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This publication is the result of an agreement signed between EBAN, HBAN and ePlus Ecosystem with the purpose of serving the organisations’ mutual goals of increasing the quantity, quality and success of angel investments in Europe, thus creating a better understanding of angel investment for potential new angel investors and entrepreneurs.

The Raising Business Angel Investment European Booklet for Entrepreneurs has been prepared to demystify the equity raising process for entrepreneurs. Raising external equity is very different to raising other types of finance.

The following tips are developed further in this guide:

• The relationship between investor and entrepreneur is like a marriage but one with a planned divorce;
• Starting building the relationship early, ideally before you need any money;
• Undertake due diligence on your potential investor and find out what is attractive to them;
• Make sure that every contact with a potential investor addresses the top three investment criteria (management, exit and revenue potential) in some form;
• The best exit is a trade sale for cash…it usually maximises value for all shareholders;
• The revenue potential of your company must demonstrate a scalable business that is capable of producing significant returns for an investor;
• The best business plans have a great executive summary – the point of an executive summary is to succinctly sell the investment opportunity, not to just describe the business;
• A compelling and fully costed business plan is essential;
• Be on top of, and understand, the numbers;
• Founders should have ideally had made or intend to make a cash equity investment in the company, i.e. have ‘skin in the game’;
• Have a realistic valuation expectation – the investor has to make an attractive return on their investment;
• An equity deal is not just about the headline valuation; and
• An apparently attractive high valuation can be undermined by high liquidation preference multiples.

Raising external equity is rewarding and worthwhile if it accelerates the growth of your business. If an external investor is getting an attractive return then you are likely to be getting an even better return.

This is a win-win.

The Bio-based Start-up Day will bring start-ups, investors and industry together by giving the floor to everyone and providing great opportunities of networking. The day will start with a keynote speech followed by presentations of start-ups. Related clusters such as CLIB2021 and IBB Netzwerk will also have the chance to present their own young start-ups. In special meeting sessions the audience will have the opportunity to meet the start-ups in person. Investors will afterwards provide an insight into their incentives and experiences working with start-ups in the bio-based and biotech sector. The day will end with a discussion and a coming together. Great networking opportunities all day long!

Register now: http://bio-based.eu/startup/registration

Free booths!
Exhibition booths are free for registered participants! The offer for a free booth is limited up to 15 booths. Afterwards a booth costs 200 EUR plus 19%. Please contact: Dominik Vogt, 

From Monday 11th April until Friday 15th April, Startups.be is organising a mission to Singapore!

Singapore is renowned for being the forefront regional business and trade centre in Asia, its strong position in world capital markets, and its remarkable development history. Singapore’s government is perhaps the most proactive government in the world when it comes to developing the tech industry – it pumps tons of money into grants and initiatives which has resulted in it being lauded as “Asia’s Silicon Valley”. As the center of global economic activity gravitates increasingly to East Asia, Singapore’s role will further grow, providing huge opportunities for emerging and developing businesses.

This mission will be a week-long programme involving networking with the local startups, meeting with the local Belgian/EU community and understanding the legal guidelines and financial infrastructures in the region.

We’ll visit public agencies encouraging technological innovation and businesses such as iDA and A*STAR, Singtel’s investment branch Innov8, Golden Gate Ventures, the Google offices, local incubators such as The Hub, iText (recently opened office in Singapore), and more!

One day of the week (Tuesday) is set aside as either a free day for personal business meetings, or for those wishing to take the opportunity to learn about the Asian startup scene, to visit TechInAsia.

The participation fee is €450 for the first participant per startup, and €350 thereon.

As an added bonus, we are also providing discounted booths and free entrance tickets for InnovFest Unbound — 17th & 18th May, held in the iconic Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

More information can be found on our Go Global page.