Wired Wessex

Training materials produced by the Winchester Business School at the University of Winchester will soon be used all over Europe to help stimulate billions of Euros of business angel investment.

Professor Neil Marriott, Dean of the Winchester Business School, has worked with Finance South East and a range of European partners on the prestigious ‘Ready for Equity’ project which involved creating European-wide training materials for business angels and successful entrepreneurs seeking risk capital for their businesses.

“The training materials are unique,” explained Professor Marriott. “You won’t find a book or a university course that covers this material. It is a blend of academic knowledge coupled with practical know how provided by seasoned business angel network managers and new network managers operating in relatively hostile markets.”

Business angels, or private investors, have become well known in the UK through programmes like Dragon’s Den. However in some European nations the business angel market is yet to evolve and this constrains the growth opportunities for many viable businesses.

The University of Winchester and its partners secured funding from the Leonardo da Vinci Education and Culture initiative to ensure the training materials were developed to the highest possible standard, capable of being used in economies where they can make a real difference.

“We’re now in the final stages of the project and the feedback about our training materials has been better than we could ever have hoped for,” said Professor Marriott. “They are being rolled out across Europe and the Winchester Business School is establishing a reputation for providing high quality management education throughout the European Union. I’m delighted that we are playing such an important role.”

Further information about Ready for Equity can be found on www.readyforequity.eu