Bio

Michael’s entrepreneurial journey started when he was young. He supported his way through college in the US by running some of the best music events in the city. Michael loves building things – including companies. Michael isn’t your typical investor – he’s been in the trenches. He has hustled and has succeeded. Michael attributes his atypical journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur-turned-investor to having struggled for years in school, owing to his dyslexia. As a result, he was always on the lookout for ways to succeed outside of school. In turn, it is exactly this kind of differentiation and drive that he looks for in Founders as an investor today. Since becoming an angel investor in 2000 through Avonmore Developments which he co-founded with his brother, Michael has invested in over 25 companies in the UK and achieved 7 successful exits. He's also invested in 8 start-ups in Southeast Asia including Anchanto, PlusMargin and Nugit under the name of Cub Capital since 2013. Most recently, Michael has co-founded Cocoon Capital, an early stage fund, which is looking to invest in companies throughout SE Asia. As is his want the structure of Cocoon is very different than your typical fund, as his entrepreneurial spirit always wants him to challenge the status quo. During Michael’s career he’s been named ‘UK Angel Investor of the Year 2015’ by the UK Business Angel Association, selected as one of the ‘Maserati 100’ and voted by AngelsNews into the list of ‘Business Angels You Should Know’. These accolades were not attributed to Michael only in recognition of his successful investments, but for the relentless support he gives to the founding and management teams of the companies he invests in as well as his generous contributions over the years towards building the startup and investor ecosystem in the UK. For further information on Michael please visit either www.avonmoredevelopments.com (UK investments) and www.cocooncap.com (SE Asia and India investments)