This guide gives an overview of the public funding and financial opportunities that are available in Europe for space-related business. We are indeed at a turning point in terms of public finance in Europe and it is not easy to navigate through the numerous available options, especially for startups and small companies. {{ vc_btn:title=Download+the+report&style=flat&color=danger&align=center&link=url%3Ahttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.eban.org%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2020%252F05%252FSpace-Funding-Gateway.pdf%7C%7Ctarget%3A%2520_blank%7C }} Watch Alexandre Mencik’s webinar organised by EBAN Space in conjunction with SpaceUp (space-academy.eu)     If the link on the picture does not work, please follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRhe23tP88w

Nesta has published a new report, Paths to Scale: Finance Lessons from European Entrepreneurs, a practical guide for entrepreneurs in Europe wishing to raise external funds to grow their business. The report aims to educate and inspire entrepreneurs by offering practical tips illustrated by stories from scaleup founders. Key findings: The stories of European entrepreneurs in this report illustrate various “paths to scale”, along with the opportunities and challenges that entrepreneurs face when trying to finance their growing business. The diversity of their experiences demonstrates that there is not one path to growth, but many. The type(s) of capital raised is the product of an entrepreneur’s assessment of the added-value of one source of capital over the other (e.g., business validation, mentoring, access to networks and markets, etc.), and perceived suitability for their business (e.g., terms of the investment, cost of capital, growth prospects, etc.). Combining different types of finance is common practice. Various intermediary tools and steps exist to ease the process and keep the business afloat in between and during funding rounds. There is an array of resources and support available for entrepreneurs. From grants to investors’ networks, we have listed both European- and country-level resources that offer support to entrepreneurs throughout their growth journeys. {{ vc_btn:title=Download&style=flat&color=danger&align=center&link=url%3Ahttps%253A%252F%252Fmedia.nesta.org.uk%252Fdocuments%252FNesta_scaling_stories_Online_v5_1.pdf%7C%7Ctarget%3A%2520_blank%7C }}

Research from Mind the Bridge shows that 67% of the European scaleups are located around one or maximum two cities per country. That means that the innovation economy in Europe is heavily concentrated in about 50 main hubs, while all the other cities and municipalities – that have been the backbone of the European economy traditionally – face the risk to be increasingly marginalized. This growing gap could potentially trigger disaggregation and separatisms. The following report is the first effort from Mind the Bridge to measure the impact of the “innovation economy” at a granular scale, in particular, focusing on the role that cities have in the concentration of innovation hubs. Most importantly, their focus lies in the analysis of the potential of development for future hubs of innovation in Europe. How to unleash such potential becomes critical for the future economic development of cities, regions, and countries. In addition to analyzing the current “tech innovation hubs” of Europe, we go deeper in nding leverages that the current “tier-two” startup cities can use to step up their game and unleash their real potential.

EBAN is happy to present the “Preparing for an Exit – Advice for SMEs thinking about selling their business” report written by Nick Pearch. Nick Pearch is an independent director and strategic advisor for developing international businesses. He is currently Chairman of Roberts Metal Packaging, Blue H Group Technologies and a director of Boatbookings, Gratnells, M4G and MeetingSphere. He also manages a small investment fund focussed on European Technology companies. Nick was previously Chairman of United Transport International, Denby Group plc and Path Group as well as Chairman & CEO of Aurigny Air Services. In his executive career Nick was Managing Director of Dyson Appliances International during its rapid expansion. He also jointly led the successful MBO, IPO and eventual sale of Taunton Cider plc. In all his roles, Nick’s primary goal is the creation and realisation of shareholder value. He has achieved several successful exits for investors. Download here the report: Preparing for an Exit – Advice for SMEs Thinking about Selling Their Business

EBAN would like to disseminate an excellent toolkit that was created by VTT in the framework of the AAL2Business Support Action. This toolkit is an excellent publication on business model development. Although it focuses concretely on the Active and Assisted Living sector, entrepreneurs from other sectors might find it handy too! It tackle the design (“How to design business models and value propositions”), the testing (“How to validate business models in AAL projects”) and the learning (“How to analyse what is learnt in AAL projects”). Copyright: Report titled “Business Model Development Toolkit for AAL Projects“, July 2017 Author(s): Arto Wallin and Pasi Pussinen, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland LTD Responsible Administrator: AAL Association  Brussels Download

EBAN is pleased to present its latest research report focused on understanding the reasons why angel investors choose not to invest in early stage SMEs. The report, titled “Why Business Angels Do Not Invest”, is based on direct responses received from EBAN members and participants of our investor training workshops organized during the years of 2016-2017. 683 participants from 41 different countries, the vast majority of them being active angel investors, participated in a brief 8-question survey administered at the end of each workshop. In this report, you will find an aggregation of the survey results with a brief commentary explaining the main findings.

SWEAT, NETWORKS, EQUITY – Guide to Finding an Angel Investment – has been written by Sami Etula, a sweat equity investor and active meber of Fiban, with the aim to help all enterpreneurs wondering where and how to find business angel investment.   The Guide will provide information on everything that you need in order to apply for angel investment.: How a business angel thinks and what motivates him or her? What, how and under what terms do angels invest? What issues in your company need to be in order before you apply? What do business angels check in a company? How do I determine the valuation of my company? How is a pitch made? Please downlaod the guide at below link: http://etula.fi/pdfs/guide_to_finding_an_angel_investment.pdf

This publication is the result of an agreement signed between EBAN and HBAN with the purpose of serving the organisations’ mutual goals of increasing the quantity, quality and success of angel investments in Europe, thus creating a better understanding of angel investment for potential new angel investors and entrepreneurs. The current document is an adaptation of the original version “Raising Business Angel Investment Insights for Entrepreneurs” which was initially targeted to the Irish market. The reproduction and/ or adaptation of this guide by other parties is subject to approval of EBAN and HBAN. Executive summary This guide has been prepared to demystify the equity raising process for entrepreneurs. Raising external equity is very different to raising other types of finance. The following tips are developed further in this guide: » The relationship between investor and entrepreneur is like a marriage but one with a planned divorce; » tarting building the relationship early, ideally before you need any money; » Undertake due diligence on your potential investor and find out what is attractive to them; » Make sure that every contact with a potential investor addresses the top three investment criteria (management, exit and revenue potential) in some form; » The best exit is a trade sale for cash…it usually maximises value for all shareholders; » The revenue potential of your company must demonstrate a scalable business that is capable of producing significant returns for an investor; » The best business plans have a great executive summary – the point of an executive summary is to succinctly sell the investment opportunity, not to just describe the business; » A compelling and fully costed business plan is essential; » Be on top of, and understand, the numbers; » Founders should have ideally had made or intend to make a cash equity investment in the company, i.e. have ‘skin in the game’; » Have a realistic valuation expectation – the investor has to make an attractive return on their investment; » An equity deal is not just about the headline valuation; and » An apparently attractive high valuation can be undermined by high liquidation preference multiples. Raising external equity is rewarding and worthwhile if it accelerates the growth of your business.  If an external investor is getting an attractive return then you are likely to be getting an even better return. This is a win-win.