Becoming an Angel Investor

How the club can help me invest

We are a group of individuals who invest our own money in innovative companies in exchange for an equity share. If you join us as an Angel Investor, you will have the opportunity to invest in companies that range from new or fast-growing technology and medical to software and manufacturing businesses with a competitive advantage.

You can see examples of the kind of companies we have invested in by looking at the SAIC Portfolio.

We welcome new members who qualify as high new worth or sophisticated investors under the Financial Services and Markets Act (2000) – see link for details Financial Services and Markets Act (2000).

As a member of Southern Angel Investors Club, you become an Angel Investor and have the benefit of:

  • being able to draw on the experience and knowledge of fellow expert investors
  • being able to make direct investments in companies in exchange for equity
  • the prospect of a high return on investment (however you may also lose on your investment)
  • tax breaks (although this is not a reason in itself to make investments).

We receive many opportunities for investment. In order to ensure that you only spend time considering the best, the applications are filtered by selected members who volunteer to screen them. Only the most promising are offered to the entire membership in the form of presentations. These are usually given live at meetings where members have the opportunity to question and discuss.

What level of investment do I need to make as an Angel investor?

As an Angel Investor, you can choose if you wish to invest in a particular business pitching to the Club and how much, as part of a joint investment. An individual investment is typically £5000 – £10000 each but it can be considerably more. Most active members of SAIC typically invest once or twice per year.

You can also become involved in helping the businesses succeed by offering advice or perhaps joining the Board.

Do I have to live in the South of England?

No this is not a requirement of the Club but be aware that our meetings do take place in the South.

Do I need to do my own due diligence?

Everyone makes their own decision on investing and should not rely on comments made by any other member. Part of our club ethos is to allow frank and open exchange of views between members which helps inform everyone’s thinking. No member or officer should be liable for any comments made.

Each of us is responsible for our own due diligence. As we are investing our own money, we can choose to do as little or as much due diligence as we wish.

The process works best when several members collaborate on due diligence and share their findings and conclusions, as often each member will naturally focus on different aspects of the opportunity.

What are the steps to become a SAIC member?

For more information on whether you qualify for membership, go to our Application page. Membership is by invitation once we have received and approved your application.

If you are interested to know more about how angel investing works or want to know more about the process that SAIC employs between presentations from companies through to investment decisions being made, please click on the relevant box below: