BUSINESS angels from across Britain will be beating their wings - and a path - to York next month to bankroll new and brilliant high-tech ventures.

A Connect Yorkshire investment conference will be held at St William's College in York on June 24, when ten fledgling ventures will be given the chance to pitch for cash backing from a host of institutional and private investors.

Already a queue of brainboxes with big business ideas are about to enter Connect Yorkshire's "investor readiness" programme, from which ten will be chosen as good enough to make their presentations on the night.

The choosers will be a group of 25 sponsor organisations, including accountancy firms such as Garbutt and Elliott of York, and York-based lawyers Harrowell Shaftoe.

Simon Browning, managing director of Connect Yorkshire, which acts as a broker between high tech firms in Yorkshire with profitable ideas, and investors, said: "We chose York because it is central for investors, some of whom will be arriving from London and Edinburgh.

"Given York's Science City and university credentials, we would hope to see at least two or three from York making a presentation that day."

Similar events in the past have attracted funding of between £250,000 and £4 million per venture.

The investment conference will also see the launch of a new Viking Fund, which so far has generated a pot of £4 million to invest in early-stage, mostly technology-based businesses in Yorkshire, which will at least double from matched funding by private "angels".

The new fund is designed to breach the equity gap which has arisen because banks and venture capitalists ignore the need for small, growing businesses to be fuelled by risk capital before they can establish themselves and prosper.

Typical first stage investments from the Viking Fund will be between £10,000 and £100,000, and will take the form of equity, and possibly some loan finance. Further investment will be available for second stage funding.

Meanwhile, at the conference there will be a number of "breakout" rooms, where presenters can meet investors to hammer out deals.

The evening will end with the Bioscience Yorkshire annual dinner.

Updated: 11:23 Wednesday, May 19, 2004