UK Business Angels Association

📢 How well do you understand the early-stage investment journey?

Supporting founders goes beyond helping them build great businesses, and understanding how investment works is key to helping them navigate funding conversations with confidence.

Our live online How Early-Stage Investment Works course provides practical insight into the investment ecosystem, helping you understand what investors look for, how deals are structured and how founders can better prepare for raising capital.

📅 Upcoming sessions:
🔹 21 September 2026
🔹 7 December 2026

Designed for professionals supporting early-stage businesses, including accelerators, incubators, ecosystem organisations, corporates and advisers, the course covers:

✔️ What investors really look for
✔️ How angel and VC investment works in practice
✔️ The key steps founders can take to attract funding

Delivered live by Roderick Beer, the course is highly interactive, with real-world examples and space for discussion throughout.

👉 Find out more and register: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0x3PRP0

The celebrations continued with an incredible second half at the UKBAA Angel Investment Awards 2026, hosted by our Executive Chair Jenny Tooth OBE 🎉

Here are the final award highlights from a night full of visionary talent and game-changing innovation:

🔄 Exit of the Year – sponsored by British Business Bank
Winner: BMLL, backed by ACF Investors

⚡ Impact Investment of the Year
Winner: Tova Backed by Korra Ventures

🤝 Investment in Diversity Champion – sponsored by British Business Bank
Winner: Denise McQuaid
One to Watch: Jordan Dargue & Helen Oldham

🧠 Deep Tech Investment of the Year – sponsored by PriceForbes
Winner: Hartley Ultrafast backed by Aligned Syndicate (the syndicate powered by ThatRound), Strange VC (US), Silicon Catalyst

🌱 Seed VC of the Year – sponsored by HSBC Innovation Banking
Winner: Ascension

👼 Angel Investor of the Year – sponsored by ACF Investors
Winner: Emma Blackburn

Congratulations to all our winners for driving change, embracing innovation, and shaping the future of investment and entrepreneurship in the UK 🎇

What an incredible showcase of talent and impact at this year’s UKBAA Angel Investment Awards 🙌

We kicked off the celebrations with seven powerful categories that truly reflect the diversity and strength of our start-up and investment community:

🌱 Angel Group of the Year – sponsored by Barclays Demo Directory
Winner: Archangels
One to Watch: Ventures Together

💡 Women in Innovation
Winner: Sara Boltman’s investment in MeOmics

🔩 Hard Tech Investment of the Year – sponsored by Mathys & Squire
Winner: EnsiliTech, backed by Fink Family Office, Science Angels Syndicate, Individual angel investors, QantX, Innovate UK grants

⚖️ Early-Stage Advisor of the Year
Winner: MBM
One to Watch: Kingsley Napley

📈 Scale Up Team of the Year
Winner: Fifth Dimension, backed by TwinPath Ventures, Ascension Ventures, Concrete VC, Love Ventures, and Sie Ventures

🚀 Accelerator of the Year - Sponsored by Kin Group
Winner: Deep Tech Labs

🌍 Regional Champion of the Year - Sponsored by ThatRound
Winner: ClimbGroup

Congratulations to all of our winners and One to Watch recipients for the remarkable impact you're making across the UK's innovation and investment landscape. 👏

View the full gallery here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0w_pLt0

The Angel Diaries returns on 14 August with Thomas Schreiber.

🔍 Next session - Invest like you mean it: conviction, ownership, and professionalising your angel strategy.

With 30 angel investments and a growing syndicate through Korra Ventures, Thomas Schreiber has developed a conviction-led approach to investing: if you believe in a company, you stay in the journey.

In this session, Thomas shares how his investment strategy has evolved, from early decisions and missed assumptions to building a more structured, disciplined approach to angel investing.

🔹Why long-term conviction matters more than chasing early liquidity
🔹How to approach cheque sizing with clarity, balancing conviction with risk
🔹How AI can support sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio management, while keeping human judgment at the centre

📅 Thursday 14 August | 11:00–12:00 | Online
🔗 Sign up: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0wXYPb0

Whether you're making your first angel investment or refining an established portfolio, this session offers practical lessons on investing with greater discipline, structure, and long-term conviction.

We'll see you there.

🚨 Final chance to join us at the UKBAA Angel Investment Awards, and tickets close at 5pm today!

Tomorrow, the UK’s angel and early-stage investment community comes together at The Brewery, London, for the biggest celebration in the angel investment calendar.

Join investors, founders, VCs, accelerators and ecosystem leaders for an unforgettable evening of:

🍾 A sparkling drinks reception to reconnect and make new connections
🍽️ A three-course gala dinner in one of London’s most iconic venues
🏆 The Awards ceremony celebrating the incredible people and organisations shaping the future of early-stage investment
🎧 An after-party to continue the conversations into the evening

With winners revealed live on the night, including the highly anticipated Angel Investor of the Year, this is your final opportunity to be part of the celebration.

⏰ Reminder: Tickets close today at 5pm.
👉 Secure your place now: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0wNCCJ0

📢 Six years on, the Investing in Women Code continues to drive change.

Today marks the launch of the 2026 Investing in Women Code Annual Report—a landmark publication showcasing the progress being made, the challenges that remain, and the collective effort driving a more inclusive UK investment ecosystem.

As an Investing in Women Code Partner, UKBAA is proud to support this important initiative. The latest data shows that Investing in Women Code signatories continue to outperform the wider market in backing women-led businesses, demonstrating the value of transparency, accountability and sustained collaboration.

This is more than a measure of where we are today. It provides the evidence needed to shape a more inclusive investment landscape and create greater opportunities for women founders to access the capital they need to start, grow and scale successful businesses.

Greater diversity in investment isn't just the right thing to do, it's essential to unlocking innovation, opportunity and economic growth across the UK.

We encourage everyone across the investment community to explore this year's publication and join the conversation. Thank you to everyone whose contribution has helped make this important work possible.

📖 Read the full report: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0wNdKQ0

💬 "The Angel Awards are a reminder of why you should do angel investing - it isn’t just about the kudos, it’s good for you personally, economically, and it’s good for the tech ecosystem." - Amir Nooriala, joint winner of Angel Investor of the Year 2025, alongside Claire Valoti.

That sentiment perfectly captures the spirit of angel investing.

The best angel investors do far more than provide capital. They share their experience, networks and insight, helping founders navigate the challenges of building and scaling ambitious businesses. Their support can make a lasting difference, not only to the companies they back but to the wider innovation ecosystem.

As Amir and Claire's journey demonstrates, angel investing is about more than backing the next generation of great businesses. It's about giving back, strengthening the ecosystem and creating opportunities for founders to succeed.

As we count down to the 2026 UKBAA Angel Investment Awards next week, we're looking forward to recognising another exceptional Angel Investor of the Year, alongside the many individuals and organisations driving the future of early-stage investment across the UK.

🎫 Final tickets are now available. Join us on 9 July in London for the biggest celebration of the UK's angel investment community and be there as this year's winners are revealed!

Book your place: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0wHyWH0