Sing choirs of Angels
Scottish syndicate boss calls for angel investors to become more vocal
Hello Rainmakers,
Angel investing is good for the soul. It can scratch the itch to ‘put something back’ but can also deliver tasty returns.
Peter Walker spoke to the leader of one of Scotland’s most prominent angel investment syndicates, who is aiming to add diversity to the sector, in an attempt to make it relevant to the next generation of potential investors.
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Fraser Lusty, managing director of Equity Gap, one of Scotland’s most prominent angel investment syndicates wants to make investing relevant.
He reckons some people reaching a level of wealth where angel investment could be an option just aren’t aware of it. He’s aiming to add diversity to the sector, in an attempt to make it relevant to the next generation of potential investors.
“I think we need to ensure what we do is relevant to the next generation, these people are perhaps just part of different networks, so our task to be more vocal - we need to make these opportunities known to people who have choices to make about where to invest their money,” he explains.
“There’s a desire to give back when you’ve been successful, money’s part of that, alongside skills and expertise,” Lusty continues. “Maybe we’ve been a bit too nice and we need to be a bit louder about the message.”
The most recent data from industry group Angel Capital Scotland - of which Lusty has just been appointed to the board - showed that deals lead by its members unlocked private sector investment of £106.4m across 91 investments in the year ending March 2025 - and leveraged £25.6m of public sector investment. This recently-rebranded organisation is a chance to really step up the sector’s lobbying power, according to Lusty, referring to the outcome of a recent board meeting.
As for Equity Gap, its members have invested £40m directly into 50 companies, supported 850 jobs and leveraged more than £300m in follow-on funding. Its investee companies claim to have created more than 400 jobs, primarily in Scotland, across a range of sectors including consumer product, food and drink, life science and software.
“One downside about our space is that a lot of us are quite mature in our portfolios, so demand for new stuff won’t always be met by us,” comments Lusty. “Often we’re just too busy already - for instance a few years ago we would be doing four to six deals a year, but now it’s maybe two or three - we must make sure that aspect of funds being tied up doesn’t become a barrier to finding new investments.”
Just in the last few months, Equity Gap has been involved in both MI:RNA’s oversubscribed $3.6m funding round and the £300,000 raised by Gutsy Health.
MI:RNA, an Edinburgh-based molecular diagnostics company, which uses biomarkers and advanced modelling to diagnose veterinary disease earlier, previously secured $4m in a Series A round in July 2024.
The latest funding attracted participation from existing investors including NovaQuest, Kyoritsu Holdings Corporation, VANE Angel Syndicate, Animal Health Angels, Equity Gap, Gabriel and Scottish Enterprise, as well as new investors Holstein UK and AniVC.
