HBAN, the organisation responsible for promoting business angel investment, said that business angels invested a total of €16.8m in 66 Irish start-ups last year.
HBAN is an initiative of Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and Invest Northern Ireland.
HBAN’s annual report reveals that the average investment last year was €255,000 – 18% higher than the 2018 figure of €215,000.
It also shows that the most popular sector for business angel investments was information and communications technology, with 25 deals completed in this sector.
The MedTech sector also proved to be attractive to HBAN angels, with the Irrus, Boole and the MedTech syndicates investing a total of €5.5m in 10 major deals.
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Start-ups in other industries also received angel funding, including health and beauty, product manufacturing, fintech, life sciences, artificial reality and virtual reality as well as food and beverages.
In two of the largest deals of the year, medical device start-ups CroíValve and AventaMed each received angel investments of €1.5m, bringing their total funding rounds to €2.1m and €3.2m respectively.
John Phelan, all-island director of HBAN, said 2019 has been another year of continued growth for business angel investment in Ireland, having exceeded its angel recruitment targets as well as hitting its €100m funding milestone.
She said that what is clear from the report is a continued confidence in the potential of start-ups.
“We have been delighted that other funds, both public and private, have joined angels in supporting these businesses. It really reflects the value that angels bring to funding, and is also a testament to the quality of start-ups that we introduce to our angels,” Mr Phelan said.
