Avonmore Developments was set up in 1999 to invest in the increasingly entrepreneurial UK market, which to a large degree had arisen from the 90's Internet boom. However, our investment philosophy has always been to focus on businesses with strong basic business fundamentals, and no investments have yet been made in the much-maligned "dot.com" area of the market.

Since its incorporation, Avonmore has become very active in one of the hardest areas of the market to secure external funding, namely the sub- £1million seed and early stage capital financing. This is an area which has become increasingly neglected by traditional venture capital funds and we work extensively with both private investors and venture capital trusts.

Typically, Avonmore invests between £100,000 and £250,000 of its own funds, either alone or as part of a larger syndicate. Due to its investment expertise, Avonmore often acts as lead investor in such syndicates and has pulled together significant sub-£1m equity financing for several companies.

Avonmore's investments cover a number of different areas (see the section Portfolio Section of this site) and consideration is given to all investment opportunities we receive. However, it should be noted that we currently only invest in UK based businesses and generally those with sub- £5million pre-money valuations. Experienced management teams, with defendable technology and a proven market demand are also key investment criteria.

For more information on our investment strategy, please take a look at the ADL FAQ's section along with the other resources on this site. We have purposefully designed it to be as user-friendly and informative as possible for both entrepreneurs and potential investors in this exciting, but highly risky, area of the venture capital market.

Management

Simon Blakey - Director

A biochemist and management accountant by training, Simon worked for several years in the Sainsbury's Group and latterly in the then newly-formed Sainsbury's Bank. He then moved to Arthur Andersen Business Consulting where he specialised in financial service start-up projects.

Whilst at Andersens, Simon became personally involved in residential property development and this eventually drew him into business angel investing. This has been his main focus of activity, particularly with early-stage investments, since 2000. He is actively involved in the deal-making selection/process and sits on the board of several of Avonmore's portfolio companies.

As well has his business interests, Simon sits on the management board of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and was the Founder Chairman of the “Genius of the Violin” Festival in 2004. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music

Michael Blakey – Director
A graduate of College of William and Mary in Virginia, USA, Michael returned to England in 1998 were he joined Sainsbury’s plc, specializing in Human Resources and IT. As well as working on the roll-out of the “Sainsbury’s To You” internet-based shopping arm, Michael was as an internal project consultant in several areas, including an IT re-platforming, in association with Accenture, of all of Sainsbury’s HR and payroll systems.

Whilst working at Sainsbury’s Michael made a number of early-stage investments and joined Avonmore Developments Ltd full time in June 2002.

Contacting Us

If, having read the resources on this website, you believe you have an investment opportunity that would be of interest to us, or want to find out further information on Avonmore Developments Ltd., please do not hesitate to contact us at: contactus@avonmoredevelopments.com or by telephoning +44 (0)20 7836 3833.

April 2003