eban’s 2011 · 2020. 5. 13. · european business angel network – activity report 2011 1...

European Business Angel Network – Activity Report 2011

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EBAN’s 2011 Activity Report

Background to EBAN’s 2011 Activity EBAN is the pan-European trade association for the early stage investment community. Set up in

1999, it is based in Brussels, Our mission is to establish early stage investments as an asset class

and to support its growth from an estimated €3-4 billion today to €10 billion, up from €1 billion 5 years

ago.

In December 2011 EBAN had 114 member organisations and individuals from 27 countries. In 2011,

EBAN acquired 23 new members including prestigious ones like DFJ, and 22 members did not renew

often because the member organisation ceased operations. We estimate that with our members, we

reach 300 of the 400 Business Angel Networks (BANs) in Europe. These in turn federate some

estimated 30.000 angels, and receive about 40.000 business plans a year. Our members are:

Federations of business angel networks

Business angel networks operating at European, national, and/or regional level

Early stage venture capital funds

Individual business angels (Affiliate members)

Organisations supporting access to early stage finance (Associate members).

In 2009, the EBAN Executive Committee and Board conducted a strategic review projecting the

evolution of our sector and the needs of our members.

We recognised that EBAN needed to continuously balance 3 dimensions:

Provide support services and thought leadership so its members can thrive and achieve

their goals.

Generate enough revenues beyond Member annual fees to be able to have enough quality

resources – the Secretariat - to develop and deliver the above services. We felt it was very

important to move away from dependency on European projects and more on sponsorship

and new revenue streams linked to our core business such paid publications, training etc..

Have a motivated, well functioning and collaborative organisation with the Secretariat,

the Executive Committee, Board and President. And have well paced renewals and smooth

transitions.

We then developed the 2010-2012 content strategy along 5 key pillars of activity:

Setting professional standards for the early stage investment asset class players and

supporting them to achieve these.

Research, benchmarking, thought leadership publications and networking opportunities

including our 2 events a year.


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Lobbying: Since 1999 EBAN has established a trusted and continued dialogue with

European policy makers with 2 major objectives, a) have access to finance recognised as a

key need and business angels and seed funds (not just VCs) as a key part of the solution b)

encourage EU programs which address market failures in our sector and where our members

and EBAN can participate in and

Raising awareness, advocacy and capacity building: Develop an EBAN Institute

Support cross border collaboration: EBAN fosters knowledge sharing and aims to

overcome important barriers to cross-border syndication.

And we established 2 other priorities:

Find ways to generate sizeable revenues from the above activities and sponsors to not need

to rely on uncertain EU program revenues.

Have enough revenues to build the secretariat team and for them to have a sustainable

workload so more resources can be dedicated to achieve the above 5 pillar strategy.

The 2011 achievements were achieved by a Secretariat which counted around 3.2 Full Time

Equivalents FTE. the Executive Committee and support from our Board and Members. Thank you !.

By the end of 2011 the Secretariat was composed of a General manager, Chiara de Caro, Luis

Galveias –Project Manager and Galina Khorkova- Office Manager. EBAN also has 2 trainees who

provide research and sponsorship support to the Association often for 6 months.

Our sector was very active in 2011 and the ecosystem is evolving at a rapid pace.


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Business Review

Professional Standards:

Key Achievements in 2011:

Updated membership definition for Business Angels, Business Angels Network and Seed

Funds

Launched the “Group of Federations of Networks” and held 2 meetings of the Group.

Outlined professional standards criteria for BANs and tested with EBAN Board organisations

Created a new full member category for Accelerators

Benchmarking, Research and Networking with Peers


Implemented the partnership with Bureau Van Dijk to capture deal information provided by

EBAN members Europe-wide and in return, get access to some of BVD’s databases

Updated and published the EBAN/BDO Compendium of Co-Investment Fund models at the

annual Congress in Warsaw

Published the annual Statistics Directory of Networks

Published the EBAN White Paper: “European Early Stage Impact Investing”

Held a very successful study visit to Israel

Held top rated annual congress in Warsaw and Winter University in Brussels

Lobbying

Key Achievement in 2011:

EBAN was invited to participate in meeting of the SME Finance Forum

Organised a Joint event with SME Union with the presence of SME Envoy


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EIF announced it would Co-invest with angels in Germany

Hearing at the European Parliament on venture capital

EBAN President member of the EU expert Group on cross-border collaboration

Policy marathon with meetings with DG Research and Innovation, DG Regio, DG Enterprise

and Industry, and the European Investment Fund

Meeting with the CRIS Committee of the European Parliament

EBAN contributed to the European Consultation: A New Regime for European Venture Capital

EBAN contributed to the European Commission's Consultation on the Green Paper: "From

Challenges to Opportunities: Towards a Common Strategic Framework for Future EU

Research and Innovation Funding"

Awareness and Capacity Building including Training:


Set up and roll-out of EBAN Institute

EBAN Training sessions at the Congress in Warsaw, Poland

EBAN Training session at the Winter University in Brussels, Belgium

Launch of the certification process of courses delivered to angels and entrepreneurs

Cross-border syndication and co-investment support:


Shared Deals Competition at the EBAN Congress in Warsaw, Poland

Shared Deals Competition at the Winter University in Brussels, Belgium


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EBAN Membership

Our Members Are

Full Members

A) Business angel networks, federations of networks set up to promote the angel market,

business angel groups, angel funds or angel syndicates

B) Early stage venture capital and seed funds

Affiliate Members

Affiliate members are business angels/private individuals who have invested or intend to invest in

small and medium sized businesses. They provide finance and expertise or business skills to the

enterprise.

Associate Members

Associate members are organisations which do not meet the aforementioned criteria for full

membership, but who have evident interest in the business angel industry.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Affiliated Members

Associated Members

Early Stage Funds

Federation Members

Network Members


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EBAN’s members geographical breakdown

EU countries69%

European countries not EU

members

16%

Non-European countries

15%

European countries which are not EU members include:

Belarus Russia Serbia Turkey

Non-European countries include:

Australia Canada New Zealand USA

2011 Member Recruitment BAN: Business angel network; SF: Seed fund; FED: Federation of networks; ASSO: Associate; IND: individual/affiliated

Organisation/Individual Country Category

NBAA Russia BAN

BAVIN Belarus BAN

Sean Paterson UK IND

PYMWYMICK Netherlands BAN

Etohum Turkey ASSO

FiBAN Finland BAN

Gildia Aniołów Biznesu Poland BAN

ACTE US ASSO

IQ Partners Poland SF

TBAA Turkey FED

YES Belgium+ ASSO

Ozu Startup Factory Turkey ASSO

AEI Poland ASSO

Mind Hunter Netherlands BAN

CTI Switzerland ASSO


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Neulogy Slovakia BAN

Clearly So UK ASSO

DFJ Espirit UK ASSO

IBBT Belgium ASSO

Almi Invest Sweden SF

Angel Wings Ventures Netherlands SF

InnoBAN Spain BAN

Angelo Dalli Italy IND

TOTAL 23


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EBAN European Sponsors

EBAN is currently working in partnership with Microsoft in order to promote their BizSpark programme

targeted to early stage software start-ups and to help them to access early stage financing. More

information is available on http://www.microsoftstartupzone.com/BizSpark/Pages/At_a_Glance.aspx

as well as on the EBAN website in our section “Partnerships”.

The European Space Agency (ESA), represented by its Technology Transfer Programme Office

(TTPO) and EBAN has established a three-year strategic partnership starting January 2010. This

partnership wants to bring to the attention of European business angels and early stage investors the

opportunities of innovation originally funded by space programmes. With ESA, EBAN members will

benefit from extensive knowledge on space related market trends and experience in the field of

financing space technologies. More about ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme Office (TTPO) can

be found on http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/TTP2/

EBAN and BDO will collaborate in the coming years in order to produce an annual report regarding

two of the most important incentives stimulating business angel activity:

- Fiscal incentives

- Co-investment funds.

For more information about BDO, please visit: http://www.bdointernational.com/

EBAN and NAREC Capital partnership aimed at improving access to finance for European start-ups in

the field of renewable energy as well as executing investor readiness in this growing sector.

http://www.microsoftstartupzone.com/BizSpark/Pages/At_a_Glance.aspx

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/TTP2/

http://www.bdointernational.com/

http://www.nareccapital.com/


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EBAN’s Participation in European Projects

TAKE IT UP is the promotion pillar of Europe INNOVA aimed at enhancing, disseminating and

facilitating the uptake of the outputs developed by Europe INNOVA partnerships. TAKE IT UP will act

as an exploitation facility for current projects offering specialist support for:

Better positioning the new services/tools in order to match them with companies’ needs

Better communication to potential users (ISP)

Developing a winning exit strategy (ensuring the widest and continued use of services/tools by

ISP once the project has ended)

TAKE IT UP service portfolio includes:

Exploitation services and coaching for successful adoption (exit strategy support)

Methodology toolkits (testing, how to pitch)

Capacity building on exploitation issues for enhancing skills of project partners

Peer review by international experts

Access to users’ feedback and a labeling process enabling improved user friendliness,

visibility, diffusion of the new services/tools developed

Matchmaking/testing opportunities

‘Codification for use’ of the new service/tool and its insertion in the Europe INNOVA repository

EBAN was invited to participate in the TAKE IT UP initiative coordinated by META Group (Early stage

venture capital fund member of EBAN).

EBAN uses its expertise about the early stage market, which includes data collection on a regular

basis and publications with policy recommendations, concerning sectors of interest for TAKE IT UP

through projects funded under Europe Innova. The result of this collaboration is most evident in the

mapping report prepared by EBAN "Get in touch with early stage investors in Europe", available for

EBAN members upon request and downloadable on the "learning corner" of the TAKE IT UP website

(for registered members only).

http://www.takeitup.eu/

http://www.europe-innova.eu/

http://www.meta-group.com/

http://www.takeitup.eu/eportal/modules/metagroup/learningcorner.asp


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While working with TAKE IT UP, EBAN will benefit from its access to the investment community

(Europe and beyond) and promoteTAKE IT UP to its network of early stage industry contacts including

through its newsletter.

Additional information about the TAKE IT UP project is available in the following documents and on the

website www.takeitup.eu.

ACCESS-ICT

ACCESS-ICT: European Platform for Access to ICT Investors: www.access-ict.com.

ACCESS-ICT is a project lead by representatives of the financial community. It is led by EBAN,

drawing on its existing pan-European investor network and is supported by its partner Angel Capital

Innovations (initially Greater London Enterprise) operating from the UK, which leverages over 20

years experience of working with the investment community and access to finance. The Project also

has a steering group of investors and experts who support the long term strategy of the project.

ACCESS-ICT is also part of a three partner consortium operating under the umbrella of ICT Finance

Marketplace including also the YMIR and Venturegate projects also funded under this CSA which has

been set up to co-ordinate actions in relation to access to finance. The ICT Finance Marketplace

website is available on www.ict-finance-marketplace.com

ACCESS-ICT’s core objective is to address the current challenges related to access to finance for ICT

SMEs and for research projects involved in Framework programmes, and to increase their overall level

of access to suitable sources of finance, especially equity finance, by providing a sustainable platform

offering tailor-made tools, coaching and mentoring support and access to awareness raising solutions,

through to direct introductions to investment opportunities across Europe. A further key aim of

ACCESS-ICT is to build a sustainable pan-European network of ICT investors, which will be linked

both to representatives of SMEs but also of research organisations and various stakeholders who

operate across Europe in favour of the development of R&D and commercialisation of R&D for ICT

SMEs. At the end of the project, this platform will consist of a live network of various types of investors,

supported by an online platform including tools (Tool Kit for ICT SMEs to raise equity finance) and

solutions for those to have sustainable access to information about SME companies from Framework

Programme projects.

http://www.takeitup.eu/

http://www.access-ict.com/

http://www.ict-finance-marketplace.com/


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ACCESS-ICT has the following key steps to achieve these objectives:

To map and identify the core needs of SMEs and researchers in relation to the need for

finance to commercialise their results (This activity is being carried out by Venturegate).

To map and identify the investment behaviour of at least 75 investors in relation ICTs and

their interests in investing in the results of EU ICT Research

To raise awareness among over 1000 selected SMEs of the opportunities offered through

finance to support the effective commercialisation of their R&D results. This includes the

provision of a new dedicated Access to Finance toolkit for ICT SMEs.

Achieved Results

Over 5000 ICT SMEs

and intermedia

ries reached

366 ICT SMEs

participated in

investment readiness

workshops and

individual training

124 ICT SMEs

interfaced with

investors


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to select 300 of these targeted SMEs and research projects and offer support with increasing

their capacity for investment readiness through one-to many activities such as dedicated

workshops and investment ready events ;

to identify 75 projects that satisfy

different investors criteria in terms of

product, market, growth potential, and

funding needs, offering hands on

support, mentoring and coaching as

well as direct access to Investors either

one to one or through specific

investment events organised around

Europe.

MAIN ACTIONS CONCERNING PERIOD 2

Awareness Raising Actions and Identificaction of Target Companies

The second year of activity was very active in the presentation of ACCESS ICT and ICT Finance

Marketplace, especially in 3rd

party events. ACCESS ICT team focused in becoming involved with

events targeted to EU research funded projects’ participants (eg. EGI User Forum 2011, TERENA

Networking Conference 2011, ICT Proposers Day 2011, The 3rd Annual Internet of Things Europe

2011, eHealth 2011 and Innovation Convention 2011) and to organisations committed to EC’s

initiatives (eg. ERRIN ICT Workshop Group Meeting, EURADA & ERRIN Conference and EUREKA

joint event). We also highlight the two dedicated trainings provided to DG INFSO officers on access to

finance to support their work with ICT SMEs.

The objectives of these actions were to: 1) reach out to EU funded ICT SMEs and share the

opportunities provided by ACCESS ICT/ ICT Finance MarketPlace, 2) identify companies to which

continuously invite for upcoming initiatives and 3) provide awareness to investors on the opportunities

arising from EU funded research.

ACCESS ICT estimates that the participation in 24 awareness initiatives reached out to 5500

individuals from EU funded ICT SMEs, other ICT SMEs, European Commission officers, European

intermediary organisations, technology transfer offices, national contact points, national and regional

investment networks were reached with information about ACCESS ICT/ ICT Finance MarketPlace.

These efforts allowed ACCESS ICT to identify and contact directly 245 ICT SMEs, many of which later

invited to participate in ACCESS ICT’s initiatives.

Investment readiness suport provided by investors

during the ICT Finance MarketPlace Investment

Readiness & Investor Forum held in Brussels on

October 4th-5th, 2011.


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Delivery of Investment Readiness Support

While during Period 1 only a very limited number of companies had received investment readiness

support many of which from their participation in the dedicated workshop held in ICT 2010, in Period 2

ACCESS ICT was able to organise, co-organise and collaborate directly in 10 investment readiness

opportunities providing support to 366 ICT SMEs, from which 115 coming directly from EU research

programmes.

Investment readiness support was provided through group coaching sessions (pitch & practice),

thematic workshops and individual coaching. It has always a priority for ACCESS ICT to provide

investment readiness support by practitioners and to establish opportunities for entrepreneurs to

interact directly with investors, reason for which almost all of the coaches were either business angels,

either early stage fund managers or managers of business angel networks. From the pool of 48

available coaches, ACCESS ICT was able to involve 31 coaches who dialogued with companies and

provided them live feedback in events or by individual interviews.

Despite initial efforts to address individual coaching support to entrepreneurs, we realised this was not

providing clear results due to lack of strong motivations from the two parties: investors (time

consuming, no financial return) and entrepreneurs (low access to finance motivation).

Investment readiness coaching sessions were offered as either stand alone workshops or in close

proximity to an event where there was also an opportunity pitch to or interact with investors in a near

market environment and gain one to one advice. This included on-line sessions. This enabled the

companies to identify the clear benefits making the link between investment readiness and direct

access to investment.

The Investment readiness workshops, offered valuable sources of information to ICT SMEs and

provide an opportunity to meet and interact face-to-face with investors. These sessions focused on

cobining a broader training with recommendations on what to address when presenting to inmvestors

and how to make the investment match investors’ key decision factors. In many events, investment

readiness workshops were implemented together with opportunities to make short practice pitches to

investors, providing both a broader perspective on how to improve the business to make it more

attractive to investors and how to improve the pitch presentation to investors. The results achieved are

therefore mostly supported by investment readiness as a direct precursor to the investment events

which attracted greater participation and statisfaction from both the investors’ and entrepreneurs’ point

of view.

Introduction of companies to investors

Similarly to investment readiness, the Period 2 was more fruitful in activities and results concerning

introduction of companies to investors. Despite the initially set methodology which aimed to first

provide investment readiness and only later the interface with the investor, ACCESS ICT soon realised


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that due to the low number of FP funded ICT SMEs interested in access to finance support, all efforts

would need to be made for these special group of companies to have their opportunity to meet and

pitch to investors.

From the initial set goal of 75 introductions to investors, ACCESS ICT records 124 introductions to

investors from which 74 took place with FP funded ICT SMEs, 35 from researchers of ICT EU funded

projects and 15 from other ICT SMEs. These values apply to circa 108 different ICT SMEs and

researchers as some of them were invited to multiple events.

We also record the significant involvement of

ICT investors as over 500 of these agents

took part in the above mentioned investment

events.

To achieve these results ACCESS ICT

achieved the active collaboration of some of

the EBAN members and other intermediary

and partner organisations which have

together with ACCESS ICT co-organised

events at regional, national and European level.

It has been clear that events organized at a regional or national level have been the most effective

way to gain participation of ICT FP target SMEs, again identifying the benefits of accessing investors

without expending time/effort.

In terms of investment achieved, it may be difficult to track the eventual progress to investment since it

can take several months to close a deal post pitching at an investment forum, especially in view of the

need for due diligence and careful assessment of these very early stage deals. However one of the

businesses that attended the Investment readiness Bootcamp and pitched at the UK London

Universities spinout Investment Event organized by ACCESS-ICT, is now about to close an € 800k

deal with London Business Angels and another group of angels. The deal is at an advanced stage and

likely to close by early March 2012. This business would not have been introduced to the LBA Angels

without the ACCESS-ICT project and would not have achieved this finance so quickly or efficiently.

Another investment is also likely to raise around € 800k with Go beyond investors and French BANs

and seed funds.

SME Mapping of Needs:

During the evaluation meeting referring to Period 1 it was highlighted by reviewers and the EC officer

that a dedicated report prepared by ACCESS ICT was missing despite its active collaboration in the

design of the report submitted by the partner ICT Venture Gate. To address this and buiding on

additional information collected through a data mining action and mostly building on the information

Presentation during the GoBeyond Investment

Forum held in Paris, December 2011


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gathered from field work experience, ACCESS ICT prepared a new version of this document which

besides providing useful information about ICT SMEs also delivered valuable data that is now

supporting the project’s policy recommendations.

Several conclusions are retained from this document of which ACCESS ICT highlights the required

involvement of intermediary organisations (national and international organisations which work on an

ongoing basis with target FP ICT companies), the need to reach companies in an adequate timing as

companies actively look for funding in a limited time period and the existing gap in companies’

approaches to what investors’ are actually looking for.

Dissemination Actions and Sustainability Strategy

Despite ACCESS ICT’s focus in reaching the key objectives of the project namely by reaching out to

ICT SMEs and providing them with investment readiness support and interaction with investors

opportunities, we recognise that work is still to be done on the dissemination of results and in the

implementation of the sustainability strategy. To meet this pending outputs and to effectively provide a

sustainable access to finance platform for ICT SMEs – and particularly FP funded ICT SMEs -

ACCESS ICT has requested an extension of the project of two months to end March 2012.

eban’s 2011 · 2020. 5. 13. · european business angel network – activity report 2011 1...

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