EBAN condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calls for Freedom of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Investing as a Vector of Peace
EBAN, the trade association representing business angels, condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calls for freedom of Innovation, entrepreneurship and investing as a vector of peace for Europe.
“Without freedom from tyranny and dictatorship, there can be no innovation, no entrepreneurship and no financial basis for investment” declared Janne Jormalainen, President of EBAN and President Emeritus of the Finnish Business Angels Network. For more than 2 decades, EBAN has cultivated strong mutually beneficial, peaceful and profitable cross-border relationships from Ireland in the West to the Urals and beyond in the East. The EBAN CEE Community, established in 2015, is one of the pillars of our organisation and we are proud to have helped create “U-Angels”, the first Business Angel network in Ukraine, back in 2014.
One need only look at the amazing creativity of Ukranian entrepreneurs behind such ventures as Grammarly – https://www.grammarly.com, Readdle – https://readdle.com/, and Ajax – https://ajax.systems/ to understand how their contribution has helped make the world a better place and to support the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the UN SDG’s, now more important than ever.
Several of our member organisations from the EBAN CEE community have experienced the horrors of war and the deprivation of the basic human right to create and succeed in entrepreneurial endeavours. Innovation is a generator and transmitter of peace and progress. Entrepreneurship unifies people across nations. Technology helps bring transparency, education, opportunities and a level playing field. It is this very premise upon which all Business Angels invest and promote.
At its core, EBAN is about international collaboration. We will continue now more than ever to support our Ukrainian colleagues, and entrepreneurs to fight and succeed for their freedom to create and innovate, even in the face of tyranny and naked aggression.
EBAN Board of Directors