Business ‘angels’ invested €16.8m in 66 Irish startups last year

Business ‘angels’ invested €16.8m in 66 Irish startups last year, according to a report from the State-supported body for promoting such investment.

The Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) has, since 2007, been building regional syndicates of investors interested in gaining stakes in startups and early-stage firms. The average investment in 2019 was €255,000. John Phelan, all-island director of HBAN, said that what is clear from the report is “a continued confidence in the potential of startups”.

Last year’s investments are up on 2018, when €9.3m was pumped into 44 firms through angel investment. The most popular sector was information and communications technology, with 25 deals completed. The medtech sector also proved to be particularly attractive to HBAN angels.

Elsewhere, startups in the health and beauty, product manufacturing, fintech, life sciences, artificial reality and virtual reality sectors also received funding.