- The British Business Bank is investing £2 million in South East Angels as part of its Regional Angels Programme.
- South East Angels says over 100 members have invested more than £7M in 48 startups.
- The £2 million commitment equals the amount members have invested since February.
Kristina Pereckaite founded South East Angels in late 2020 with a cohort of five. She’d spent the previous four years leading a Brighton startup accelerator. The group has since grown to over 100 members who have invested over £7 million in 48 startups.
British Business Bank, the UK’s state-owned development bank, is now investing £2 million alongside them as part of its Regional Angels Programme.
“We started South East Angels with five founding members and a belief that angel investing is far more successful, and far more enjoyable, when you do it together. Six years on, our members have deployed over £7 million into British startups, and having the British Business Bank alongside us is a huge vote of confidence in our community, our process and the founders we back. It means more capital reaching brilliant founders in the stage when it matters most,” said Pereckaite.
In 2025, early-stage deal flow was down. Seed stage deals were down 27% across the UK. London accounted for 57% of equity investment by value according to the bank’s Small Business Equity Tracker.
Why an accelerator manager started investing
According to Pereckaite, very few Brighton startups had raised any local funding. “I found myself having to constantly tap into my London network to support founders,” she said.
First investment in Dec 2020 in AutonoMe, a social care tech platform. By 2023, the firm had invested over £1 million and made its first exit when Glidewell Dental bought ORB, a smart mouthguard company.
South East Angels’ investments have ranged from £50,000 to £350,000. With £7 million invested in 48 startups, the average is around £146,000, based on our calculations. The portfolio also includes Blue Skies Space and EarSwitch.
The firm also runs Future Angels, which is a programme designed to increase the number of women in angel investing. The second cohort of applicants opened in May 2026. A 2022 report from the UK Business Angels Association and Beauhurst found that women made up 14% of UK angel investors.
The bank is also working on this. In October, they launched a Diverse Angel Syndicate with the association. Tech Funding News reported in June that the bank allocated £90 million to 10 first-time fund managers.
How the bank’s money reaches the group
The Regional Angels Programme launched in 2019 to address the regional imbalance in early-stage equity finance. The bank aims to target angel networks and early-stage investors outside London. The programme has £285 million in capital and typically commits between £5 million and £15 million to a partner. South East Angels is at £2 million, which is below that range.
The capital will be co-invested with members’ funds in founders throughout the South East and the wider UK. Haatch operates the investment platform. The bank launched the platform in April 2025 with £7 million for 5 new syndicates and added £25 million in February 2026, bringing the total to £32 million. HERmesa, CircleRock Capital, The Games Angels, and 2050 Capital are among the groups being supported.
Mark Barry, senior investment director at the British Business Bank, said, “South East Angels have built one of the most active angel communities outside London, bringing experienced investors together to back ambitious founders across the region. We are pleased that this £2 million commitment, through our Regional Angels Programme, will help their members continue to support high-growth businesses.”
Angel investing is a much smaller part of the bank’s portfolio. TFN has reported that the bank has invested over £600 million directly in more than 50 UK science and technology companies and has backed six funds as part of an £180 million investment in AI and deeptech.
A £2 million commitment is modest for the bank but significant given the group has added around £2 million since February. The key thing to watch will be how quickly the funds are deployed and how many new companies they enable.
