How to become an angel investor

Becoming a successful angel investor should not just be reserved for a few. You'd be awesome at it.

And to prove just that, we gathered together a group of the seasoned and the new to hear from Collider’s multiple-time angel Richard Fearn, and Super Mentor who led Unruly’s exit, Marion Bernard.

And now we’re sharing it with you.

Enter a community, don't go it alone.

As an investor, you need to pick the right companies – obviously, so why risk everything to begin with when there's a whole ecosystem out there looking to help you.

As Richard said, accelerators can solve problems before said problems kill a business. That's for sure a comfort to investors.

Your time is more valuable than your money.

If you're looking to invest, you'll likely have some pretty useful skills – so why not share them? Work out how you can add value to your companies, which actually might not be what you think.

Get good at being patient.

Once you invest, don't expect it to pay for itself within a year or two (or even five). You're playing the long game, so make sure you follow the company through from the start.

It's not just about investing for returns.

Really, there’s so much more than that. Make sure you allow yourself to enjoy the journey as you'll be surrounded by some of the most innovate startups and investors. It's quite infectious, really.

Check your record.

Learn the lessons from your track record; and if you haven’t got one, learn from those that do.

Amplify you.Position yourself in the market as you would with anything else.

Position yourself in the market as you would with anything else. Amplify what you can bring to get on the cap tables you want to be on. Amplify your value.

It really isn't just about your money, and the best startups will know that. They'll be looking at your connections, too.

It’s about your exit too.

Do your best to work out where you might like to follow on, and what would have to happen for you to not. Remember, you’ll likely get most of your money from just one or two exits.

Get up to £100k to fund your startup from the Collider accelerator

Collider is looking for the very best startups to join our next accelerator programme. We exist to shape the future of marketing and sales technology, and with over five years' experience, we know this space like the back of our hands. Get funded by the Collider Accelerator and apply today.

What's on offer

Cash We offer two levels of investment – £35,000 net (£50,000 in total) for early stage companies, and £70,000 net (£100,000 in total) for later stage (companies with some proof of value with commercial traction or prior fundraising). All of our investment comes directly from angels with incredible industry specific experience.

Coaching A three month programme and lifetime support to help you scale with speed.

Connections Meet the leaders in this industry, including the most relevant, senior team members from top corporates.

Community Our startups, scaleups, corporates, investors and mentors become your community too.

https://vimeo.com/234639816

What we're looking for

• Marketing and sales technology that's B2B focussed - that's B2B or B2B2C technology that helps corporates find, understand, engage, sell to or retain customers

• Early stage businesses with an MVP or later stage businesses with some proof of value - be that commercial traction or prior fundraising. We invest in startups with SEIS or EIS

• Impressive teams with personality - with a minimum of two co-founders.

Apply now!

Collider hits milestone with launch of fifth cohort

It's our birthday (kinda). An anniversary, of sorts. Well, a milestone has definitely been reached.

That's right... WE'VE JUST KICKED OFF COHORT NUMBER FIVE! And to celebrate, our network from across all years joined at The Courthouse Hotel in Soho to welcome in the fresh faces of our new startups.

Community is key and at the heart of everything we do at Collider; you sell to people, not to businesses, and so what better way to integrate into the MadTech world than getting to know our network full of brands, agencies, investors, startups and VCs.

A huge thank you to Microsoft Bizspark too, for sponsoring the event and for all of your help to our startups – you're awesome.

Apply For Our Booster Programme 2017

We're back with our next Booster Programme, which means we're on the look out for the very best MadTech startups – but what is it we're looking for, and what exactly do we offer?

ABOUT YOU

You'll have a top notch team, confirmed your product market fit and have a clear roadmap to success. Now you need that extra boost and on the hunt for the shortcut to success – it's contacts, exposure, mentoring, coaching and access to your industry: MadTech.

ABOUT US

It's all about supercharging our startups – our booster programme will accelerate your sales, exposure and network. Join us and interact with our family of startups, brands, investors and mentors, fine tune your sales and pipeline management and ultimately get your shortcut to the market.

GET CONNECTED

You’ll interact with Collider’s trusted major brand and agency partner network through targeted, curated sessions, giving you a massive time-saving short cut to market.

You’ll get the chance to interact with the Collider family - over 30 startups, 70 investors and even more brands and mentors.

You’ll participate in interactive and impactful sessions to boost your business, all fine tuned to make sure your sales, pipeline management, investment and scaling are a systematic part of what you do.

BE SUPPORTED

You’ll get the chance to interact with the Collider family - over 30 startups, 70 investors and even more brands and mentors; be a key player in our Collider Community.

WHAT YOU’LL GET

Targeted access to the Collider networks; consistent and curated meetings designed for maximum impact; weekly workshops with the cream of the industry; investment readiness; expert coaching from our co-founder.

BE A MASTER

You’ll participate in interactive and impactful sessions to boost your business, all fine tuned to make sure your sales, pipeline management, investment and scaling are a systematic part of what you do.

Applications Have Closed: Now What?

It’s happened. Yes, the time has come – our applications have now closed. And honestly, we’ve been seriously impressed.

The quality this year has been second to none, and whilst that’s made things harder for us, it’s a pretty awesome problem to have.

It’s been a record year for us with well over 300 applications, even surpassing Ed’s ambition target by TWO – and so now we’re in the process of whittling it down to our top applications, with only 2% getting through.

We recently did a little digging into the numbers, countries and themes of applications this year and it seems the snippet that created the biggest buzz was that Brexit has made no impact on quality, numbers or location whatsoever.

But for those wondering what happens next, here's a quick rundown:

1. Startups will hear back from us with a yes or a no.

2. For those who get through will move onto screening.

These sessions are with Collider cofounders, Rose and Andy.

3. If they make it through that (WAHOO!) then it's time for Pitch Camp.

That's where we help startups clean up their deck before meeting investors.

4. In the meantime, our investors will receive some reading material on our top 20 startups.

5. Then it's Selection Day!

– or more commonly known in the Collider office as 'The Big one'. Each investor will have a vote and will be asked to nominate their top choices.

Want more information on the selection process? We’ve got that for you right here.