Last autumn, Business Angels Norway have created two regional programs for Angels in Norway. Using NAP toolbox, expertise and process in learning how to select and evaluate start-ups, these programs have been a success.
|
|
Tallinn, Estonia welcomed more than 60 international angel investors, startups and project partners to wrap up Nordic Angel Program, go over the lessons learned during the 2 years and announce the startup receiving a €250 000 investment by the participants of NAP by EstBAN.
|
|
In the past 18 months, Nordic Angel Program has accelerated the number of investments made in the New Nordic area. As a result, 411 angel investors, including 75 cross-border angels, have invested approximately 3,12 million euros into 18 startups. These results have created true impact in the ecosystems, as more money from new and international angels is circulated into great companies.
|
CROWST WINS OVER CONSUMERS AND ANGEL INVESTORS - THE BEST COMPANY OF NORDIC ANGEL PROGRAM AT SLUSH
25/11/2019
|
Fall 2019 has been busy for business angels, as an international syndicate of 30 investors have gone through 130 companies which applied for Nordic Angel Program at Slush. From all those companies, one stood out from the crowd. Crowst will now receive an angel investing round of 300 000€ to open up new markets.
|
Startup Europe is matchmaking startups and investors at Slush, one of the world’s leading startup events in Helsinki, Finland. Startup Europe, together with Business Finland and Slush will also organise a workshop on accelerating Digital Innovation and Ecosystems.
|
, one of the world’s leading startup events is fast approaching and will take place on November 21 and 22 in Helsinki, Finland. Slush aims to connect investors and innovators at its core and a vision of creating a world-wide startup community and brings together 4000 startups, 2000 investors and 20000 other change-makers.
is bringing its full network of startups, partners and innovators along to Slush, all who have proven experience implementing digital innovation projects with its generous grant-funding. This includes which focuses on strengthening the capacity of start-ups and SME’s in Central and Eastern Europe, and , which helps promising EU startups to increase their market access. Among those joining are the winners of the and the of the My Gateway Slush competition. |
|
Take a deep dive at Slush on Startup Europe’s tools and financing
Startup Europe aims to strengthen the startup ecosystem across Europe and help the startup community easily access our tools and funding. At Slush, a deep dive into the details of our programs will be taken, including on the , which enhances finance for highly innovative high-risk digital startups in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. More information will be provided on the new , which will support the financing of a portfolio of highly innovative AI/blockchain companies and support the development of a dynamic EU-wide innovation ecosystem across Europe. The first phase of the fund will support innovative AI/blockchain companies with 100 million euros in 2020.
Startup Europe is matchmaking startups and investors: November 21
In line with its goal of connecting people, Startup Europe is organizing jointly with and in partnership with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, a special matchmaking event that will bring together 100 startups from across Europe, together with private venture capitalists and investors from large financial institutions such as the , , , , and the . To support access to finance, a reverse-pitching session by the investors will be organised. Join the Startup Europe Matchmaking Session on November 21st from 16:00-20:00 and don’t miss out on discovering a whole range of opportunities!
Workshop on accelerating Digital Innovation and Ecosystems: November 22
To advance startup and scaleup focused policy, in partnership with and , Startup Europe will organise a on Accelerating Digital Innovations and Ecosystems which will bring together 350 stakeholders and experts on digital innovation and startup ecosystems. The workshop will take place on 22 November from 13:00-16:00. The session will focus on both startup policy and investment initiatives and how these can best be harnessed to enable digital innovation and growth. Innovators, startup founders, venture capitalists, business angels, national promotional banks, corporate representatives, startup associations, academics, policymakers and the media will attend.
For more information, please contact:
For more information, please contact:
Along with Business Angels trainings, one of the Nordic Angel Program goals is foster cross-border investments across the Nordic region. In one and a half years, the NAP program engaged almost 400 investors into 12 training programs simultaneously ran in 4 countries with an average of 20% cross-border investors enrolled in syndications that sum almost €2 million.
Just before the summer break, NordicBAN hosted a session to discuss the major challenges and the future of cross-border investments in the Nordics. The session was held at EBAN Annual Congress 2019 in Helsinki, one of Europe’s largest and most international business angel events. Prior to the session, a survey was conducted with the participants and a full room of 32 business angels were gathered in the session to discuss the topic.
Just before the summer break, NordicBAN hosted a session to discuss the major challenges and the future of cross-border investments in the Nordics. The session was held at EBAN Annual Congress 2019 in Helsinki, one of Europe’s largest and most international business angel events. Prior to the session, a survey was conducted with the participants and a full room of 32 business angels were gathered in the session to discuss the topic.
Cross-border session at EBAN Helsinki 2019
From the data of 21 Business Angels that participated in the survey, 27 out of 148 investments (18%) were executed abroad. Estonian investors that participate in this survey seemed to be especially familiar with the concept of cross-border investments in their neighbor Nordic countries, and at stepping outside their home investment ecosystem.
The participants explained three main reasons for cross-border investing: a) the reach of a broader startup deal flow, b) the reach of new markets and portfolio diversification, and c) international networking. All the three reasons had the same number of votes, followed by d) to discover new startup cultures, and finally e) for potential exit. The discussion supports the interest of Business Angels for cross-border activities as mainly triggered by trust, curiosity and passion.
However, access to deal-flow was considered the least of their problems when regarding the biggest challenges in investing cross-border. Developing a network, finding potential co-investors, and further dealing with cultural differences was considered the most difficult aspects of investing abroad, followed by the technical aspects of due diligence such as legal & taxation.
|
"I think it all boils down to trust. Early stage investors invest in startup teams they trust, together with co-investors they trust. This becomes even more important for cross-border investments, as each ‘remote’ investor cannot be close enough to the relevant startup team. So unless you trust a local co-investor, and her or his relationship with the startup team, the natural reaction would be to say no to the investment.”
Christian Wig, a Norwegian business angel who has also participated in the Danish, Finnish and Estonia NAP programs |
The vast majority of the participants (77%) see the New Nordics as very distinct investment landscape, and (92%) believe that a better connected Nordic&Baltic investor ecosystem would create better business opportunities. NAP can provide a big support for business angels looking for taking part in international syndications. With pre-organized training program and international collaboration, structured and curated deal flow, as well as all technical support from the local BANs (Business Angels Networks) and very experienced lead angels. Furthermore, the program provides a safe space to build relations, and the Nordic region is seen as a place where is easy to develop trust in the peers (62%), which is extremely important once the participant angels (70%) only co-invest with individuals or small informal groups that they personally know.
The 2019 NAP Fall programs are the last chance for you to take part in this amazing endeavor! The last NAP batch will be also dedicated to increasing cross-border investments based on the numerous learnings from the previous trainings.The national programs are hosted by the local angel networks (Estonia), (Finland), (Denmark) and in close cooperation with the main startup events in each region.
Stay Tuned! New calls for applications are coming soon!
Investors and Startups can apply here: nordicangelprogram.com
The 2019 NAP Fall programs are the last chance for you to take part in this amazing endeavor! The last NAP batch will be also dedicated to increasing cross-border investments based on the numerous learnings from the previous trainings.The national programs are hosted by the local angel networks (Estonia), (Finland), (Denmark) and in close cooperation with the main startup events in each region.
Stay Tuned! New calls for applications are coming soon!
Investors and Startups can apply here: nordicangelprogram.com
The EBAN Annual Congress is one of Europe’s largest and most international business angel events. In its 20th edition, this year the congress was held at The Cable Factory - a scenic venue in the heart of Helsinki, Finland - in connection to Arctic15 startup conference, where the investors could also meet the best 450+ startups in the region.
On 3rd June at the Gala Dinner of the EBAN Helsinki 2019 congress, an international audience of business angels from 35 countries joined EBAN and FiBAN on a number of awardings making the night exceptionally festive. As a result of an intense first year of activities, the Nordic Angel Program (NAP) received the EBAN award by the as the Best in Globally Engaging the Early Stage Investment and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in 2018.
On 3rd June at the Gala Dinner of the EBAN Helsinki 2019 congress, an international audience of business angels from 35 countries joined EBAN and FiBAN on a number of awardings making the night exceptionally festive. As a result of an intense first year of activities, the Nordic Angel Program (NAP) received the EBAN award by the as the Best in Globally Engaging the Early Stage Investment and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in 2018.
The Nordic Angel Program is an international 3-months training and investment program for business angels. The goal is to make more cross-border investment with an experienced group of angels into the best startups that the region can offer. The program is financed by EU-Horizon2020 with duration of two years. So far, the NAP program engaged almost 400 investors into 12 training programs simultaneously ran in 4 countries. More than a thousand startups already passed through the funnel and 15 companies have been selected and received investments from the angel syndications in a sum of almost 2 million euros
"Both the angel investors and their portfolio startups today need more than ever access to international markets as well as access to follow-on funding to achieve scale and sustained growth. The NAP is an excellent initiative that not only brings more people in the region closer to angel investing, it also introduces the cross-border dimension to the learning and investing process, something that is very close to our heart as an association. By bringing all of these elements to the table, the NAP is able to create an impact that goes well beyond the activities it organizes". Jacopo Losso - Director of EBAN
The 2019 NAP Fall programs are the last chance for you to take part in this amazing endeavour! The last NAP batch will be also dedicated to increasing cross-border investments based on the numerous learnings from the previous trainings.The national programs are hosted by the local angel networks (Estonia), (Finland), (Denmark) and in close cooperation with the main startup events in each region.
Stay Tuned! New calls for applications are coming soon!
Investors and Startups can apply here: nordicangelprogram.com
Throughout 2019 international teams of Nordic and Baltic investors will work together to locate and support the best of the region’s tech-focused startups.
Nordic Angel Program (NAP) is building on its 2018 achievements that saw eight angel training and investment programs in four countries attended by 237 investors. 1,5 million euros were invested into eight companies picked from an initial application pool of 922 startups that were processed through a pre-selection funnel to identify the most promising ventures.18% of the participating angel investors joined programs in countries different from their own. This cross-border perspective is an important way in which NAP distinguishes itself from most syndicated investment programs. Traditionally angels invest in companies that are close to home because it is difficult and time consuming to understand the business culture and investment framework in other countries. NAP addresses this issue by welcoming cross-border colleagues to learn alongside local teams and to develop international partnerships that can foster more joint investments in the future.
The 2019 NAP spring programs are running in four different countries, Estonia, Denmark, Finland and Norway. All the national programs consist of a three-month angel training with four sessions where the latest best practices regarding startup investing are discussed. The national programs are hosted by the local angel networks EstBAN (Estonia), FiBAN (Finland), DanBAN (Denmark) and BAN Norway in close cooperation with the main startup events in the region including Arctic15 and EBAN Helsinki, Latitude59, and TechBBQ.
As Jaakko Salminen, lead angel for Finland NAP spring 2019 program, explains: “The Nordic & Baltic region is becoming increasingly a single market for angel investing. The benefits are significant to both angel investors and startups – not only by providing access to a larger base of angels and a bigger deal flow of cases, but also because cross-border angel syndicates have a much better capability to bring the startups over one of the biggest hurdles: Expansion to international markets. Programs like NAP are the next step up in angel investing for us.”
Investors and startups who want more international exposure across the Nordic & Baltic region are encouraged to read more about the programs and register their interest at nordicangelprogram.com.
ABOUT NORDIC ANGEL PROGRAM
Nordic Angel Program (NAP) is an international cross-border training and investing program for business angels. The goal of the program is to increase cross-border investing awareness among existing and potential startup investors. With the goal to inspire new cross-border angel investments, NAP aims to channel investments in total worth 4 million euros in 16 startups during 2018 and 2019. The main goal for the program is to educate business angels about cross-border investing including joint study trips, evaluation of startups and discussing investment opportunities on a digital platform. StartupIncluder is a digital platform developed for NAP programs and allows business angels to access a shared deal flow for the evaluation the startup applications. The program is powered by EU's Horizon2020 and coordinated by Civitta and NordicBAN.
More information:
Kamila Kunrath,
[email protected]
Nordic Angel Program (NAP) is building on its 2018 achievements that saw eight angel training and investment programs in four countries attended by 237 investors. 1,5 million euros were invested into eight companies picked from an initial application pool of 922 startups that were processed through a pre-selection funnel to identify the most promising ventures.18% of the participating angel investors joined programs in countries different from their own. This cross-border perspective is an important way in which NAP distinguishes itself from most syndicated investment programs. Traditionally angels invest in companies that are close to home because it is difficult and time consuming to understand the business culture and investment framework in other countries. NAP addresses this issue by welcoming cross-border colleagues to learn alongside local teams and to develop international partnerships that can foster more joint investments in the future.
The 2019 NAP spring programs are running in four different countries, Estonia, Denmark, Finland and Norway. All the national programs consist of a three-month angel training with four sessions where the latest best practices regarding startup investing are discussed. The national programs are hosted by the local angel networks EstBAN (Estonia), FiBAN (Finland), DanBAN (Denmark) and BAN Norway in close cooperation with the main startup events in the region including Arctic15 and EBAN Helsinki, Latitude59, and TechBBQ.
As Jaakko Salminen, lead angel for Finland NAP spring 2019 program, explains: “The Nordic & Baltic region is becoming increasingly a single market for angel investing. The benefits are significant to both angel investors and startups – not only by providing access to a larger base of angels and a bigger deal flow of cases, but also because cross-border angel syndicates have a much better capability to bring the startups over one of the biggest hurdles: Expansion to international markets. Programs like NAP are the next step up in angel investing for us.”
Investors and startups who want more international exposure across the Nordic & Baltic region are encouraged to read more about the programs and register their interest at nordicangelprogram.com.
ABOUT NORDIC ANGEL PROGRAM
Nordic Angel Program (NAP) is an international cross-border training and investing program for business angels. The goal of the program is to increase cross-border investing awareness among existing and potential startup investors. With the goal to inspire new cross-border angel investments, NAP aims to channel investments in total worth 4 million euros in 16 startups during 2018 and 2019. The main goal for the program is to educate business angels about cross-border investing including joint study trips, evaluation of startups and discussing investment opportunities on a digital platform. StartupIncluder is a digital platform developed for NAP programs and allows business angels to access a shared deal flow for the evaluation the startup applications. The program is powered by EU's Horizon2020 and coordinated by Civitta and NordicBAN.
More information:
Kamila Kunrath,
[email protected]
|
The best early stage startup was chosen at the business festival sTARTUp Day in Tartu. The honour went to , which facilitates shipping and delivery of orders from small trader’s online shops. In addition to international recognition, the company receives a €250K angel investment.
|
Photo by Slush
|
An international angel syndicate, 19 angels strong, together with Gorilla Capital, has chosen FeelingStream out of a batch of 96 companies to receive an investment of 400 000€. FeelingStream is developing a speech-to-text tool to help contact centers automate their processes with intelligence, so an AI based real-time customer conversational analytics platform for sales potential discovery or lost opportunity detection.
|
RSS Feed
