Jewellery company targeted by angel investors in November

In an unusual turn of events, a jewellery retailer based in the UK was targeted by angel investors in November, according to Zephyr, the M&A database published by Bureau van Dijk. This is one of just 13 deals that involves angel investment in the global jewellery making industry announced since the start of 2006 and is also among 19 deals worth an aggregate EUR 87 million involving angel investment in Western Europe in November. Both volume and value represent a decline month-on-month and year-on-year; however, there are still nine days left of the month under review at the time of writing, meaning that if a small number of high-valued deals are signed off, or potentially a large number of deals at lower-valuations, then either volume or value, or possibly both, could increase, thereby resulting in a more impressive result.
October ended higher than expected, with 44 deals worth EUR 185 million, representing an increase by value from EUR 175 million invested across 55 deals in September and EUR 182 million across 52 deals in October 2017. However, when comparing November to the same timeframe last year, the month under review still has some way to go if it is to reach the EUR 343 million notched up across 55 deals in November 2017. While Q3 ended positively, increasing year-on-year by value to 149 deals worth EUR 680 million, from 167 deals worth EUR 544 million in Q3 2017, Q4 is lagging behind compared to the previous quarters of 2018. So far, 63 deals worth an aggregate EUR 272 million have been announced in Q4; however, there is still more than a month left until the end of the quarter and angel investors will have to step up their game if the quarter is to exceed the EUR 662 million recorded in Q4 2017.
The largest angel investment in a Western European target in November was worth EUR 21 million and involved Dutch online cloud-based screen design and interactive prototyping software manufacturer Framer, which received cash from AngelList, Atomico Partners and Accel Management Company. This was followed by Eric Archambeau and Bart Swanson, together with Talis Capital and Gaw Capital Advisors, investing EUR 18 million in UK-based automated self-service 24-hour music studio operator Pirate Studios. Belgium financial services group iBanFirst, UK online music festival booking platform Festicket, predictive financial forecasting software Fluidly and French advertising agency Eeple, among others, were also targeted by angel investors in November.
One of the stand-out deals of the month under review took the form a seed round of funding worth EUR 1 million and involved Camila Dolan, Akshata Murty and other angel investors, working with businesses such as London Co-Investment Fund and Mustard Seed Impact to inject capital into UK-based jewellery retailer Fenton & Co. Angel investment in the jewellery industry is a rarity, with Zephyr showing only 13 such deals have been signed off globally since the start of 2006. The largest of these was worth EUR 5 million and involved Switzerland-based luxury watch retailer Chronext raising capital from backers such as undisclosed business angels, Partech International InVenture Partners. Other targets have included US-based Ice.com and RocksBox, Germany-headquartered Montredo and France-based EDB.
In conclusion, October ended higher than expected and with nine days still to go until the end of November, both volume and value have time to turn things around. Despite the disappointing showing so far, there were still some sizable investments made in the four weeks under review. As we move further into the fourth quarter and closer to the year-end there is hope Q4 will end as positively as Q3 and Q2 and help make 2018 one of the largest years on record for angel investment in Western Europe.
© Zephyr