As more and more businesses look towards alternative sources of funding for their businesses, beyond the traditional banks as well as all other forms of accumulating debt – which a lot of businesses are looking to avoid in any case, business angel networks have emerged as a virtual godsend, an answer to their prayers and a panacea to all their funding woes.

In this article, we look at some of UK’s most popular business angel networks.

British Business Angels Association

The British Business Angels Association or BBAA is the only trade association dedicated to promoting angel investing and supporting early stage investment in the UK. It does not hold investor or entrepreneur information directly, since it is a trade body, but because it has most of UK’s popular business angel networks within its fold as members, both investors and entrepreneurs can look them up, from one location, i.e. BBAA, and opt for a network that seemingly suits their requirement the best. For instance, an investor or entrepreneur looking for proposals or business angels respectively, in the central England region could very well opt for the Central England Business Angels LLP business angels network. Contact information of all member networks are clearly listed on BBAA, and prospective investors or entrepreneurs can make a very well informed choice of the network they eventually work on.

Octopus Ventures

Octopus Ventures is a premier business angel network of more than 100 business angels that make up the Octopus Investor Group. Since inception, Octopus Ventures has enabled the investment of over £30m into 31 companies, generating a 3.5x times realised rate of return.

Great Eastern Investment Forum

The Great Eastern Investment Forum or GEIF is a popular UK business angel network based in Cambridge, traditionally considered to be the center of Europe’s hi-tech/biotech industry. GEIF serves as the ideal go-between for early stage companies and business angels seeking quality investment prospects.