It may seem that not a lot could link Manchester United, the world of publishing, digital marketing, and advanced fuels, but that’s only because you might not yet have met Cambridge Angels member, Anna Kissin. In this brief interview with Anna, she talks about her own entrepreneurial journey, how she found her way into angel investing, and her excitement about Cambridge Angels portfolio company, Nova Pangaea
Could you give us a bit about your background?
My initial career path was a traditional one of Wharton MBA followed by consultancy at Oliver Wyman in New York. However, I was itching for a change so in 1993 my husband and I started a publishing company, where I was responsible for finance and operations. Initially we won the contract to do the Manchester United Magazine (as no other traditional publisher would take it on) which became a huge success. This catapulted us into other publishing opportunities for the likes of Chelsea football club and even the Spice Girls as well as more traditional book publishing. When Manchester United won the treble in 1999 I knew this was the ideal time to sell and we exited just a couple of months later to Future Publishing.
After this sale we then set up a digital marketing business, Zone, when digital marketing was still very much in its infancy. In retrospect we were probably about six years too early! We definitely lived hand-to-mouth at times but over 17 years grew the business organically and through several national and international acquisitions, helped by private equity cash, to a company employing 250 people and over £25M turnover – at the time the largest digital marketing consultancy in the UK – before we sold to Cognizant in 2017.
Tell us about your angel investing?
I started angel investing about 15 years ago, but I didn’t have a lot of cash back then and my focus was really on Zone. Initial investment successes included Moonpig.com. I then started to spend more time on angel investing once we exited back in 2017, which is also when I joined CA. I now have a portfolio of 15-odd companies and some, such as ScreenCloud, are doing very well, but it all takes time!
I don’t have a particular focus in my angel investing. I tend to avoid biotech because I am completely unqualified to judge the technology but am open to just about everything else. I do have a particular soft spot for unsexy industrial sectors overlooked by other investors.
How do you get involved with your investments?
Like many of my fellow CA members, during my career I’ve accumulated a lot of knowledge useful to start-ups. I tend to get involved with investee companies where I have previously worked with the founders. In such cases, I like to get my hands dirty and take on quasi-operational roles, sometime for periods of a few years, but I am clear that I now never want to go into an office on a day-to-day basis.
What do you like about CA?
Most obviously, the potential deal flow; I have been extremely impressed with the range, quality and number of the pitches that comes into the CA network and reviewing each one is a learning experience in itself.
Closely following this is the benefit I gain from the combined experience that other angels bring to bear during the informal and formal pitch sessions; the breadth of knowledge shown in the Q&As at these sessions can be quite a thing to behold! And of course, other angels are a fantastic and generous source of advice if it’s ever needed.
Which of your CA portfolio companies particularly excites you at the moment?
My personal favourite is Nova Pangaea Technologies, which has been going from strength to strength, most recently winning a huge £9 million in funding from the government’s Advanced Fuels Fund in partnership with British Airways and LanzaJet. I met the company at my introductory informal pitch with CA six years ago and was so impressed with the experience of the team and the product offering that I committed on the spot. They haven’t disappointed and I expect great things from them in the future.
