Four years ago EBAN, GoBeyond, and Next Wave Impact joined forces on a mission to increase women’s participation in angel investing as an asset class, with EBAN President Emeriti Brigitte Baumann and Candace Johnson as co-founders. This was the very beginning of the Rising Tide Europe movement which now shows no signs of slowing down.
Today over 200 women from more than 30 countries across 5 different continents have taken part in one or more Rising Tide Europe learning-by-doing programmes, so far pooling over €3.5m and investing in 16 European early-stage companies. A comprehensive training curriculum on early-stage investing is an essential component of all the programmes. Designed by GoBeyond, training programmes are led by their experienced investors to equip the participants with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the world of early-stage startup investment. All the participants are now (or on the way to becoming) professional business angels and have the necessary knowledge, tools, and experience to continue to support innovative entrepreneurs.
The third iteration of the programme was announced in 2018, seeing the latest wave of female business angels currently joining the community. This programme is being steered by 9 women who have significant angel investing experience: Brigitte Baumann, EBAN President Emeritus and European Business Angel of the Year 2015 (Switzerland); Laureen Cook, institutional investor at IFC – World Bank (UK); Bettina Ernst, healthcare investor (Switzerland); Stavriana Kofteros, VP European Startup Network (Cyprus); Barbara Clarke, full- time business angel (USA); Dara Nikolova, tech and social impact investor (Luxembourg); Victoria Hernandez, EBAN member Fintech expert and serial Board/C-level in the Telecom industry (France); Anna Fedulow, Corporate Strategy & Growth expert (Germany); and Emma Kenny, advisor, investor & entrepreneur (UK).
Throughout all three editions of the programme, EBAN member networks and their members have participated as LPs and Deal Leaders in Rising Tide Europe, as well as providing deal flow. EBAN is proud to see the initiative thrive and continues to support it as part of its long history of leading the way for women angel investors and entrepreneurs.
Despite being a pan-European movement, participants from different countries regularly have the opportunity to come together and meet in-person. One of the most recent gatherings took place earlier in March, where over 60 participants from all 3 Rising Tide Europe programmes met for a full day workshop of angel investing training & best practice sharing. The event took place in Barcelona and was hosted and sponsored by CaixaBank.
The uniqueness of the Rising Tide Europe movement definitely lies in its amazing community which is driven by a clear purpose and a strong determination to make an impact through shared expertise and mutual support. In her interview with the Harvard Business School Alumni Newsletter, Maria Eugenia Giron, Rising Tide Europe co-founder, talks about the underlying mission of the movement and how this community creates opportunities for women in Europe and beyond (the full interview is available here).
It’s a movement that has mobilised over 200 women to come together around a common objective: that of financially educating women, investing in European startups and creating a unique network to increase women’s participation in angel investing. Together, the Limited Partners of Rising Tide Europe, are changing the world one deal at a time.
Contact – info@risingtide.eu
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