European Business Angels Network and Cornerstone Communications Announce the Regional Winners in the 2018 Edition of CEE-Released Project       Finalists of the CEE-Released project were officially announced during EBAN Annual Congress in Sofia, Bulgaria, which took place between 25-27 June 2018. The winner of the 2018 edition was Photon, Polish start-up that produces world’s first robot that develops together with a child and introduces children to the world of new technologies through experiences and experiments. Romania’s 2Performant and Austrian Unispotter landed, ex aequo, the second place in the project. On June 27th, 2018 European Business Angels Network (EBAN) and Cornerstone Communications officially announced the finalists of the CEE-Released program at EBAN Annual Congress in Sofia. CEE-Released is the first cross-border program in Central and Eastern Europe, organized by EBAN and Cornerstone Communications, that offers the opportunity to propel companies into an international business angels’ environment and other investors – venture capital funds, private equity funds, investment funds that are interested in companies with dynamic, innovative and high growth potential. CEE-Released is a pan-regional project, carried out in cooperation with stock exchanges, institutional investors of the public and private markets, and providers of professional services servicing the business. The goal of the annually organized CEE-Released project is to carry out a search for and to expose as well as train the best CEE-based companies that may be classified as early-stage business and growth companies, representing various sectors of the economy and operating on local or international markets. The finalists of the national CEE-Released 2018 Edition that qualified to the regional final were: Unispotter, Austria Appzio, Bulgaria Fractory, Estonia Monetizr, Latvia MonitorCR, Poland PerfectDashboard, Poland Photon, Poland Carbon, Romania 2Performant, Romania Each of the companies had a unique opportunity to pitch their business in front of hundreds of business angels, investors, representatives of the regional stock exchanges, potential partners and clients. The quality of the pitch and the viability of the business model were used by the Jury members in order to select the winner of the 2018 edition of CEE-Released. The Jury consisted of the following members: Ivan Takev, CEO of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, István Máté-Tóth, Deputy CEO of the Budapest Stock Exchange, Robert Lugowski, Managing Partner of CobinAngels and Ludwik Sobolewski, Co-founder and Partner at Cornerstone Communications. Photon was voted to be the winner of the 2018 of CEE-Released. Photon is a Polish start-up that produces world’s first robot that develops together with a child and introduces children to the world of new technologies through experiences and experiments. Romania’s 2Performant and Austian Unispotter landed, ex aequo, the second place in the project. 2Performant is a marketing infrastructure for e-commerce presented to the clients as an easy-to-use, gamified platform where e-shops and marketing specialists are working together at a Cost Per Sale Model. Unispotter on the other hand, is an application that helps users find the perfect program and university for them and helps in the application process, for free. “CEE-Released project put a spotlight on the best start-ups and scale-ups from the region. We are pleased with the quality of the participating companies and the inspiration and innovation they have brought to the EBAN Annual Summit. We look forward to having them within our network, helping them gain international exposure and access to the much-needed capital” said Candace Johnson, President at EBAN. “Looking at the companies that participated in CEE Released as well as those that were recognized in Sofia last week, we feel proud because we see tangible evidence of the fact that Central and Eastern Europe region is a robust investment territory, with a growing start-up and scale-up scene. The interest generated in this project shows us that it did truly create a bridge between Eastern Europe and the global networks of investors, business angels and even, the media.” said Ludwik Sobolewski, Co-Founder and Partner at Cornerstone Communications. European Business Angels Network and Cornerstone Communications were the organizers, promoters and coordinators of CEE-Released. The organization of the program was supported by local business angels’ networks, associated with EBAN, in countries of operations of CEE-Released.   About EBAN:  EBAN – The European Trade Association for Business Angels, Seed Funds and Early Stage Market Players – is the pan-European representative for the early stage investor community, gathering 184 member organisations in 59 countries around the world. Established in 1999 by a group of pioneer angel networks in Europe with the collaboration of the European Commission and EURADA, EBAN represents a sector estimated to invest 11,4 billion Euros a year and playing a vital role in Europe’s future, notably in the funding of SMEs. EBAN fuels Europe’s growth through the creation of wealth and jobs. Website: https://www.eban.org Contact: info@eban.org About CORNERSTONE COMMUNICATIONS: CORNERSTONE COMMNUNICATIONS is the first CEE-focused investor relations business, a capital market agency, market value enhancer and regional internationalizer. The company is dedicated to providing services in the area of investor relations (IR), shareholder engagement, capital markets PR and arranging capital market partnerships between companies and investors. Heartquarted in Bucharest and Warsaw, present throughout the CEE region. Website: www.cornerstone-comm.eu Contact: ir@cornerstone-comm.eu

Davorin Stetner, President of the EBAN CEE Community, President of CRANE (Croatian Business Angels Network) and organiser of Zagreb Connect announced a major initiative today which brings together stock exchanges and business angel networks to find and support the best start-ups and scale-ups in the Central Eastern European Region. Starting as of 1 January 2018, each EBAN CEE Community Member will work with the Stock Exchange in their countries to launch a nation-wide search for the best start-ups and scale-ups. The results will be known as of 15 May, at which time the “Best of the Best of the CEE countries” will then compete to win “Made in CEE“. The winner will be announced by the CEE Stock Exchange and EBAN CEE Member Presidents, taking place the 2018 EBAN Annual Congress. All winners and runners-up of the national CEE Country competitions will receive mentoring and counsel on getting listed, as well as mentoring and coaching from Financial Experts and Business Angels. The “Made in the CEE” initiative grew out of the visionary “Made in Romania” initiative, started last year in cooperation with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, the Romanian Business Angels Network, and EBAN and is now spreading to all of the CEE countries under the leadership of the EBAN CEE Community. For more information, please contact: info@eban.org

Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) announces that the process of shortlisting 50 companies that will enter the last stage of Made in Romania project has ended. 25 companies were selected through the votes casted by the Nomination Committee Members while the additional 25 were chosen by the Bucharest Stock Exchange representatives. “The competition was fierce and the selection of 50 out of 166 companies was difficult. We are proud to have seen that many great Romanian companies applied to this Bucharest Stock Exchange’s project. It is the best sign for us that BVB and the Romanian capital markets are a brand that is worthy to be associated with”, stated Lucian Anghel, BVB President. “I am convinced that with the League of Entrepreneurs we are writing the history of the capital market in Romania” said Ludwik Sobolewski, BVB CEO. Made in Romania now enters the third and last stage of the selection for the project when the Jury consisting of 12 Romanian and international market experts will select 14 companies that have the biggest growth potential, most enthralling business strategies and achievements so far. The 15th company will be selected through a public vote which begun on March 7th and will last until March 19th. The votes can be casted at www.bvbleague.ro. The 50 selected companies are: 2Performant Network SA Agricover Amber Studio Autonom rent-a-car Bilka Steel Bittnet Systems SA BlueAir – Airline Management Solutions SRL Calirom Ciserom Cris-Tim Cumpana 1993 SRL Direct One Electrogrup ELMAS SRL Elsaco Electronic Equatorial Gaming SRL Evolution Prest Systems SRL (evoMAG) Eximprod Grup Free WiFi Good People SA Grupul Artmark Hexol Intermedicas Worldwide SRL IRUM SA Ivatherm Klaus SRL Lasting Systems MBTelecom Ltd SRL Multinvest SRL NetBrinel Prutul RAAL Reea SRL RockStar Construct SRL – Piatra Online Ropharma Safetech Innovations Salad Box Scala Assistance Simartis Telekom Smartbill Softelligence SRL Symme3D Symmetrica Synchro SRL Temad Thinslices Transavia Tremend Vola.ro Zitec The final 15 companies selected by the Jury will be announced on April 3rd during a dedicated Made in Romania gala. The companies will then participate in a special mentorship program which will run between April and November 2017. Every month between April and November 2017 will have a different theme, such as marketing and branding, strategy and innovation, audit or financing for growth. Based on the theme of the particular month, a number of top-quality workshops, trainings and 1-to-1 meetings will be organized for the companies’ dedicated teams/employees. Through such organization, within the 8 months BVB together with the partners will have a chance at inciting innovation and best practices at the selected companies and thus supporting their growth. The project is offered to the companies free of charge and is voluntary. The project is conducted together with Banca Transilvania Group, Google, Horvath & Partners, Mazars and NN. Entrepreneurship Academy, Inoveo, Romanian Business Leaders foundation and portal start-up.ro are the official supporters. Article originally published here.

  On 14 December, representatives from the European Business Angels associations, Polish Business Angels Networks, local stakeholders and polish Business Angels held a meeting for the Early Stage Investing Launchpad Pilot in Warsaw, Poland. The meeting took place in the former headquarters of the Central Committee of the Polish Communist Party, bringing a heightened sense of historical significance to the proceedings. Michal Cieminski, Chairman of Platinum Investors and EBAN Board Member opened the meeting and moderated the pitching session held at the event with 5 startups participating. EBAN was also represented by President Emeritus Brigitte Baumann, who led a workshop on due diligence and angel investing. The meeting revolved around the topic of building Investment Funds and sharing Early Stage Investing best practices. Attendees had the chance to hear success stories from Business Angels who invested in and made a successful exit from the Polish startup Rankomat.  View the meeting agenda here. Michal Cieminski, Chairman of Platinum Investors and EBAN Board Member  

Taking into account the increased importance and presence of Business Angels and the growth in the entrepreneurial ecosystem throughout the entire CEE region, EBAN is delighted to announce the launch of the EBAN CEE Community. The EBAN CEE Community groups Business Angel Networks, Business Angels, Accelerators and Incubators in the following countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Turkey, Greece, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Austria and Serbia with the goal to strengthen cooperation amongst the participating members.  The CEE Community is chaired by CRANE President Davorin Štetner together with the Vice-Chairs Branko Drobnak and Panagiotis Ketikidis, respectively Business Angels of Slovenia President and HeBAN Co-Founder. As with the other Committees and Communities within EBAN, we are delighted to have a member of the EBAN Board of Directors – Selma Prodavonic from the Austrian Angel Investors Association. The EBAN CEE Community will be involved in a series of activities such as training courses, webinars, demo day events, etc. all aimed at allowing knowledge and best practice sharing within the broader EBAN community and promoting co-investment amongst the CEE Business Angel networks EBAN  is pleased to be taking this important step to further its mission to empower early stage investors and ecosystem stakeholders across Europe to professionally and efficiently carry out their operations.

iEurope had a great Investment Forum in Budapest on 23 September. iEurope is one of the pioneering VC’s in the CEE Countries with great backers including Howard Morgan, Esther Dyson, Karen Gordon Mills, Gil Penchina and Thomas Lehrman. iEurope’s Co-Founding Partners, Kristina Perkin Davison, and Laszlo Czirjak along with partner Miklos Kovacs are focused on investing in the region’s early stage technology companies and assisting them to become world players. The Investment Forum featured iEurope’s partners, Kristina Perkin Davison, Laszlo Czirjak, and Miklos Kovacs, who through iEurope, is a co-founder of the Hungarian Business Angels. It was a wonderful opportunity for Hungarian Business Angels, Slovenia Business Angels, Slovakian Business Angels, and Croatian Business Angels to come together and was a great occasion to also see our EBANInvest company, enbrite.ly, where at least 20 of our network members have invested and which is doing very well.

On 14-16 September 2016, The University of Warsaw Library hosted one of the greatest and most prestigious conferences presenting scientific research on innovative business processes: the 9th Annual EuroMed Conference on innovation, entrepreneurship and digital ecosystems. The Conference Inauguration was chaired by Prof. Katarzyna Śledziewska – Executive Director of DELab UW. Representatives of the conference sponsors welcomed the participants with speeches: Mariola Belina-Prażmowska – Pelion SA, Bartłomiej Żerek – Adamed Group, Sebastian Grabowski – Orange Poland, and dr Marek Prawda, the Head of the European Commission Representation in Poland. The Inauguration was honoured by Prof. Maciej Duszczyk, the Vice-Rector of the University of Warsaw and Candace Johnson, the President of EBAN (European Business Angel Network). EMBRI (EuroMed Research Business Institute) was represented by Prof. Demetris Vrontis and Prof. Yaakov Weber. Candace Johnson gave a one of a kind workshop  (“The Missing Link”) on the cooperation between startups, scientists and corporations. Candace drew attention to the challenges startups need to overcome, shared advices on entrepreneurship and accented the crucial role of positive and self-confident way of thinking. Candace told the story of her first business started at the age of 23: the problems she solved and the hardships she conquered. The highly involved audience asked many questions regarding the development of their own startups. Candace also emphasised the important role of women in business and on the labour market. She introduced the inspiring story of a group of women at the Pacific Islands, who developed their own communication network with satellites, providing Internet connection for the entire region. According to Candace, the most valuable achievement is to turn an idea into an innovation. Contemporary economy is based on innovations, which are introduced by startups to a large extent: that is why big corporations should cooperate with innovative young firms. However, there is a “missing link”, as corporations expect similar organisational procedures and business culture from the more agile and innovative, but less formal and financially constrained startups. Startups need the support of business angels, who invest their own money into startups, giving their own experience and not counting on immediate return. Read more about the conference and the workshop given by Candace Johnson.

On 25-26 August, EBAN and a number of its members were invited by the President of Croatia, H.E. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović to participate in and speak at the Three Seas — Adriatic, Baltic, and Black — Conference – Strengthening Europe: Connecting North and South. Six Presidents from Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovenia and more than 20 ministers from Austria, Slovakia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Latvia came together in this historic city to discuss: “Strengthening EU Energy Security: Connecting the Three Seas”. The conference focused on energy, security, transport, and business opportunities. The role of Business Angels in fostering private investment in all these areas was given a priority at the conference which closed with a panel on “Angel Investments – Supporting the Start-Up Community in the Three Seas Area” moderated and organized by Davorin Stetner, President of Croatian Business Angels Network, and including EBAN President, Candace Johnson, EBAN Board Member and Vice President of the Austrian Angel Investors Association, Selma Prodanovic, President of Hungarian Business Angels, Antal Karolyi, and President of Business Angels of Slovenia, Branko Drobnak. The Conference was also joined by General James Jones, former U.S. National Security Advisor to President Obama and Mr. Liu Haixing, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China and Secretary-General of the Secretariat for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries. The second day of the Dubrovnik Forum began with a “Geopolitical Discussion” by the Foreign Ministers of the 20 countries of the “Three Seas” region. Here, everything was put on the table – migration, lack of funding by EU and private investors, the conflict in Ukraine, the problems of the EU neighborhoods from the East and the South, Brexit and the possible lack of defense to be assumed more and more by NATO, the need (or not) to integrate the Western Balkans into the European House, the lack of jobs and more. There was also positive recognition of the advances made by the region and the EU, the perspective of peace and prosperity for the more than 130 million people of the Three Seas Region, the successful collaborations between countries of the region which had led to improved infrastructure, be it energy, transport, digital highways, etc. The Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey made a poignant plea to not forget all that Turkey has done in the last six decades to help Europe. When it came time for the Business Angels to take the floor, the message was more than positive.  Cooperation between all countries of the Three Seas is abundant among the region’s Business Angel Networks and Syndicates.  Instead of fighting, Ukraine’s UAngel and Russia’s National Business-Angels Association cooperate.  Even small angel funds such as the one presided over by the Hungarian Business Angel Network‘s President Antal Karolyi, invested 2.7 million Euros and enabled 100 new jobs. Business Angels of Slovenia President Branko Drobnak spoke of a spate of new entrepreneurs growing up in Slovenia. Austrian Angel Investors Association Vice President Selma Prodanovic pointed to the cooperation between the Austrian government and the business angel community to help “scale-up” start-ups through mentoring and smart money.  EBAN President Candace Johnson spoke of the role that one of Europe’s first Business Angels, Count de Kergolay had played in helping create SES, Societe Europeene des Satellites from Luxembourg and making it be the largest satellite system in the world, born in Europe from one of Europe’s smallest country, Luxembourg! EBAN’s role in creating ABAN (African Business Angels Network) and MBAN (Middle East North Africa Business Angels Network) was highlighted in the EU’s Eastern and Southern neighborhoods where we all co-invest across borders to help our entrepreneurs access the growing EMEA Market.  The women were not to be forgotten with Croatia’s President and the Rising Tide Europe initiative evoked several times. Moreover, EBAN is very proud of the role it has played to help spark the Turkish Entrepreneurial Eco-System and our partnership with the Turkish Borsa which has resulted in Angel Investors being able to invest in start-ups around the world via the Turkish Borsa. A particularly happy moment during the conference was the signing of the agreement between CRANE (Croatian Business Angel Network) and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, attended by the President of Croatia, (see picture above).  This is a beautiful example of the agreement already signed between EBAN and the International Chamber of Commerce to foster and promote Business Angels and entrepreneurs. EBAN would like to thank Davorin Stetner, Advisor to the President of Croatia and President of the Croatian Business Angels Network (CRANE) who has organized the participation of EBAN at this important conference. CRANE is also organizing the EBAN Winter University in Zagreb, on 28-30 November, under the Honorary Presidency of the Croatian President. More pictures from the event are available on EBAN’s Facebook page.

UAngel, the Ukrainian Business Angels Network, celebrated its second birthday on July 21 in Kyiv. During the event the team shared insights on the activity of the club, as well as an overview of activity of investors of early stages in Ukraine. Within two years since its launch UAngel has grown 3,5 times, engaging 35 members – both private investors and family offices. During this time UAngel members invested in 87 companies, 7 of which are group syndicates, totaling in $7 million. An average check of an angel varies between $20 000-$60 000, while every third of the group members have already invested around $500 000 in innovative companies. UAngel has distinguished activity of one of the members, giving an award of «The Best Performing Investor» to family office Digital Future  that was voted to be the most active investor in Ukraine in 2015, following by closing 6 deals in the first half of 2016. UAngel was happy to welcome Paulo Andrez, President Emeritus of EBAN, who delivered a workshop on Risk Mitigation for group members. The event included a press-brifing, workshop on Risk Mitigation by Paulo Andrez, pitching session of 5 IT companies, concluded by a holiday buffet. UAngel continues its activity in Ukraine, active deal sourcing and looking into possibilities of cross-border syndicates and growth.

Hungarian BAN just had their first DEMO day event where 40 attendees, including partner BANs in Croatia and Slovenia, listened to the pitches of 7 companies from a variety of industries. HBAN Demo Day Teams: Avatao –  high-quality, hands-on exercises for IT security training. avatao is a spinoff company of CrySyS Lab, well-known for its top-tier research on advanced cyber attacks and for its world top 10 hacker team. Edukado –  cloud-based content authoring platform for textbook publishers to bring their product offering to the digital era. Founders are alumni of the University of Cambridge and Bain&Co, and exited a boutique educational services firm. Enikam –  Enikam’s Oxilver product is a part of innovative therapeutic cosmetic line, joining together a medical, pharmaceuticals and modern cosmetology. Invoice Exchange –  the first organized marketplace for B2B receivables and operates on the same basic principles as other established financial exchanges worldwide. Drunk2Drive –  allows people to hire a driver who takes them and their car home safe, e.g. when they drink alcohol and do not want to drive. Torus Awards –  Torus Awards™ is the annual awards ceremony for the Share for Help™ campaign. The Share for Help™ platform is a video-sharing source much like YouTube™, Vimeo™ and Vine™ except, exclusively for altruistic content. Csupor – Csupor was the first craft beer brand from Hungary winning gold medals in international beer competitions. Distributors and pubs are begging for their fabulous beer from all around the world, so they have to invest in manufacturing capacity. Read more about the event from the Hungarian BAN press release and look at the photos.

For the first time ever, Romania played host to a Business Angel conference focused on investment opportunities in European emerging markets. Organised by the Romanian Business Angels, the first day of the event centred around SME, investor and government collaboration, with pitches and networking taking place the second day at the National Institute for Research and Development in Physics and Nuclear Engineering at Magurele. Finally, the gracious hosts led their visitors around a number of  tourist attractions in Bucharest.