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#EAIS24 RECAP | Press Release

EBAN Team

Celebrating 25 Years of Innovation and Collaboration at EAIS24

EBAN proudly celebrated its 25th anniversary at this year’s European Angel Investment Summit (EAIS24). The two-day event brought together angel investors, startups, and industry experts for a dynamic programme of workshops, keynote sessions, and networking opportunities, including the prestigious 25th anniversary gala dinner to honour the past, present, and future of angel investing.

Key Highlights from EAIS24

At EAIS24, we reflected on our journey through the history of angel investing—what has succeeded, what hasn’t, and what will continue to thrive. We were honoured by the presence of Erkki Liikanen, former EU Commissioner in 1999 and current chairman of IFRS Foundation, together with EBAN Co-founders Rudy Aernoudt and Peter Jungen, 3 figures that were integral in the creation of EBAN and in the advancement of angel investing in Europe. Looking to the future, keynote Kerstin Jorna, director of DG GROW, highlighted the need to help startups enter the market while ensuring growth potential. Our forum sessions explored making angel investing more mainstream by expanding educational programs and creating syndicates, especially for women. We discussed the role of government in fostering public-private co-investments, sharing best practices from Austria, Norway, Finland, and NACO. Additionally, we examined syndication models and the potential for streamlining regulations across Europe to enable faster, more cost-effective cross-border deals.

Nynke Tigchelaar, keynote and head of The European Defense Fund (EDF) highlighted the current effort to remove investing barriers and a strong focus on SMEs and DefenceTech  startups. The aim is to raise awareness, and create a solid, European based foundation for DefenceTech related innovation incentives, avoiding the need of creating external dependencies. To resolve this, the European defence Innovation team initiative is underway with its main focus on supporting the development of DefenceTech, along with a business accelerating and investor / startup matchmaking programme. Additionally, a dedicated DefenceTech  forum was held, featuring sessions on how the EU supports DefenceTech  startups and investors, the opportunities and challenges of investing in defence and dual-use technologies, how the EIF supports DefenceTech  startups and investors, and DefenceTech  startup pitches.

On the topic of Deeptech, Anne Glover, CEO of Amadeus Capital Partners and keynote speaker, defines deeptech as “Unique, differentiated and defensible solutions to hard problems in large markets”. Having a broad range for investing opportunities, Glover believes that maintaining investment optimism is critical when assessing DeepTech startup potential and to always keep the bottom line of scalability in mind. DeepTech tackles global challenges such as healthcare, urban environment, industrial demand and food / farm, making it a prominent and diversified domain for innovative startups. The world requires deeptech solutions with clever business models to help reduce adoption barriers. We also organised a DeepTech forum that featured sessions on BioTech investment trends and a BioTech pitching showcase (both powered by Bionanopolys), discussions on advancing diversity in DeepTech, a Women in Tech pitching showcase (powered by Women TechEU), as well as insights into AI trends in the DeepTech sector and HealthTech investing.

EBAN has released its latest policy paper, outlining pressing challenges faced by the EU’s startup landscape and offers 7 key recommendations for EU and national policymakers to help foster a more sustainable and supportive startup and angel investor ecosystem, its Statistics Compendium 2023, which offers a snapshot of the current landscape in angel investing across Europe and finally, its 25 year booklet, taking the reader through a journey of angel investing history, from humble beginnings up to what EBAN is today.

As we close EAIS24, we are both proud and inspired by the energy and innovation displayed by our community. Special congratulations to all of our award winners who continue to push the boundaries of angel investing and startup ecosystems across Europe.

Startup Competition Winners

We are dedicated to promoting innovation and empowering entrepreneurs who drive change. In this spirit, we are thrilled to congratulate the winners of our startup competition. Your groundbreaking ideas and commitment to progress inspire us all.

🥇Orbotix
🥇Ningaloo
🥇Mentessa

We hope to hear your success stories soon and of course to have you pitch at EBAN events again in the future!

Award Winners Announced

At the anniversary Gala Dinner, EBAN recognized outstanding contributions with the following awards:

Riku Asikainen, Ivar Siimar, Marcel Dridje, Albert Colomer i Espinet, Selma Prodanovic

InvestEU, DG GROW, EEN, EUIPO – European Union  Intellectual Property Office, ABAN, NACO Canada, and Angel Capital Association

Peter Cowley, Harry ‘Tomi Davies, Candace Johnson, Paulo Andrez, Prof. Rudy Aernoudt, Brigitte Baumann Gervais, Erkki Liikanen, Peter Jungen

Announcing the New EBAN Board

We are also excited to introduce the new EBAN Board to serve until October 2026:

We also announced Janne Jormalainen as President Emeritus of EBAN, in recognition of his strong leadership and contributions during his term as President from 2020 to 2024. He joins the distinguished ranks of past EBAN presidents, including Peter Cowley (2018-2020), Candace Johnson (2014-2018), Paulo Andrez (2012-2014), Brigitte Baumann (2009-2012), Anthony Clarke (2004-2009), and Peter Jungen (2001-2004). We also extend our sincere thanks to Selma Prodanovic, who served as Vice President during the same period, for her dedicated service. We are deeply grateful for both Janne’s and Selma’s commitment to advancing EBAN’s mission over the past four years

Huge Thanks 

EBAN extends its appreciation to everyone who participated, our partners, speakers, and the incredible team and volunteers who made EAIS24 a remarkable success. 

Firstly, we wish to show our gratitude to our partners who made it possible for us to host this event:  InvestEU Portal, EEN, DG DEFIS, Women TechEU, Bionanopolys, EGG/ Eurobank, NRW.BANK, & Hessen Trade & Invest GmbH. 

We also want to express our deepest thanks to all the inspiring speakers who shared their insights and expertise as well as to our amazing volunteers (Urša Malačič, Samuel Ribeiro, Alakshendra Singh, Domenik Djatšuk, Sarah Eisert)) and our photographer  Michael Chia.

And lastly, this event would simply not be the same without all of you! To every attendee who played their part in enriching EAIS24 with the bright spark of innovation as well as all startups that were present: THANK YOU!

What’s Next for EBAN?

We’re already looking ahead to the future, with our sights set on the EBAN Congress in June 2025, taking place in Copenhagen. Co-hosted with DanBAN, this event promises to be another milestone gathering for angel investors and startups. Additionally, don’t miss our upcoming Masterclass in Agrifood, co-organized with EIT Food in Barcelona. And if you re wondering about the next Summit, save the date for 28-29 October 2025. See You in Copenhagen next June!

Check Out #EAIS24 Photos