INVESTORS from as far afield as London were in Hampshire recently to hear from fledgling companies looking for business angels.

Held at Portsmouth's Technopole Centre, and hosted by the Solent Investment Opportunity Network, the companies ranged from specialists in SMS marketing to businesses developing advanced speech recognition technology and management information systems.

Ken Ball, a private investor from the New Forest, was very impressed at the calibre of the presentations and said: "SION is a refreshing initiative from a new active network. I will be taking my discussions further with at least two of the companies here."

Julian Sheppard, a partner in Grant Thornton and sponsor of SION said: "SION provides support and professional services on a financial basis to growing companies who are looking for investment between £100-500k. All the businesses SION aims to help have a strong technology base and are based in the Solent region."

Arthur Monks, investment manager of SION, said: "I was delighted with the support of the investors who attended. As a not-for-profit company we act as simply a dating bureau putting investors and companies together to encourage a deal between them. We aim to plug the equity gap that so often prevents early stage, high growth potential companies from achieving their vision."

Among the companies presenting were:

Biocontrol Ltd, a Fareham-registered pharmaceutical company that has developed biological alternatives to current antibiotics and pesticides which is looking for investment of £300,000.

Open Rounds, a leisure business services company based at Leatherhead, has a web-based capacity clearance tool for golf courses. It seeks a £500,000 investment.

Quantum Communicat-ions in Horndean targets the telecommunications infrastructure with a new software for voice recognition and is looking for £250,000.

Cube 80, based in Winchester, has developed software for the mobile telephone market. It seeks investment of £300,000.