In this episode, we explore Jodie O'Keeffe's fascinating journey from IT contractor in 1990s Australia to becoming one of Angel Academe's most insightful investors. Starting with a chance magazine discovery in a Melbourne supermarket, Jodie shares how her unconventional career path through technology, journalism, and philanthropy unexpectedly converged into angel investing expertise. We dive into her methodical approach to learning the ropes and how she successfully transitioned from Australia's Scale Investors to London's Angel Academe network.

The conversation reveals stark funding disparities: women hold 52% of wealth yet make up less than 10% of angel investors, whilst female founders receive just 2% of funding. Jodie explains Angel Academe's collective intelligence approach, where diverse expertise from IP lawyers to exited entrepreneurs creates powerful support systems. She shares her signature question for female founders—"How big do you think it can be?"—contrasting this with the risk-focused questions they typically face.

Throughout the episode, Jodie emphasises finding your tribe and offers practical advice for aspiring angel investors: start by observing, leverage network expertise, and understand that angel investing is about building meaningful connections whilst driving systemic change in the startup ecosystem.

As always, to learn more please visit www.syndicateroom.com

Standing at a copy machine at HSBC late one night, reviewing 50 statements of work that needed urgent attention, Kayleigh Kuptz had her lightbulb moment. "Technology should do this," she thought, "this should not be done by me." Four years later, that frustration has become Deployed—a B2B SaaS platform that's saving enterprise clients millions while transforming how corporations engage with service providers forever.

Deployed is one the the increasingly successful portfolio companies of Angel Academe.

If you'd like to find out more about investing alongside Angel Academe please visit SyndicateRoom.

Investing in startups is risky.

Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.

The last flight out of London carried just two passengers on that fateful March day in 2020. As Boris Johnson announced the UK's first lockdown, Mike Gammell and his co-founder Duncan were airborne, heading to Scotland with nothing but faith in their vision for alcohol-free beer. Four years later, Days Brewing has become the fastest-growing brand in the UK's no and low alcohol space, proving that sometimes the biggest risks yield the greatest rewards.

On this episode we're delighted to be joined by Days co-founder, Mike Gammell. Mike takes us through the Days journey, from the idea to present, and all of the milestones along the way.

Days is an Access EIS Fund portfolio company and we are delighted to be a part of their success.