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    ABSTRACTS

    WBAF TAKE INVEST SUMMIT 2018

    Connecting Start-ups & Scale-ups with Angel Investors: Helping the Next Generation of Great Companies Move Forward

    19 February 2018, Istanbul

    On 19 – 20 February 2018, angel investors will come together in Istanbul at the annual conference of the World Business Angels Investment Forum with the goal of creating new ways for start-ups, scale-ups and high-growth businesses to access finance.

    For the first time ever, the World Business Angels Investment Forum opens its doors to Start-ups, Scale-ups and High-growth businesses. We are therefore allocating a special area within the World Business Angels Investment Forum where 50 start-up or scale-up or high-growth businesses will each have a 4-square-metre area to showcase their business. They will thus have exposure to highly qualified angel investors, family office executives, co-investment fund managers, angel investment group directors, corporate venture executives, accelerator executives, techno park investment directors and venture capitalists.

    The mission is to showcase the world’s top start-ups and scale-ups, which, typically, are funded companies in the process of raising €500K – €3M, with the aim of globalizing. The WBAF Take Invest Summit 2018 will essentially be a co-investment platform for angel investors, start-ups, scale-ups and high-growth businesses.

    The WBAF Take Invest Summit: A meeting point for smart finance, co-investments, open learning and skill development

    The WBAF Take Invest Summit 2018 is a very important meeting point where carefully selected start-ups, scale-ups and high-growth businesses can connect with the most important angel investors, co-investment fund managers, VCs and private equities in the world.

    Aside from presentations by renowned thought leaders in the field of entrepreneurship and global angel investors, the event will feature keynote speeches, fireside chats, presentations and panel discussions. Each one will offer important insights into the start-up ecosystem. The summit will be also an open learning space for entrepreneurs to increase their understanding of the investment strategies of angel investors, fund-raising strategies of successful entrepreneurs, term-sheet negotiation techniques, company valuations, due-diligence check-lists of global investors, and ways to access co-investment funds.

    • The role of corporates in supporting angel-backed businesses to achieve global growth: Working with corporates to boost start-ups’ potential and to accelerate globalisation of companies

      This panel discussion will describe a new roadmap that will leverage early stage investment markets by positioning corporate ventures as a bridge between angel investors and VCs. The panel will discuss the benefits of increased involvement of corporate ventures in early stage investment markets, where start-ups, scale-ups, high-growth businesses and SMEs will find early exit opportunities within their own market. Other challenging questions to be discussed: Which are the better bridges to IPO: corporate ventures or VCs? What should start-ups backed by angel investors expect from corporate ventures and vice versa? Are VCs more open to angel investors backed by corporate ventures, or to corporate ventures backed by angel investors? Where should start-ups position themselves on this road map?

    • Crowdfunding rules for global entrepreneurs: how to use crowdfunding to secure finance and convince angel investors

      Until very recently, anyone running a private company in the UK would have automatically turned to private equity or venture capital when looking for their first slice of equity capital. But recently published research suggests this conventional route to fund-raising no longer offers the greatest prospects of success; online crowdfunding platforms are now more likely to provide the financing such companies are looking for. Given that these two businesses didn’t even exist six years ago (Crowd cube launched in 2011 while Seedrs came along in 2012), that is remarkable. Between them, the two platforms funded more than 250 companies last year, with 45,000 investments from users in these companies’ equity. That maturation is set to continue, argue platform bosses, with institutional money now entering the equity crowdfunding marketplace for the first time, facilitating larger fund-raisings. “2017 will be the year in which institutional capital begins to play a meaningful role in equity crowdfunding,” says Jeff Lynn, the CEO of Seedrs. “We are now beginning to see the first exits from investments made at the beginning of the equity crowdfunding era… where we are today is roughly where peer-to-peer lending was when institutional investors first entered that space.” This session will discuss how start-ups and scale-ups can benefit more from the increasing efficiency of crowdfunding platforms and how start-ups can use crowdfunding platforms to convince potential angel investors to invest in their businesses. It will also outline the rules for securing more finance in a shorter period of time on crowdfunding platforms.

    • Growing a billion-dollar global tech business: Steps from start-up to scale-up to unicorn

      Twenty-five members of the 2016 FORBES Billionaires List made their fortunes via unicorns – start-up companies valued at $1 billion dollars or more. Eighteen of these billionaires are under age 40, and the average age of the group is just 36 years old. That is about half the average age of all of the world’s 1,810 billionaires. This small group of billionaires is one measure of just how successful tech start-ups have been at raising funding from venture capitalists over the past few years. Nearly half of these 25 billionaires are newcomers to the list this year, and 40% saw their fortunes increase in 2015 because of new funding rounds. More than half of the returning billionaires were newcomers on the 2015 Billionaires List.This session will attempt discuss the challenges and opportunities for building a billion-dollar tech business from start-up to scale-up to unicorn.

    • The Altuntas Start-up Compass Theory: An entrepreneurial road map to success from start-up to scale-up to exit

      Many universities have developed their business curriculum and the teaching of entrepreneurship to align with the Start-up Compass Theory, which proposes nine steps an entrepreneur has to consider: from wannapreneurship to innovation, on to entrepreneurship and marketing and sales, and then to branding to institutionalisation and franchising, before finally progressing to leadership and angel investment. While the inclusion of this approach in educational programmes and workshops attests to its success, it has only recently been evaluated and scientifically validated by a research team of the London City College of Sheffield University. This session will be moderated by the head of the research team, Prof Panayiotis H. Ketikidis.

    • What is the importance of a good working entrepreneurial ecosystem for creating more liquidity for start-ups, easing access to finance for scale-ups, easing access to skills for angel investors and securing early exits for high-growth businesses?

      With new trends developing in global capital markets such as corporate venturing, angel investment, crowdfunding, private equity, and sovereign wealth to empower economies, some countries are struggling to take on of some of these investment methods – crowdfunding, for example – despite proven positive economic impact and the need for such a financial instrument. This panel will discuss how innovative policies can be developed and what the role of public–private partnerships might be in this process. The panel will attempt to put forth a concrete approach to changing the mindset of individuals who are in decision-making positions, both in public and private institutions. Any policy that supports entrepreneurs and SMEs directly, or that supports the supporters of entrepreneurs and SMEs, is useful, including converting public money to smart money by involving more angel investors and corporate ventures. A critical game-changer question will be addressed: How can we create an entrepreneurial ecosystem by bringing all stakeholders around the same table to create more liquidity, ease access to finance and accelerate early exits?

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