The Portuguese and British Business Angel “Reality”: Heroes and Villains

Abstract

This paper looks at the ways in which this link defines how business and investment opportunities and expected profitability are viewed by them. How business angels construct self and their environment are concepts inextricably linked in this research. This is because narratives with the out there embedded, also, implicitly, contain ideas about the future of the industry, the different economic sectors involved, and its organization. The facets of the Portuguese business angel reality that this research reveals, along with the evidence it offers with respect to analysing certain contrasts between Portuguese business angels against their UK-based colleagues, is unique among the current literature. The term business angel refers to an informal investor: a private, wealthy individual willing to invest a part of their own wealth in new business ventures for a profit. The business angel market is seen as partially opaque as they are difficult to identify. Many, however, are formally organized into networks. Although one cannot extrapolate the findings of this research to apply to the entire Portuguese business angel community, it does provide future researchers another source in addition to the limited knowledge-base available on them at this time.