Andrija Bednarik, Serbian Business Angels Network director and Outsourcing Center Serbia Project Manager points out that this successful endeavor, which raised a big interest, for which he hopes, will result in new partnerships and business arrangements for participating companies, as well as raising awareness in our society about models of investment in companies in their early development phases. “Our goal will be completed only when we see the people from our audience on some of our next SBAN investment evenings presenting their new project or sitting amongst investors”, Andrija Bednarik stated.

The goal was to bring together entrepreneurs and investors from Silicon Valley and Western Europe at the same place, in order to promote new trends and investing models of Business Angels, and Venture Capital funds. Also, entrepreneurs had the opportunity to be in a direct contact with investors, resulting entrepreneurs gain a clearer picture of how to achieve their fastest path from idea, through investment, to acquisitions and going public. By attending conference, local investors were able to learn about trends regarding VC investing in more developed markets, and how to take advantage of investment opportunities that are currently emerging on the local market.

During PartnerIT B2B matchmaking event all the participants had the opportunity to meet and create new partnerships through direct meetings with potential clients and partners from abroad, in order to present potential of their companies in front of representatives of regional, EU and other foreign companies.

After this dynamic B2B part, on the second day at the FundraiseIT conference, we had well-known business angels and serial investors from Silicon Valley and Western Europe communicating their experience and thoughts to the audience as speakers and participants on the conference. In the live discussions, near 200 participants had the opportunity to hear interesting and motivational personal stories, information about various investing models, success stories, experiences and valuable tips on how to succeed in entrepreneurial adventure. The event was enriched with presence of well-known investors such as: Brad Feld (Serial entrepreneur and investor, founder of TechStars and Foundry Group, he invested in more than 400 companies), Samuli Sirén (K- New Media GmbH & CO, Business Angel and mentor in ICT sector, Founder of Finfortec, Ondango, Pixray), Igor Shoifot (Serial Entrepreneur: NetworkedBlogs, PeekYou, Wanelo, Favim…), Paulo Andrez (Business Angel and president of European Business Angel  Network, IPO board member, Novabase SGPS), Roman Kikta (VC, Serial Entrepreneur and author, founder of  Mobility Ventures, Genesis Campus Funds, E-life, SpeedLink Communications…) i Amer Mohammed (founder of Healthy Heroes).

The whole program was completed with traditional SBAN investment evening, organized by SBAN Club, where seven of the most interesting IT projects from Serbia and two companies from Sweden, got the opportunity to pitch their idea in front of domestic and foreign investors, members and partners of the Serbian Business Angels Network.

Organization of FundraiseIT conference is supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit - GIZ , Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs – SECO, Microsoft company and other partners,  while the European Commission within the project Outsourcing Center Serbia provided financial support for the organization of PartnerIT B2B meetings.

All pictures from event can be found on next two links

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.448150935268225.1073741826.211166572299997&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.474048502665599.1073741825.238816026188849&type=3

The idea of these two events is to organize a direct communication channel between the best IT entrepreneurs from Serbia and SEE region and competent well-known serial entrepreneurs and investors from Silicon Valley and Europe.

You can register your participation and see all the details at: http://fundraiseit.talkb2b.net/

Program starts early in the morning with 8 hours of direct B2B meetings between ICT companies from all around the Europe. On http://fundraiseit.talkb2b.net, you have the opportunity to leave your profile and book your face-to-face meetings with other international companies and research institutions for free. This is a cost and time-effective way to discover new business and cooperation opportunities while expanding your contact network.

On the 19th of April, all the participants of the FundraiseIT conference will have a chance to be involved in the direct communication channel with competent well-known serial entrepreneurs and investors from Silicon Valley and Europe. In the live discussions panels among successful entrepreneurs and investors you will be able to hear some interesting personal stories, information about various investing models, success stories, experiences and valuable tips on how to Fundraise for your projects.

The application and participation on B2B event is FREE OF CHARGE and for FundraiseIT conference costs 80 EUR (valid for two persons from the same entity). During these two days participants will be provided with conference materials, as well as meals and refreshments.

The whole day program will be completed with our fifth investment evening where the most interesting regional IT projects will be pitched in front of domestic and foreign investors, members of the Serbian Business Angels Network, board members of European Business Angels Network and our friends investors from Silicon Valley and all around Europe.

After such an intensive working day we will invite all the participants and guest to the big farewell party, to continue talks and make new contacts in the relaxing famous Belgrade night life atmosphere.

P.S. If you are an entrepreneur and you believe you have interesting IT investment ready project please don’t hesitate to register on our web site http://www.sban.eu and leave a project abstract. Investment evening will ensure opportunity for best projects to be presented to potential investors during ten-minutes presentation/investor pitch.

For more details follow us on our site or Facebook group

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Serbian-Business-Angels-Network-SBAN/238816026188849?fref=ts

The EBAN Congress is the annual greatest gathering event of the European early stage investment community. Over 300 participants are expected to attend the sessions which will clarify the role of early stage investors as enablers of growth and jobs for Europe. The Congress will also comprise the annual Awards Ceremony which distinguishes amongst other awards the Business Angel of the Year.

Confirmed keynote speakers:

- Maria Fekter, Austrian Finance Minister
- Kandeh K. Yumkella, Director-General of UNIDO
- Paulo Andrez, President of EBAN
- Baybars Altuntas, President of Business Angels Turkey
- Önder Halisdemir, CEO and Board member, Actif Bank
- Oliver Gajda, Co-founder and Chairman of AISBL
- Hansi Hansmann, Super Angel, President Austrian Angel Investors Association
- Nikolaus Hutter, Director Toniic Europe
- Candace Johnson, Sophia Business Angels
- Maximilian Martin, Impact Economy
- Julie Meyers, Ariadne Capital
- Alex O’Cinneide, AQAL Capital
- Tom Pace, President and COO of Gust
- Hedda Pahlson-Moller, Board member of EBAN; Board member of Luxembourg BAN
- Selma Prodanovic, Austrian Angel Investors Association
- Karthik Reddy, Blume Ventures India
- Manfred Reichl, Advisory Board member aaia
- Dušan Stojanović, super-angel and Founder of True Global Ventures
- Matthias Ummenhofer, Head Venture Capital, European Investment Fund
- Benjamin Wattinne, Director, Business Development Europe, Gust
- Raf Weverberg, Editor White Board

Join the congress as we explore the role of early stage investors in the future. Meet great individuals, exchange experiences across borders, enjoy the program, explore Vienna and overall make sure you have a high return on investment!

Congress website: http://www.eban.org/

Silicon Sentier, an association of innovative companies created to promote start-ups and develop resource sharing, has worked hard to create a safe haven for French entrepreneurs to get funding, strategic advice and nuturing hands through programs like La Cantine and LeCamping. There is also Start Up Weekend Paris, the Paris iteration of the Seattle, WA based Startup Weekend, a grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures.

At Start Up Weekend Paris, February 8-10, 2013, something interesting happened. A new kind of entrepreneur rose up and took the stage.  Nearly refusing to give up her microphone, she re-introduced a service model as viable start-up business and beat out all of the other 33 tech-oriented companies presenting.

Clemence Wurtz, Co-founder and CEO, of SmartRent, was the winner of Start Up Weekend Paris and proved to the world yet again, that France has some millenials that aren’t satisfied with the status quo. Ms. Wurtz is 24.

And, while Wurtz continues to build SmartRent, she’s in class to finish her International Business degree from the American University in Paris in May 2013.  In  her down time, she connects with her new co-founder who she met in February at Start Up Weekend Paris and they continue to refine their business model and strategy, shore up their growing ecosystem of partners and suppliers and fine-tune the SmartRent platform before the launch.

“It takes a village to build a company,” says Lucy P. Marcus, CEO, Marcus Venture Consulting. “Women are often good at collaboration and good at asking for help. When we hit a rough patch rather than feeling as if we have to tough it out ourselves, we are good at creating an eco-system – a network if you will – to help: advisors, partners, mentors, staff; a team of people who can help bring the project to fruition.”

Marcus says that can make a real difference in nurturing a company at its early and most vulnerable stages.

“Everything I do is about feeling,” says Wurtz. “I don’t know how other people just comply, comfort zones are boring, when you try and change something, you are alive.”

SmartRent is a simple concept that Wurcz admits is sometimes lost on Parisians for that matter, Europeans.

She had the idea when she was studying and living in New York City two years ago and realized it could work here. In fact. when she was 22, the first iteration of SmartRent, came in the shape of Mobi2Rent. Based in her hometown of Troyes, France, Mobi2Rent was sort of the trial run for the concept. The idea was to see if the concept would work in a market she was comfortable with. She did all the move in and move outs herself, assembled and dissassembled all the furniture in her parents garage and built up a small customer base of 50 people – but even then, she knew the real market was Paris.

SmartRent is service. You come to Paris and you’re  looking for a furnished apartment because it’s just the simplest solution – but they are all 30% more expensive than an unfurnished apartment. But now, you need furniture and you will only be there for a while – maybe eight months or less. You don’t want to go out and buy furniture or assembly it because then you will have to move it  or disassemble it when you move to another place. A complete hassle.

With SmartRent, just use their service – select the package you want for the size of your space, and any additional items you might need – a vaccum cleaner for example, and SmartRent assembles it and delivers it to your door. When you move out, they will move it out for you and disassemble it, all for a monthly rental fee, that in some cases, equals the cost of your monthly internet bill.

Mathieu Stanislas Laytou, a real-estate entrepreneur in Paris puts it this way: “There is a big turn-over of apartments in Paris, people stay longer, but move around more. SmartRent is an innovative idea that’s perfect for the flow of the rental market in Paris and provides a service that just doesn’t exist today.”

“SmartRent offers you the advantages of furnished apartment, is less expensive and you don’t have to worry about anything,” said Wurtz.  ”With the financial crisis, and unemployment rising, SmartRent can help people save money, you still have to live and work, but with SmartRent they dont have to put cash up front to furnish their apartment, it fits the economic situation.”

On a Google Hang-Out to celebrate the partnership with members of various women’s leaderships groups in the U.S., Fiorina described her passion for lending to aspiring female entrepreneurs, who she sees in the unique (if hyperbolic) position of being poised to change the world for good.

“I have witnessed in my life and in the companies I’ve been privileged to work with, through all of my travels the difference that one woman can make,” she says. It was this insight that led her to found the One Woman Initiative in 2008 in conjunction with USAID and the U.S. State Department to find and fund grassroots women’s organizations around the globe to bring access to capital, skill and leadership training to women struggling in poverty.

This month the two organizations have teamed up with Fiorina taking on the formal role of Global Ambassador to Opportunity International.

“The data is clear,” Fiorina says. “If you give a woman an opportunity she will make a huge difference.” Because unlike men in the developing world, she says, “women invest in their families and their communities.” More than their male counterparts, women have proven to be great credit risks for lenders. Of the more than $515 million in its loan portfolio Vicki Escarra, Opportunity International’s CEO, says the repayment rate is at a healthy 98%.

“Both Carly and I believe in the power of women uniting around their shared commitment and experience.   Together, we hope to engage women in the United States to serve as passionate advocates to address the needs and expand the choices of women in developing countries,” said Escarra in a statement today.

Much has been written about microlending, particularly for women, but some skepticism remains as to whether it’s truly the answer to poverty. Is it better to give 15 women enough money to buy a sewing machine, causing them to compete against each other for work or to finance one woman’s dream of opening a factory that would employ twice as many? Which better raises a community out of poverty?

For Fiorina, Escarra and Opportunity International the focus seems more on empowerment through entrepreneurship than on the numbers. Fiorina sees microlending as an opportunity for women to better their standing in their communities, their families and even to escape physical abuse. “Women every day are subjugated, tortured and denied access to opportunity,” she says. “It’s not simply wrong but it’s economically self-defeating.”

Much of the power of giving money to women to develop a business, at least in Opportunity International’s model, comes from the groups the org develops in communities where they lend. “In order to get a loan you have to belong to a trust group,” Escarra says, describing the 8-10 women who control how each loan gets spent in a community. If a member’s husband steals her earnings and she can’t repay the loan (something that she describes as disturbingly commonplace), that husband has the group to answer to. More often than not, she says, that group can compel him to repay the debt.

“There’s power in one woman,” says Fiorina. “There’s power in women in numbers.” Escarra answers.

Another concern that’s frequently raised in conversations surrounding microloans is training. A woman might secure a loan to buy a cow but if she’s never been a farmer, will she truly be empowered? Opportunity International aims to head off trouble (and defaulted loans) and ensures each loan beneficiary completes a 16-week training program on running their own business, as well as pairing entrepreneurs with community experts in their industry. The “all-in” training program for aspiring entrepreneurs is funded for Opportunity International by Credit Suisse.

From where I stand microlending seems well intentioned. When you read case studies on individual women whose lives have been changed with $150, you can’t help but be inspired. But measurements of true success of these programs still seems to be too far off to come to a real conclusion on their efficacy. As women who’ve committed years of their lives to championing these programs, Fiorina and Escarra concede that it’s difficult to provide metrics that measure long-term success, but feel hopeful it’s on the horizon.

Together they look to new measures of community success, from the number of children enrolled in schools to jobs creation to clean water and housing. “We’re looking for metrics that measure how giving capital to women gives them a chance at making a difference in their communities,” Escarra says. “Impact measurement is not something that happens over night. But we’re beginning to track it… And we’re getting there.”

Source: www.forbes.com

Goldenbergs perspective is interesting, because she’s an American VC working in Europe (she was born in Ukraine but educated at MIT). I thought some of her insights in the European VC and entrepreneurial scene were well worth sharing here.

Note: the book was published in 2010, so some of the things she talks about have already changed or are visibly shifting, but it’s interesting to get the perspective nonetheless.

Here are 8 quotes about what American VC’s think about European entrepreneurs:

1. Europeans don’t think in a Single Market, but hop from country to country

Says Goldenberg: “In the US, VC’s don’t think “hey, I’m going to dominate Texas, and then maybe I’ll enter California”. This is very much the case in Europe.”

Although we’ve had a single market at least since 1992, European business networks and the media still stay focused almost exclusively on their home markets. Power is still national in Europe, so media and business gravitate towards the national capital.

While it’s a serious disadvantage, Goldenberg says that it’s just a reality that VC’s and startups have to live with: “Europe is certainly not a single geography, and can’t really be treated as such. Cross-country nuances emerge in types of teams, deals, technologies, expectations of entrepreneurs, and expectations of core investors—these vary quite a bit by geography.”

2. European VC is less competitive

The good thing about Europe is that there are fewer big VC funds – “just a handful” really, she says. “One positive aspect of the industry, at least from a venture perspective, is that there’s not as much competition for hot deals as there would be in Boston or in the Valley.”

I wonder if this is still true. And on the other hand, I guess the real competition between European VC’s at this time is: who can still raise money for new VC funds…

3. Entrepreneurs from smaller markets think bigger

Entrepreneurs in smaller European countries, like Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Baltics, often think bigger, Goldenberg says. “A Swedish entrepreneur sees the world as his target market. He does not build to the Swedish market; he is building to the world.”

On the other hand, entrepreneurs from the bigger countries like Germany and France sometimes get trapped in their home markets, because  ”in their mind, they are the largest markets in Europe. But to us [as a VC], it is often not a global enough vision.”

4. Europe misses a single, Silicon Valley style hub

A bit of an open door, this, but: entrepreneur hunting in Europe is a nomadic undertaking, that requires VC’s to travel a lot. “We look for top-quality management with global ambition,” says Goldenberg, “which involves getting on a plane every week in search of the best entrepreneurs in Barcelona, Berlin, Stockholm, or elsewhere. There is no Silicon Valley equivalent in Europe.”

This increasingly goes for US VC’s too, is what I took away from a short chat with Paul Singh of 500 startups in Berlin last week (“can’t be afraid to fly in this business”).

This city tripping is also why the European startup scene sometimes resembles a travelling circus. A lot of tweets in my timeline are entrepreneurs and bloggers pinging each other about their travelling schedule: who’s in Barcelona this week? Will you be in Munich next week? No, I’m at that thing in Helsinki!

Despite claims made by the “hubs” that they’re the relevant hub-du-jour, it’s not likely to get better anytime soon. The emergence of Central and Eastern Europe will make this even more pronounced.

5. There is a budding class of post-exit European entrepreneurs, but not enough of them

Gradually, role models of serial entrepreneurs turned angels or mentors emerge in the European entrepreneurial scene. To name just a few that were mentioned on Whiteboard recently: the Skype “twins” Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström were maybe the first – young, fast, ambitious and loaded with cash to invest. Zennström founded Atomico.

In France, Xavier Niel and Jeremie Berrebi are trying to invest in anything with a pulse with Kima Ventures. There’s also Marc Simoncini, Jean-Antoine Granjon and Jean-David Chamborédon. Germany has Lars Hinrichs (HackFwd) and the Samwers.

Martin Varsavsky is based in Madrid, but obviously works his charm, making friends with entrepreneurs like Daniel Ek across the entire continent (and the US too). In Finland, Kaj Hed(majority shareholder and chairman of Rovio) made his first investment outside of Rovio in Kiosked.

But, says Goldenberg: there’s not enough of them yet.

“There’s an emerging class of entrepreneurs that everyone in the venture community wants to be best friends with. Very experienced entrepreneurial managers—meaning second- and third-time entrepreneurs, who have built companies, exited them, and are doing it again. But there just aren’t enough of those investments to go around. And that, too, is a big difference from the U.S.”

6. Europeans have a weird compulsion to “confess” (seriously, stop that!)

Europeans startle Goldenberg with their tendency to confess the “darkest, deepest secrets and risks” of their company. Europeans still have difficulty ‘selling’, says Goldenberg. They’re just less polished than their Silicon Valley counterparts. And they are sometimes too realistic, afraid of failing big.

“They are hesitant about putting together a plan that they think may be unachievable. So you have to push them on accelerating their vision. Or they might have a big vision but the timeline is too long. I think the American perspective is more optimistic, often over-optimistic, about compressing timelines and moving faster.”

7. Europeans like the opera

Goldenberg also says she was somewhat surprised by some of the more old world habits of her business partners. In the US, small talk is mostly about football, she says.

“But when we did our deep diligence process with a German company, for example, they invited us to fly in the day before, go to the opera in the evening with them, and then spend the following day together drilling down on business fundamentals. This is something that would never happen in the U.S.”

Maybe we have less of a  ”brogrammer” culture in Europe.

8. Europeans (well, Spaniards) ask weird questions!

Finally, Goldenberg says, the weirdest question ever came from a team she wanted to invest in in Spain.

“At the end of the meeting, we asked if they had any remaining questions about us, about our process, about the way we work, or if we could provide references. The only question that came back was, and I quote, ‘Irena, are you married?’”

source: http://www.whiteboardmag.com