first of many.
Indian firms are now the 5th largest investors in the UK and more than 50% of Indian investment into Europe goes to the UK.
Today’s (26 February 2014) announcement was facilitated by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) as part of its strategy to target investment from high-growth markets such as India and China.
The Network has already invested in start-ups in countries including the USA, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka and India.
IAN has a portfolio of 100 plus companies across multiple sectors like IT, Mobile, Healthcare and Education, Gaming, Hospitality, Semiconductor, and social media, and has made several successful exits, the best 1 returning 22 times capital.
Read more at gov.uk