As the chair of the World Business Angels Investment Forum 2016, it is a great pleasure to invite you to attend this year’s event, presented by the Global Business Angels Network and organised by EBAN (The European Trade Association For Early Stage Investment Market and Business Angels), MBAN (The MENA Business Angels Network), ABAN (The African Business Angels Network) and TBAA (The Turkish Business Angels Association).
The Forum will bring together the best small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from around the world, public authorities, angel investors, venture capitalists, executives of stock exchanges, and representatives of institutions that work to facilitate entrepreneurs’ access to finance, with the aim of taking measures that will facilitate entrepreneurs’ access to finance from start-up to the early exit phase.
Important players from the world’s major business angel investment ecosystems will join forces at this event to develop new financial instruments that will create more finance and liquidity for entrepreneurs, SMEs, innovators and start-ups.
Good news for Business Angels!
The Forum will also provide an opportunity for you to see some of the best startups of the region. Our forum is ending on Tuesday, and you may like to get a 5o-minute flight to Antalya for the biggest startup showcase of Turkey: Startup Turkey. It would be perfect to combine the World Business Angels Investment Forum with the Startup Turkey event on your itinerary.
Good news for Startups!
In addition to high-level policy speeches, we have parallel sessions for startups and business angels, where the best startups of various regions will have an opportunity to raise funds or secure angel investment from the forum participants. If you would like make a pitch to global angel investors at one of the following sub-forums, please send me an email at baltuntas@deulcom.com.tr
- Africa Angel Investment Forum
- Middle East & GCC Investment Forum
- South East Europe Investment Forum
- Turkey Investment Forum
Distinguished speakers confirmed so far:
- Jonathan Ortmans, Founder and Co-chair of the Global Business Angel Network (GBAN), President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and Kauffman Foundation Senior Fellow, who will deliver a keynote speech on the future trends of angel investment and the global entrepreneurial ecosystem.
- Anthony Gardner, US Ambassador the European Union, who will give a speech comparing the US and EU entrepreneurial and early stage investment markets.
- Mehmet Simsek, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, who will outline Turkey’s engagements and action plans for the global entrepreneurial trends.
- Presidents of business angels associations of more than 20 countries.
I will keep you updated as confirmations from other global speakers arrive.
Our great sponsors and partners
I would like to express our appreciation to the main sponsors of the Forum (Borsa Istanbul, TEB Bank and ITU Teknokent) and to our local partner (Forbes I Para Conferences), whose contributions will help ensure that this intercontinental forum becomes a global success story for the business angels and startups around the world.
Keep the dates! Register now!
Please visit the official website of the Forum www.wbaf2016.org to learn more about the more than 50 speakers, panel discussions, workshops and EBAN Institute trainings, all included in the forum.
Please keep the dates in your agenda and aim to take advantage of the early-bird registration.
I will be delighted to welcome you to Istanbul for this special event on the 21st of February in the city where two continents meet!
Baybars Altuntas
Chair, World Business Angels Investment Forum
Vice President, EBAN – The European Trade Association for Business Angels
President, TBAA – The Turkish Business Angels Association
baltuntas@deulcom.com.tr