New website to help SMEs 'bridge valley of death'

“Small and innovative businesses play a crucial role in the UK economy, and we absolutely recognise the importance of angel investors in supporting these enterprises,” said Matthew Hancock, Minister for Skills and Enterprise.

“GrowthShowcase is just one way in which we are working to support entrepreneurs and the early stage investment community, and we look forward to working with the JustInvesting team, benefiting from their expertise so they can grow and create jobs.”

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said that the plans are part of a commitment “to be more transparent to the investment community about the businesses that it is supporting and investing in”.

A spokesman said that any SME can take part, as long as the business model is robust and is marketable.

“A lot of investment is very much on the spreadsheet, but this is an opportunity for dialogue,” he said.

“It’s a mutual ground – inventors will no longer have to hoik around cities and investors will no longer have to aimlessly look for British innovators..

Traditionally, investors would have to look no further than the City of London for plum investments, but a number of areas across the country are newly emerging as business hotspots in particular industries. For example, in Scotland, the flourishing gaming industry includes behemoth developer Rockstar North, which is responsible for the Grand Theft Auto franchise, as well as many smaller companies and freelancers.

But it is not only a good time for SMEs – JustInvesting is to announce a £1.2m funding round today, led by Betfair founder, Andrew Black. The announcement comes eight months after the firm announced its £750,000 seed round, led by Ed Wray of Betfair and Robin Klein of Index.

But what about those internet dates that entrepreneurs will no doubt be longing for? “They’ll go for romantic driverless car rides,” joked a spokesman.

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