Angel Investor Groups in the UK: How South East Angels Works and How the British Business Bank Backs It

On November 4, 2026, Tech Funding News reported that the British Business Bank, the UK's state-owned development bank, is committing £2 million to South East Angels through its Regional Angels Programme. The Brighton-based group says its members have invested more than £7 million in 48 startups since 2020. This article explains what the deal means, how angel groups like this one operate, and how founders can approach them. We rely on Tech Funding News and the bank's public pages, and we flag where sources differ.

What Was Announced

The bank's £2 million will be co-invested alongside members' own money in founders across the South East and the wider UK. The investment platform is run by Haatch. By our arithmetic, £7 million across 48 startups is an average of about £146,000 per company, and the reported cheque range is £50,000 to £350,000. The report adds that the £2 million equals roughly what members have invested since February, so the bank's money roughly doubles the group's recent pace rather than transforming it.

Mark Barry, senior investment director at the bank, said the group has built one of the most active angel communities outside London. Kristina Pereckaite, who founded the group, said having the bank alongside it is a vote of confidence in its community and process.

How the Group Got Here

Pereckaite founded South East Angels in late 2020 with five members. She had spent the previous four years running a Brighton startup accelerator and found she had to lean on her London network to support local founders. The first investment came in December 2020, in the social care platform AutonoMe. By 2023 the group had invested over £1 million and made its first exit when Glidewell Dental bought the smart mouthguard company ORB. Other portfolio names reported include Blue Skies Space and EarSwitch. Today the group has over 100 members.

The group also runs Future Angels, a programme to bring more women into angel investing, with a second cohort opened in May 2026. A 2022 report from the UK Business Angels Association and Beauhurst, cited by Tech Funding News, found women made up 14 percent of UK angel investors.

Why Regional Angel Groups Matter

The bank's Small Business Equity Tracker, as cited in the report, shows London accounted for 57 percent of equity investment by value in 2025, while seed deals across the UK fell 27 percent. Regional groups exist to fill that gap, because founders outside London often struggle to find a first cheque nearby. A group with a hundred members can pool decisions and share due diligence, so a founder can raise from several angels in one process instead of pitching one person at a time.

How the Regional Angels Programme Works

The programme does not invest directly in startups. It commits capital to angel groups and fund managers, who then back founders. The report says it holds £285 million, with typical commitments of £5 million to £15 million, so the £2 million for South East Angels is below the usual range. Sources differ on when it began: Tech Funding News says 2019, while another source we found points to an announcement in 2017 and a launch in 2018, so we treat the date as unresolved.

The Haatch platform lets groups add co-investment capacity alongside their members. The bank launched it in April 2025 with £7 million for five new syndicates and added £25 million in February 2026, bringing the total to £32 million. In October 2026 the bank also launched a Diverse Angel Syndicate programme with the UK Business Angels Association, and in June it allocated £90 million to ten first-time fund managers, according to Tech Funding News. Groups named as supported include:

• HERmesa
• CircleRock Capital
• The Games Angels
• 2050 Capital
• Cambridge Capital Group, which received a separate £2 million commitment through Haatch

How Founders Should Approach an Angel Group

A founder does not apply to the bank. The route is to find a group that has bank backing and submit through that group's own process, which usually means a short application, a screening call and a pitch to members. Prepare a one-page summary, a clear ask, and a simple cap table. Most angel cheques at this stage use a SAFE or a convertible note, so know your cap and discount before you pitch, and model the dilution across rounds.

Angel groups value local ties and traction. Mention your region, your early customers, and what a £50,000 to £350,000 cheque would let you reach within twelve months. Ask the group who will take the lead on due diligence and whether members invest individually or through a pooled vehicle, because that changes how fast money arrives.

What This Means for Angel Investors

For individuals thinking of joining a group, the bank's co-investment adds public capital alongside members' money, though the terms of that match are not public. Members still carry the full risk of the equity they place, so ask how the group screens deals, how many investments have reached an exit, and how follow-on rounds are handled. The report names one exit, ORB in 2023, and does not say whether there have been others.

What We Could Not Confirm

We could not confirm the group's legal structure, its fee model, or how the bank's £2 million will be split across deals. The £7 million total and the 48-company count come from the group, not from an independent source. The launch date of the Regional Angels Programme is reported inconsistently.

Key Takeaways

The bank's £2 million commitment is small for the bank but meaningful for a group that has invested about £2 million since February. Regional angel groups are one of the few reliable first-cheque sources outside London, and founders should find groups with bank backing and follow their submission process. Check cheque ranges, ask how deals are led, and prepare your cap table and SAFE terms first.

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