The European Business Angels Network (EBAN) a non-profit organization established by the European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA) with the support of the European Commission has made its first foray into the Middle East.
The Dubai Business Angels Network (DBAN) is the new Associate Member of EBAN that seeks to expand its activities into the Middle East, Indian sub-continent and Africa (MEIA). It is a complementary service of the hosting organization, Altair Management Consultants specialized in Trade facilitation, Strategies for regional market penetration, Logistics support services, Business re-structuring and management.
The DBAN aims to bring together new or growing small and medium sized companies (Investees) with private, informal Investors (Business Angels). The aim is to increase the efficiency of the informal segment of venture capital and bridge the gap between the entrepreneur's own funds and those available from formal venture capitalists. The main activity of DBAN is to match the capital seeking entrepreneur (Investee) with the informal Investor.
DBAN will provide a means of introduction between small and medium sized entrepreneurs and investors. The matching is done through computer matching, investment newsletters/magazines, investor forums and fairs. The entrepreneur would receive guidance on how do develop his idea into a workable concept and thereafter a feasible business plan that can be presented to prospective investors. The DBAN intends to be the channel through which overseas venture capitalists and financial institutions will get the confidence to fund larger projects.
Business angels are active, in one way or another, in every country worldwide. This type of investor is called a business angel because many perceive that they support start up enterprises with both finance and know-how when no one else will. The business angel can act alone or can be part of a network of business angels (BAN). The business angel is increasingly seeking synergies with its pars or with funds of capital risks.
Business Angels are private investors, also called informal investors, who invest in unquoted small and medium sized businesses. They are often businessmen and women who have sold their business, and provide not only finance but also their experience and their business skills to the entrepreneurs with whom they are in contact with.
EBAN's members are all professionals at matching informal investors (business angels) and entrepreneurs. The BAN also provides training services for entrepreneurs as well as for business angels.
The number of active investors in Europe is estimated at 125,000 and the number of potential investors at one million. The investment pool of Business Angel finance in Europe, based on an extrapolation of the population, is between €10 and 20 billion. In average, business angels fund every year 30 to 40 times more start-up ventures than venture capitalists. There are approximately 150 business angel networks active in the member states of the EU. The European Commission's DG Enterprise has largely contributed to the promotion of the BAN concept in Europe.
The objective of the DBAN is to make an active informal venture capital market a prerequisite for a vigorous enterprise economy besides stimulating and complementing the entrepreneurial culture. The missing link has been the absence of a platform where entrepreneurs and investors get to associate with one another in a secure, organized and structured environment. It is this vacuum that the DBAN intends to fill. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
