2018 EBAN SOFIA ANNUAL CONGRESS WAS SUCCESSFUL

USPA NEWS - On 25-27 June, Business Angels, VCs, corporates, policy-makers, and innovators from across the world gathered at the memorable Central Military Club in Sofia, Bulgaria for the 2018 EBAN Annual Congress, titled "A Journey to the Digital Discovery and Transformation of our Universe".

After a grand opening ceremony featuring EBAN President Candace Johnson, EBAN President Emeriti, and other distinguished guests, EBAN Sofia dived straight into EBAN's purpose of the Annual Congress: angel investing.

One of the standouts was the much anticipated and lively session featuring Dušan Stojanović, Founder, and Director of True Global Ventures and Dr. Barbara Lang, Partner at InnoExc GmbH Switzerland, who presented two views on ICOs and dug deep into the token and crypto frenzy overtaking the early stage investment market.

The talks were followed by a panel discussion with Brad Yasar, Managing Partner of KrowdMentor, and Dirk Weyel, Founder & CEO of Strykz, along with the keynote speakers. The panel was moderated by Peter Cowley, Chair of the Cambridge Angels.

As business angels and startups are two sides of the same coin, EBAN Sofia offered some great sessions and workshops tailor-made for entrepreneurs wanting to take their companies to the next level.

Hans Van Grieken, EMEA Technology Research & Insights Leader at Deloitte Consulting opened the second day of the Congress with a spectacular presentation on the DNA of Scaleups. He was followed by Martin Bloom, CEO of Emblem Ventures, Murat Aktihanoglu, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, EBAN Partners London Stock Exchange's ELITE - represented by Andrew Velasco, ELITE Club Deal Manager, and more!

The EBAN Sofia Startup Competition was sponsored and facilitated by the European Investment Project Portal, who provided travel sponsorships for selected companies and coordinated one-to-one meetings held throughout the 2 days of the Congress.

The European Investment Project Portal was represented at EBAN Sofia by Filipa Ramalho, Policy Officer at the European Commission, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, who presented the platform and all that it does to connect startups and investors across Europe in a keynote speech on 25 June.

On 26 June, the second day of the EBAN Sofia Congress, EBAN elected a new President and Board of Directors for the 2018-2020 mandate. As part of the election, Peter Cowley, Chair of the Cambridge Angels and Investment Director at Martlet was elected as EBAN President. EBAN would like to extend a warm welcome to EBAN's new leadership, made up of 11 returning and 12 new Board Members.

Alain TCHEGNON

Source : EBAN