About Us
Welcome to Women Angels of Wales (WAW), a female-led angel investing syndicate dedicated to investing in – and supporting – female-led businesses located in Wales.
We believe in the power of women entrepreneurs:
to drive innovation
create successful ventures
and make a lasting impact on the Welsh economy.
Who are we?
Women Angels of Wales (WAW) is Wales’ first female focussed angel investing community and network. Founded in 2022 by women committed to using their experience, skills and “smart capital” to help other Welsh women build great Welsh businesses. WAW has now grown into a thriving and active community of female angel investors.
Jointly supported by the Development Bank of Wales and the British Business Bank, we have access to co-investment of up to £250,000 per deal from the £8 million Development Bank of Wales’ Angel Co-investment Fund.
Our mission is to increase the number of women actively investing in and championing female-led Welsh businesses. While our focus is on empowering women, we also warmly welcome men who share our vision and want to benefit from being part of a diverse, high-potential investment portfolio.
Meet Our Lead Investors
Jill Jones
Jill has an extensive entrepreneurial background in both optometry and in the property sectors and has been a business angel investor for many years. Jill has a master’s in entrepreneurship and has recently completed a PhD at Cardiff University Business School.
Dedicated to empowering female-led businesses by providing investment, mentorship, and a supportive network, Jill is an inaugural member of the WomenINvestEU network and a Public Value entrepreneur in Residence at Cardiff Business School.
Rachel Ashley
Rachel is a board advisor and fractional executive with a proven track record scaling strategic ventures and driving innovation internationally. Rachel’s dual lens across corporate leadership and venture investing brings practical, global insight to scaling businesses.
Her work has been recognised by the UK Business Angel Association, winning the ‘Best Woman Led Investment in an Innovative Business’.
Rachel holds a number of governance and advisory roles supporting organisations in Wales.
Sharon Pipe
With a career in venture capital and investment banking, Sharon was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of GE Capital Partners European Equity Fund before establishing TH Lee Putnam Ventures. She raised over $1billion to invest in later stage venture companies, buyouts, spinouts and public entities deploying information technologies to re-engineer and scale.
Sharon has also advised a number of venture backed companies and now holds various Non-Executive Director positions.
Sara Boltman
Sara Boltman is the Founder and CEO of Butterfly Data, a Cardiff based data and analytics solution provider. She has spent the last 20 years advising banks, insurance companies and government departments on how best to harness their data to support better, fairer decisions.
Sara is also the chair of I am Woman business club and a keen advocate of levelling the playing field for Women in Data. She regularly writes about bias and data science on Linked in and has contributed to whitepapers for the Digital Health Society and the Ministry of Justice.
Annie Finlayson
Annie is a highly qualified and seasoned Dealmaker with 25 yrs of sector agnostic M&A and Operational Integration experience. Expertise in Growth and in building businesses to be Investment Ready – for fund raising or optimising price in readiness for Exit. An experienced Board Advisor, NED, Mentor and Chair.
Annie was also a Founder member of the innovative Welsh Ice incubation hub for Welsh based start-ups. Annie’s contribution has been widely acknowledged in various awards programmes over the years, and she is often invited to Judge on panel for these today.
Our Mission
We share a mission to work collaboratively together along with other angel groups and external partners to support each other; investing in ambitious women in business to help them to achieve great things in Wales, for Wales.
Our Vision
To enjoy using our collective experience, skills and resources to make a difference to our environment, our society and our economy by inspiring and investing in female-led businesses.
WAW is a women-led business angel investment syndicate, working in close partnership with the Development Bank of Wales, British Business Bank and the wider business angel community in Wales and beyond. It is a friendly and supportive network which welcomes new and aspiring female investor members across Wales who are committed to supporting the Welsh economy and the creation of Welsh jobs.
We are also members of the UKBAA and are signatories to the Investing in Women Code
Lead Investor Jill Jones said: “By encouraging more women to become angel investors, we give them the opportunity to support the businesses that matter to them and to create new sources of capital for innovative businesses.”
Our Partners
Joining WAW
By joining forces, we can pool our talents – and our money – to help female-led businesses in Wales thrive. With that in mind, and provided you are able to satisfy the self-certification requirements here, the only commitment you have to make to become a member of WAW is to invest a minimum of at least £4,000 per annum (or two investments of £2,000).