Why I invested in Odin

Following the official announcement from the company (here), I would like to share the news that I have angel invested in the latest $3m million funding round of Odin, the relationship-centric investment platform and marketplace for founders, angels and VCs.

I’ve been fortunate enough to connect with Patrick 2 years ago, which has allowed me to follow Odin’s journey from its early days. While my investment focus has been on steadily building my portfolio of Education, Healthcare and Sustainability technology start-ups, I always like to keep my eyes and ears open for disruptive ideas in other fields, and particularly in the broader Investments space, which is very close to my heart. Personal investing has changed a lot over the last few years, and we are very much in the era of ‘democratisation/ disintermediation’, resulting in the continued rise of retail and angel investments. Simply put, there are now more ways to invest in private markets, both simpler and more direct ways, with an increasing number of tech solutions that offer flexibility, liquidity and more diversification. As an angel investor, it is hard not to notice the winds shifting towards more personal/ direct investing, as making investments becomes more accessible.

We all know that more and more funds are being directed to private asset classes, as institutional investors are looking for higher returns; it’s a huge market, with strong fundamentals. McKinsey says that total private markets assets under management (AUM) reached $11.7 trillion as of Jun-22, with AUM growing at an annual rate of nearly 20% since 2017. As of Q2 2022, McKinsey continues, dry powder exceeded $3 trillion, reflecting an 8.4% year-over-year increase and marking the 8th consecutive year of growth. But what about angel investing? As angel investing is still an emerging segment of the market, reliable statistics on size and trends are hard to come by. For example, it is difficult to give the exact number of angel investors, or the exact amount of money they invest every year (although some estimates put it around £2bn in the UK alone). Yet, we have some useful data points; the UKBAA (UK Business Angels Association) – the recognised body for angel investors, of which I am a member – claims to work with over 15,000 angel investors (surely a subset of the total number of people in the UK who angel invest), and according to research from Beauhurst, the number of angel investments into unlisted UK start-ups overtook crowdfunding in 2021 (the first time this has ever happened).

Where exactly does Odin fit in the ecosystem? Odin has built a platform that allows founders and start-ups to raise investment directly from their own network of investors (people they know, angels, angel syndicates and of course, VC firms); this is where Odin’s ‘relationship-centric’ model comes to life, as people who need funding (founders) have more ways to access people who want to invest, just by leveraging their own immediate and/or extended network of contacts. If this model sounds familiar, it is because platforms like AngelList have made it mainstream – in the US, at least. AngelList hasn’t been as prominent in Europe (mainly due to regulatory hurdles), allowing platforms like Germany’s Bunch and UK’s Vauban (now owned by Carta) to enter the space and (try to) fill the gap. And yes, angel investing is still way more popular in the US, but as the democratisation of the investment field gains momentum in the UK and Europe (and in a few years, further East), it is no surprise that new players are emerging and vying for success.

So why Odin then? One thing that struck me early about Odin is how well they have identified the problem with the existing investing platforms, which has allowed them to design the Odin platform to specifically address those shortcomings. Accessibility, analytics, liquidity, relationships are all areas where investing platforms should (in theory) have an advantage over traditional incumbents/ blind pools, but this is not the case. Anyone who has tried to use any of the investing platforms out there knows that they are predominantly one-way traffic, providing usually the bare minimum level of information, poor (if any) interaction with founders and with little-to-no ability to leverage relationships/ the power of your network. Odin addresses all these problems, allowing angel syndicates, founders and VCs to raise money directly from their own networks (while the platform is handling all the legal, banking, payments and KYC/AML). But Odin’s ambitions (and roadmap) go beyond this. Odin is also planning to launch a relationship-driven marketplace, where angels can discover different syndicates and funds; the vision is to build a seamless, integrated, end-to-end experience that helps people build relationships and leverage those relationships to inform their investment decisions. And of course, a vision this bold requires an equally bold, talented and determined team, and with Mary (CEO, Co-founder) and Patrick (COO, Co-founder) at the helm, comes a certain peace of mind that you rarely get with founding teams. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting both Mary and Patrick over the last couple of years and I have left every single one of our interactions feeling equally impressed and inspired.

While Odin’s progress has been nothing short of impressive over the last couple years (some 5,000 people have invested, across Europe, Asia and the U.S., with 300+ companies receiving investment), there are of course challenges ahead. The investments field is inherently volatile and investment in private markets will face both tailwinds and headwinds in the future; what gives me comfort here is Odin’s focus on the infrastructure/ ‘plumbing’ of investing in private markets rather than banking on the latest financial product/ fad (we’ve seen a few of those over the last couple of years, haven’t we?). New competitors will continue to emerge as markets (and regulations) still remain localised and being able to cater to and win business across countries/ continents will likely determine the winners in the years to come. For Odin, expanding away from the UK home market (to continental Europe and beyond) is not going to be easy; geographical/ cross-jurisdictional expansion in financial markets requires time and resources. While I am a big believer in Odin’s vision, in order to achieve its ambitious growth targets, execution will be critical to success (and as the great Robin Sharma once said, ideation without execution is delusion). I have yet to see any delusion or complacency from the Odin team thus far; quite the opposite actually. What I see is two very thoughtful founders, running a lean operation, with a deep focus on building product, a talent for hiring, and a strong desire to continue to invest in innovation to allow them to stay ahead of the competition. There are no guarantees in life (or start-up investing), but this is a super solid foundation for navigating complexity; if the team can stay focused on building a relationship-centric investing platform, I can see a clear path to success.

I am so excited to play a small part in Odin’s journey, and I can’t wait to see what Mary and Patrick (and the rest of the team they are putting together) have in store for all of us in the months and years to come!