Statements

EBAN is proud to launch this third edition of the Business Angels Week with its partners MBAN, ABAN and GBAN.  This is a time to bring awareness about the importance of Angel Investing throughout the world.  It is a time to celebrate entrepreneurship and innovation and to make certain that entrepreneurs have enough experience, expertise, networking and financing to accompany them to success and sustainability.  It is also a time also to pay tribute to the other members of the entrepreneurial, innovative global eco-system — the incubators, the accelerators, the venture capitalists, the stock exchanges, the crowd-funders, the banks, the family offices, and governments who do so much to support and finance the entrepreneurs who will make a change for the better for our universe.
The investing activity of Business Angels has also become increasingly global as entrepreneurs seek global markets and create global businesses.  That is why we are so pleased to partner with the Global Entrepreneurship Week this year.
Thank you to all those who are organizing events throughout the world to bring awareness to the role of Business Angels throughout the entire cycle of creating Global Success Stories and thank you for investing your expertise, experience, networking, and financial resources to the innovation and entrepreneurial economy and society.

Following on the success of the recent Demo Africa event in Lagos where we launched the idea of creating an African-wide Angel Network with EBAN and VC4Africa, we are delighted to collaborate with our European, Middle East and Global Angel Colleagues to promote Business Angels Week and Global Business Angels Day. In particular, the Cross-Border and Cross-Continent character of the Business Angel Week and the Global Business Angel Day is inspiring all of us to create new Success Stories to benefit our economies and societies.

What better place to converge and launch the Business Angels Week than in Helsinki which has brought us so many wonderful Success Stories, inspiring the world over. We are bringing a large number of business angels and entrepreneurs to Helsinki to celebrate global Angel investing at EBAN Helsinki-SLUSH 2014 and will be organizing BAW events in the Middle East in December amongst Business Angels from Europe, America, the Middle East and Africa

Business Angels Week has been recognized by Serbian Business Angels Network as a very beneficial initiative to promote and foster entrepreneurship and early stage investing across Europe. It is of high importance to give local communities the knowledge and experience of EBAN in developing a new generation of entrepreneurs and providing support in building of supportive early stage investment ecosystem. We also believe that such activities and movements are crucial for networking and cooperation between entrepreneurs and investors and that those will foster more cross board cooperation and investments. With join efforts this is a step forward towards creation of a unified European investment and entrepreneurial market.

The Business Angels Week is crucial to bring together entrepreneurs and business angels, and to highlight the importance of business angels in the promotion of new business initiatives. Portugal, with the realization of his 8th National Week of Business Angels, integrated in the BAW initiative, will hopefully represent a major contribution to its success. The BAW constitutes one landmark in the systematic action that the EBAN is undertaking, with strong impact into the deepening of relations between business angels at European level.

In 2007 I had the first meeting in EBAN, and pitching in 2008 as an entrepreneur. Since then I’ve met many entrepreneurs, angels investors becoming my friends. EBAN members have unique business ethics, knowledge and experience in creating value. In 2013 I had the honor to host the President of EBAN Mr Paulo Andrez in Macedonia. I know that the Business Angel Week will spread that positive energy through all Europe creating innovative businesses and new jobs while starting the implementation of 5 points action plan for growth of SME’s.

Given that Vienna has historically been a bridge between the “East” and the “West” and a hub for CEE & SEE, Austrian Angel Investors Association (AAIA) acknowledges the Business Angels Week as an important initiative for connecting European markets. Our markets are small and we need to think cross-borders.

EBAN’s Business Angels Week is a great reminder of the role small businesses and business angels are playing in recovering Europe’s failed economy, in Finland we will during the week especially emphasize the importance of small businesses going global.

In 2013, EBAN has launched the European Business Angels Week with the aim of promoting the role of Business Angels in European growth and prosperity. After an impressive response from the ecosystem, the initiative emerged to be a great success, with 141 events in 34 countries across Europe. Under the leadership of Candace Johnson, the Business Angel Week extended to Africa and MENA region, and I would like to congratulate her on this significant milestone for EBAN. With Middle East and Africa involved in the Business Angels Week in 2014, the impact and the importance of this initiative becomes unquestionable. The world is becoming smaller, but the Business Angels all around the world keep contributing to overall prosperity, making dreams of many entrepreneurs come true!

As the Business Angel of the Year, I am happy to support BAW, the world’s largest angel investment awareness initiative. This year’s outcome of Business Angels Week with 241 events in 55 countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa, shows that unification of the angel investment efforts on a global level is an important objective to foster, for mutual benefit of both investors and entrepreneurs.