A band of global business angels is poised to hoist East of England entrepreneurs onto cloud nine by filling a massive funding void.

Marshall of Cambridge has re-entered the world of corporate venturing by launching a new angel vehicle to kick-start early-stage companies in Greater Cambridge and East Anglia.

Teri Willey, the switched-on chief executive of Cambridge Enterprise Limited – the university’s commercialisation arm – sees stars wherever she looks and whatever the time of day.

Cambridge Enterprise, the university’s commercialisation arm, plans to leverage more software and therapeutic plays – building on traditional strengths in its portfolio – in a bid to roll more spin-outs into the marketplace.

Amadeus, based in Cambridge and London, invests across the technology spectrum in industries including communications and networking hardware and software, media, e-commerce, computer hardware and software, plus the MedTech and CleanTech sectors.

The Cambridge Angels are a group of high-net worth investors who have proven experience as successful entrepreneurs in technology and bio-technology. Members invest in and mentor high quality start-up and early-stage companies in these sectors, mostly in the Cambridge UK area, although they are interested in investment opportunities elsewhere in the South of England.

Cambridge Capital Group (CCG) is a leading business angel group that has been investing in hi-tech businesses for more than 10 years. It formed in the autumn of 2000 and has been backing technology start-ups in the region since then. Members have invested several millions of pounds into more than 25 live portfolio companies in the Cambridge technology cluster.

Cambridge Enterprise is the commercialisation arm of the University of Cambridge. It uses its seed funds to encourage commercialisation of university inventions through investing at the earliest of stages to attract smart money and management into emerging companies.

Key Capital Partners (KCP) is a private equity firm with offices in Cambridge, Birmingham, Leeds and London, investing in businesses across the country. Investment partner Mike Fell lives in Cambridge. KCP was founded to focus exclusively on businesses operating within the equity gap.

TTP Ventures based near Cambridge provides investment and support for IT, MedTech and CleanTech companies. It currently manages a £34m fund that has been invested across different technology sectors.

Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation group, has appointed Dr Anne Dobrée as head of seed funds.

An intelligent prescription support system, a smart device that ensures valuable samples for clinical trials arrive in peak condition, a drug detection device that uniquely links the specimen to the person, and a method of providing scientific evidence for a new generation of medicines were all presented to angel investors at an event designed to show the technologies and business opportunities emerging from Norwich Research Park.

Private shareholdings have reached a post-financial crisis high of £237bn following the most sustained period of net buying since the research began over five years ago, and as investors regain appetite for risk.

Springboard Cambridge, the new tech startup accelerator, is working with Business Weekly in a double header designed to raise awareness of the event and boost the commercialisation prospects of the teams involved.

A new £50 million co-investment fund is promising to make investments in Cambridge and East of England companies as well as backing firms on its home territory, Oxford.