We are business angel investors
An injection of capital from a business angel who shares your vision, your passion and your postcode.
Full disclosure: we won’t be wearing a tie…
Angel investment for start-ups and established businesses.
Based in Cork
Angel investors who live in the real world. More specifically, in Cork (we might even be neighbours). If you see us about, say hi.
New startups
We can provide start-up investment and expertise to get your exciting new venture off the ground.
Established businesses
We also bring investment and outside expertise to established businesses looking to expand or change direction.
More than just money
We are active investors, bringing a lot more to the table than just cash. That’s what banks are for.
We also happen to be entrepreneurs, tech nerds, marketing gurus and productivity fanatics. If you are looking for an investor who can offer advice, support and experience, you’ve come to the right place.
Our current status…
As things stand, we are not looking for new businesses to invest in or new partnerships. Should this change, we’ll keep you posted here.
The elevator pitch
Every growing business needs capital at some point. And, with a great business idea, you probably won’t struggle to find it. So why choose us?
We bring more to the table than just the cash. With us, you get expert support and guidance too. An experienced business team, always on hand whenever you need.
With SquareFish, you get the financial and business support to unleash your business's true potential.
Business angel investment: what you get
Injection of Capital
The primary role of an angel investor is to provide the money. We invest in both startups and established businesses looking to expand.
Every investor has their own Goldilocks zone. For us, small to medium-sized businesses are our passion. If your project needs an injection of €10,000 to €50,000, then we could be your people.
Business Advice & Guidance
We are active and enthusiastic angel investors based in Cork, Ireland. We give a lot more than just a source of funding for your company.
We, too, are entrepreneurs, with a history of successful startups behind us, along with the battle scars and skills from years at the coalface.
Your very own business consultant, on-hand anytime you need us to provide help and guidance.
About the investment
Every business needs money to start, and often a further injection later on to grow.
Cash investment takes various forms. No two arrangements are the same as no two companies are the same. We will work with you to design a deal that suits your needs.
Equity
Equity is perhaps the most common angel investment. This is where a share of the company is bought by us, and the company can then use that new income to fund its growth. One day, in the future, that share can be sold — which is how the angel investor makes their money.
Unsecured Loan
Another option is a loan to your business with an agreed timeline to be paid back, planned to suit the needs of your business. These are normally unsecured, i.e. not tied to your house or any other asset, so the risk is very much on the investor.
Workload
Finally, our investment in some business has been in workload, not cash. We’ve had businesses where a huge investment in tech was needed to take the business up a level. We have a team of tech experts here at SquareFish, so sometimes we will provide tech solutions instead of cash. In cases like these, the software which we build would otherwise be out of reach for most small startups.
About the business support
We bring a lot more to the table than just the investment. We bring our full business expertise.
Most of our partners come to us not for the money but for our skills and experience. After all, there are plenty of sources of finance out there. But not many of them can bring a track record like ours to the table, year after year.
Imagine your own expert business advisor, on hand any time you need to ask anything. Someone who has been there before and has the battle scars to prove it. Someone with a proven record of success. Someone who’s sharing the risk with you and is motivated by the growth and success of your business.
And there’s no cost-per-hour, it’s all part of the deal.
For Start-Ups
It can seem daunting. You are an expert in your product, that’s the easy bit. But, then there are a thousand other jobs. Where to even start?
We are here to guide you through the whole process, from start to finish. As long as you know your product and clients inside and out, then we’ve got everything else covered.
For businesses looking to grow
It’s easy to plateau in business. We are here to bring our expertise to the table to drive your business to the next level of growth. We provide more than just the money to expand, we are also here as that critical sounding board, a friendly and helpful advisor to give ideas and make sure your business is unleashed to its true potential.
Pivoting. There’s a fancy business word for doing something new or changing direction. That’s often the time we get involved. An existing business looking to take over the online world, perhaps. Or maybe adding in a brand-new market segment to your client base. Bringing our full expertise and experience into the mix can be the magic ingredient to make your new project hit its full potential.
Not our first rodeo
Find business lessons and guidance in our entrepreneur’s resource hub.
A small business, like you.
We are a small team. We meet and work with all our partners face to face, bringing not only investment but our full business know-how, too. And, if you like, we’ll even bring our marketing genius and full tech team along with us.
We are based in Cork and have invested internationally as well as in Irish companies.
Don’t worry if this is your first business venture. We can help with business incubators and start-up investment. And you don’t have to be planning to take over the world. We work with projects both big and small.
How the process works.
Bringing onboard is an angel investor is a serious commitment by all sides. We all need to be happy both in the business idea and in working together. After all, we are committing to be working together for years to come, so it’d be handy if we get along.
Step 1 - Laying out the ideas
It all starts with having a chat. Then probably many more chats.
We want to know your project - what you’re business does, along with what input you’d ideally like. We also want to know you and how you like to work.
The aim here is to sketch everything out and see if there’s a good match between your business and ours.
Step 2 - Due Diligence
So, we all like the idea, and we all like how each work. Time for some serious homework.
We’d be getting deep into the weeds of both your business, your rivals, and you. And we would expect you to do the same with us.
It’s both about each other as people, as well as the business idea. A great working relationship is as important as a great business model.
Step 3 - The Details
We love your business model, we love you too. We’ve all done our homework on each other and there’s not a single skeleton in a single closet, either. Great.
Now, it’s time to put together the details of the proposal. Especially important here is the end game - why are we all in this and what’s the plan once the business has hit its potential?
Timeline
We’ll both need to do our homework, and we strongly recommend that you grill us on every detail of our track record. We are one of many angel investors you will want to speak to, and we understand that. In just the same way, we always consider many pitches before choosing a business to invest in.
This all takes time. A typical deal might take a few months from first chat to contract signed and money in the account.
Introducing our partnership scheme
Looking for something more?
Some businesses are looking for more than just the investment and advice of an angel investor. Some are looking for a full business partner.
Someone with complementary experience. Someone to share the workload, risk and responsibility. Someone to actively involved, hands-on running sections of the business.
We call this our partnership scheme, where we provide a whole lot more than just business investment.
It’s like getting a business angel, a business incubator program, and an experienced business partner all rolled into one.
We turn up with our full marketing and tech teams in tow, too. Our experienced teams can look after everything marketing and everything tech for you, leaving you to concentrate on growing your business.
Oh, and the investment and business guidance are included too.
Contact us
As things stand, we are not looking for new partnerships or businesses to invest in. Should this change, we’ll keep you posted here.
Our Confidentiality Agreement:
We will never share your information with anyone outside of our company.
For full details, take a look at Our Confidentiality Agreement page.