Periodic Reporting for period 2 - 4NGELS (4NGELS Programme)
Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-02-28
Startups are essential for driving innovation and economic growth. To flourish, attracting capital is crucial for startups, especially in the early stages. 4NGELS supported this by concentrating on business angels, who play a crucial role as early-stage investors. The project linked together strong and moderate European business angel networks, sharing successful cross-border cooperation models from Estonia and Finland with Poland and Slovenia. The project activities included:
- Analysis of startup investment ecosystems in 4NGELS countries, identifying successful initiatives, understanding market conditions and legal frameworks
- Trust-building activities such as cross-border startup pitching events and market-specific study visits
- Creation of practical investor guidebooks based on the gained knowledge, covering market-specific and legal aspects along with general best practices
- Organising investor and startup training sessions in all 4NEGLS countries including cross-border syndication process
- Analysis of startup investment ecosystems in 4NGELS countries, identifying successful initiatives, understanding market conditions and legal frameworks
- Trust-building activities such as cross-border startup pitching events and market-specific study visits
- Creation of practical investor guidebooks based on the gained knowledge, covering market-specific and legal aspects along with general best practices
- Organising investor and startup training sessions in all 4NEGLS countries including cross-border syndication process
Project Management: 3 in-person consortium meetings took place and weekly consortium meetings were organized to reguarly monitore progress, and manage the budget. PO has been regularly informed about the progress.
Mapping of Investment Ecosystems: Research and stakeholder interviews were completed and a survey among business angels with 91 replies was conducted, and the results were shared with stakeholders as well as used for designing the training programmes. Desktop research was done about the investment ecosystems of Estonia, Finland, Slovenia and Poland, and 14 expert interviews with stakeholders from all four countries were conducted to get insights for compiling Guidebooks on all 4 countries' ecosystems. 4 investor guidebooks were published and downloaded 579 times.
Trust building events: Study Visits were organised to Estonia, Finland, Slovenia and Poland to create connections between investors and raise know-how about the ecosystems. 19 business angels attended the Estonian Study Visit and attended Latitude59. 33 business angels attended the Finnish Study Visit organised during the SLUSH week. In Slovenia, 35 participants attended the study visit, organized during the PODIM conference. In Poland, there were 30 attendees in the study visit that was organized during the week of the Deep tech summit.
4 cross-border startup pitching events were held during the Study Visits with the startups selected for the pitching. The aim was for investors to get info about the dealflows in the 4NGELS countries and to find new investment opportunities. 16 trustbuiding events were organized to increase investors’ cross-border investment knowledge and specific market knowledge of the European Innovation ecosystem. These events included the kick-off events for the training programmes, #invest2 training sessions, #invest2 experience sharing sessions and coffee mornings.
Open calls and trainings for Investors: open calls for investors were launched at the beginning of both training programmes, resulting in remarkable participation. In Estonia, 76 investors registered (72% cross-border rate). In Finland, 82 investors registered (32% cross-border rate). In Slovenia, 46 investors have registered for the trainings (85% cross-border rate). In Poland 143 investors have applied to the trainings (25% cross-border rate). In total 347 investors applied.
As investors were able to joing the sessions after the open call, even more investors completed the trainings - 461 in total (90 in Estonia; 84 in Finland, 87 in Slovenia and 200 in Poland).
16 training sessions were delivered.
Open calls and trainings for startups: The open calls for startups were launched for all batches, resulting in remarkable participation. 751 startups applied for the cross-border syndicates and the 4NGELS study programme, demonstrating widespread interest and engagement. The open calls attracted 177 startup applications in Finland (from 10 countries) and 353 applications in Estonia, representing candidates from over 60 countries. In Slovenia, 68 startups have applied and in Poland 153 applications from the startups were received. Notably, the selected TOP startups (70) come from various countries, including Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Slovenia. In addition to strong representation from this region, even countries like the USA, South Korea, and Peru were represented, underscoring the global reach of the project. 70 startups were trained and 14 sessions were delivered.
The 4NGELS was very active in disseminting and communicating about the project activities: 161 newsletters were sent out, over 280 social media posts were shared. The guidebooks were downloaded over 579 times. We've also collaborated with 15 international projects, resuting in a high reach of participants from other countires (over 60 countries).
Mapping of Investment Ecosystems: Research and stakeholder interviews were completed and a survey among business angels with 91 replies was conducted, and the results were shared with stakeholders as well as used for designing the training programmes. Desktop research was done about the investment ecosystems of Estonia, Finland, Slovenia and Poland, and 14 expert interviews with stakeholders from all four countries were conducted to get insights for compiling Guidebooks on all 4 countries' ecosystems. 4 investor guidebooks were published and downloaded 579 times.
Trust building events: Study Visits were organised to Estonia, Finland, Slovenia and Poland to create connections between investors and raise know-how about the ecosystems. 19 business angels attended the Estonian Study Visit and attended Latitude59. 33 business angels attended the Finnish Study Visit organised during the SLUSH week. In Slovenia, 35 participants attended the study visit, organized during the PODIM conference. In Poland, there were 30 attendees in the study visit that was organized during the week of the Deep tech summit.
4 cross-border startup pitching events were held during the Study Visits with the startups selected for the pitching. The aim was for investors to get info about the dealflows in the 4NGELS countries and to find new investment opportunities. 16 trustbuiding events were organized to increase investors’ cross-border investment knowledge and specific market knowledge of the European Innovation ecosystem. These events included the kick-off events for the training programmes, #invest2 training sessions, #invest2 experience sharing sessions and coffee mornings.
Open calls and trainings for Investors: open calls for investors were launched at the beginning of both training programmes, resulting in remarkable participation. In Estonia, 76 investors registered (72% cross-border rate). In Finland, 82 investors registered (32% cross-border rate). In Slovenia, 46 investors have registered for the trainings (85% cross-border rate). In Poland 143 investors have applied to the trainings (25% cross-border rate). In total 347 investors applied.
As investors were able to joing the sessions after the open call, even more investors completed the trainings - 461 in total (90 in Estonia; 84 in Finland, 87 in Slovenia and 200 in Poland).
16 training sessions were delivered.
Open calls and trainings for startups: The open calls for startups were launched for all batches, resulting in remarkable participation. 751 startups applied for the cross-border syndicates and the 4NGELS study programme, demonstrating widespread interest and engagement. The open calls attracted 177 startup applications in Finland (from 10 countries) and 353 applications in Estonia, representing candidates from over 60 countries. In Slovenia, 68 startups have applied and in Poland 153 applications from the startups were received. Notably, the selected TOP startups (70) come from various countries, including Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Slovenia. In addition to strong representation from this region, even countries like the USA, South Korea, and Peru were represented, underscoring the global reach of the project. 70 startups were trained and 14 sessions were delivered.
The 4NGELS was very active in disseminting and communicating about the project activities: 161 newsletters were sent out, over 280 social media posts were shared. The guidebooks were downloaded over 579 times. We've also collaborated with 15 international projects, resuting in a high reach of participants from other countires (over 60 countries).
The project’ results and the expected impacts were achieved and went beyond of what was foreseen. Project partners have delivered project activities on a high level and the following results can be highlighted:
The project has brought together 600+ investors from all over the EU, creating trust-based connections and therefore, enabling more cross-border investments to happen. These cross-border investments will help the startups to grow and scale, creating a wider impact of societal and economic benefits. Over 700 startups have applied to the programme and 200k EUR have already been invested in startups by the 4NGELS investors. 2 more syndicate investments are in process.
Since making the investment decision means taking the risk to invest in a very high-risk asset class, the project did not promise the syndication process to be completed with an investment. Still, results beyond the state of art were achieved by attracting a strong deal flow of startups, matching the expectations of the syndicate group. The Latitude59 EstBAN 4NGELS cross-border syndicate achieved tangible results, with two investments totaling €100k each
The project has created close connections between the project partners, encouraging peer-to-peer learning between strong BANs and emerging BANs. Contacts, best practices, knowledge, and experience have been shared between partners on weekly basis. This cooperation has already led to further collaboration ideas and also tangible opportunities, as FiBAN, EstBAN and Business Angels Slovenia are partnering in a new Horizon Europe project Connect2Scale, taking the 4NGELS experience and lessons learned further. The 4NGELS have cooperated with 15 international projects, resulting in a high reach of the target audience even outside the consortium countries.
The project consortium has developed a thorough understanding of how to encourage business angels to invest cross-border. The consortium has also understood that besides legal and tax issues, local business culture has a very high effect on investment decisions. Consortium partners and also involved investors have learned about the business culture of the 4 countries involved. All the valuable insights wree gathered into the public deliverable D1.2 „Validated Cross-border Investment methodology together with mapping exercise results“ and leveraged when putting together the D2.2 „Cross-Border Investment Guidebooks“. This will encourage further use of the lessons learned and will help to keep on working on increasing investments done cross-border.
The project has brought together 600+ investors from all over the EU, creating trust-based connections and therefore, enabling more cross-border investments to happen. These cross-border investments will help the startups to grow and scale, creating a wider impact of societal and economic benefits. Over 700 startups have applied to the programme and 200k EUR have already been invested in startups by the 4NGELS investors. 2 more syndicate investments are in process.
Since making the investment decision means taking the risk to invest in a very high-risk asset class, the project did not promise the syndication process to be completed with an investment. Still, results beyond the state of art were achieved by attracting a strong deal flow of startups, matching the expectations of the syndicate group. The Latitude59 EstBAN 4NGELS cross-border syndicate achieved tangible results, with two investments totaling €100k each
The project has created close connections between the project partners, encouraging peer-to-peer learning between strong BANs and emerging BANs. Contacts, best practices, knowledge, and experience have been shared between partners on weekly basis. This cooperation has already led to further collaboration ideas and also tangible opportunities, as FiBAN, EstBAN and Business Angels Slovenia are partnering in a new Horizon Europe project Connect2Scale, taking the 4NGELS experience and lessons learned further. The 4NGELS have cooperated with 15 international projects, resulting in a high reach of the target audience even outside the consortium countries.
The project consortium has developed a thorough understanding of how to encourage business angels to invest cross-border. The consortium has also understood that besides legal and tax issues, local business culture has a very high effect on investment decisions. Consortium partners and also involved investors have learned about the business culture of the 4 countries involved. All the valuable insights wree gathered into the public deliverable D1.2 „Validated Cross-border Investment methodology together with mapping exercise results“ and leveraged when putting together the D2.2 „Cross-Border Investment Guidebooks“. This will encourage further use of the lessons learned and will help to keep on working on increasing investments done cross-border.