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4th ESTER Meeting Tel-Aviv, 12-14 January 2005 Astrid Severin Innovation Policy Unit. Overview. Business Angel Networks in Europe PAXIS transfer of experience Gate2GRowth InvestorNet ERDF funding scheme in Ireland Future set-up. The equity gap. Business Angel Networks (BANs).
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4th ESTER Meeting Tel-Aviv, 12-14 January 2005 Astrid Severin Innovation Policy Unit
Overview • Business Angel Networks in Europe • PAXIS transfer of experience • Gate2GRowth InvestorNet • ERDF funding scheme in Ireland • Future set-up
Business Angel Networks (BANs) • Business Angels - private individuals investing part of their personal assets in a start-up and sharing personal business management experience with the entrepreneur • The concept first developed in the US-in Silicon Valley, California • European networks first appeared in the UK, the Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy • Australia is also home to intense informal venture capital activity (www.businessangels.com.au)
BAN set-up • Business Angel Networks (BAN) - organisations aiming to facilitate the matching of entrepreneurs with business angels (neutral, no evaluation of business plans or angels) • Most EU BANs legally set-up as private firms, non-profit organisations or possibly foundations in collaboration with banks, incubators, Chambers of Commerce or Regional Development Agencies • ERDF eligible regions have possibility of leveraging EU funds to co-finance BANs (LINC Scotland has been receiving ERDF subsidies from this channel)
Evolution of BANs • No of BANs has strongly evolved • In 2003, EBAN identified 196 networks and by mid-2004, 282 European networks • Germany from 1 to40, Spain from 0 to 11, UK from 49 to 101 • Israel from 0 to 2 • Czech Republic 2, Hungary 1, Poland 1, Malta 1, Slovenia 1, Russia 4…
PAXIS Business Angel Networks • HIGHEST - Networking between incubators and Business Angels • KREO - Creation of BANs in Karlsruhe and Lyon (2001-2002) • PANEL - Munich Business Angels • SPRING - Creation of Business Angel Forum Region Stuttgart e.V. and initiation of a Business Angel Network Madrid • START - Business Angel Network Management (Veneto)
UK - The environment • 1998 The University Challenge Fund (£60.0m for new projects and seed capital for new spinouts) • 2000 Higher Education Reach Out (£83.0m over three years to encourage academic spin-outs) • 2001 Public Sector Research Exploitation (£25.0m to fund commercialisation of new technologies) • 2002 Higher Education Innovation Fund (£77m over three years to encourage academic spin-outs)
The Oxfordshire Investment Opportunity Network (OION) • Established in 1994 as part of Oxford Innovation • Linking early stage, high growth potential companies with investors • Technology- and Oxford-based, monthly mtgs • 120 + Active Investors: Individuals (syndicates), VCTs (Seed Capital), VCs (3i, MTI), Corporate investors (GSK, Unilever)
Transferring best practices • OION model presented and discussed during SPRING / KREO workshop on early stage financing • Business Angel Forum Region Stuttgart established • Both models basis for BAN Madrid area (project started in July 2004) • Cambridge BAN tools presented and transferred to in Stuttgart (2004)
PAXIS – Transfer of excellence • Transfer examples • Concept for creation of Business Angel Networks • Co-incubation of start-ups in biotechnology incubators • Euro-Office initiative supporting the internationalisation of SMEs • Combination and transfer of successful technology platform models (biotechnology, genomics, diagnostics)
Gate2Growth • Networks and services for entrepreneurs (Business Matching), investors (InvestorNet), technology incubator managers (IncubatorForum), industrial liaison and IPR managers (ProTon Europe) and academia (Academic Network) • www.gate2growth.com
InvestorNet • Enhancing the capacity of European early-stage venture capital operators to invest in innovative companies • Acceleration of EU cross-border contact and communication • Provision of central points for accumulation of knowledge • Cross-border networks of support organisations and ‘project generators’ (universities, science parks, incubators)
InvestorNet • Lessons learnt • Round table meetings enable personal contact within specific sectors but across borders • Investors are still find hard to find high quality investment opportunities • Investors main concern is exit possibility • Very difficult to identify potential investor members from new members states as technology focussed VC industry is underdeveloped
InvestorNet Round Table Meetings 2005 • ICT and Design March 2005London • Medical Devices April 14th-15th 2005Berlin • Energy Technology June 2005Scotland • Nutrition and Food technology July 2005Italy/Belgium • Biotechnology September, 2005Copenhagen • E-Content, E-Commerce and Media October, 2005tbd
Financing and the ERDF • The Irish Research Technology and Innovation (RTI) Competitive Grants Scheme • National Development Plan 2000-2006 (Operational Programme for the Productive Sector) • Scheme supports commercially focussed, industry-led projects in product and process development • Co-funded by the ERDF;Managed by Enterprise Ireland
Objective of RTI in Ireland • Helping companies to reach and exceed European and international norms for R&D investment • Increase • No of companies performing effective R&D • No of companies doing R&D for the first time • Investment in R&D in Ireland • Quality and quantity of the R&D linkages between companies and third level institutions and companies
Using the RTI Grant • Process and product development projects for companies with expenditure up to 95,200 Euro • Expenditure exclusive and essential to project (salaries, overheads, material for prototype tooling, travel, external consultancy incl. design) - 2 years
Assessment of applications • Technical feasibility and innovative quality • Accuracy of project planning and costing • Technical capacity and track record of company in R&D • Capacity to commercialise output of RTI results • Increase R&D capacity as result of project • Formal collaboration taking place (with other comapneis, R&D institutions, etc) More information: www.enterprise-ireland.com/rti
Future set-up PAXIS Gate2Growth Networking Innovation actors 1.2.1.4 Innovation &clusters 1.2.1.3 Coordination Collection Analysis Exploitation of results 2 Mio Euro EUROPEAN INNOVATION PORTAL
For more information • www.cordis.lu/paxis • www.gate2growth.com • www.eban.org • www.enterprise-ireland.com/rti alex.talacchi@cec.eu.int astrid.severin@cec.eu.int