As announced by the World Business Angels Investment Forum, Israel Pons, CEO and Co-Founding Partner of Angels has been appointed WBAF High Commissioner for Mexico.
(London) With this new appointment, Mexico has joined the largest global angels forum of the world and will now be able to connect with the global angels market, which will open up splendid opportunities for the country. Now Mexican angel investors and aspiring entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to connect with global leaders in the same field.
The inclusion of Mexico in WBAF provides a wide range of opportunities for Mexico start-ups and opens doors for economic development.
Baybars Altuntas, Chairman of the WBAF, says ‘WBAF supports start-ups, develops entrepreneurial ecosystems, and helps venture capital and companies connect with international companies, fintechs and other relevant institutions. We are confident about our contribution to the economic development of the country by facilitating connections with entrepreneurial ecosystems. We strongly believe that Mexico will soon achieve full employment and that can foster the development of its youth in an entrepreneurial atmosphere through angel investment’.
As an affiliated partner of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion, the World Business Angels Investment Forum’s World Congress of Angel Investors, WBAF 2019, is quickly approaching (less than four weeks away).
It will be a pleasure to welcome angel investors, business angels, VCs, policymakers, entrepreneurs, startups, and executives of stock exchanges, chambers of commerce and industries, private equity funds, wealth management institutions, technoparks and banks, all of whom are coming together at the World Congress of Angel Investors WBAF 2019 on 18–19 February.
This year’s theme, ‘ Connecting angel investors with private equity funds to boost innovation’ , is particularly relevant in the current economic environment and has attracted great speakers on a wide variety of related topics. It will give us all a chance to focus on how we can develop better collaboration between private equity funds and early-stage equity markets to ease access to finance for angel investors for their second and further rounds of investments.
The Grand Opening Ceremony will start with the Ministerial Roundtable on developing an international dialogue between leaders of public and private stakeholders to ease access to finance for investors and more financial inclusion. It will be moderated by H.E. Mehmet Simsek, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey. Distinguished speakers of this panel discussion include the Prime Minister of Macedonia, the Economy Entrepreneurship and Crafts Minister of Croatia, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Minister of Kosovo, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, the WBAF Chairman, the EBAN President, the MBAN President, the IFC – SME Finance Forum of the World Bank Group.
This year’s Congress features 23 panel discussions with 110 speakers from 42 countries. There will also be 2 masterclassess and 6 international workshops.
The first masterclass, the EIF Masterclass, will focus on how to develop a co-investment fund structure that will attract European Investment Fund financing. Cyril Gouiffès, Impact Investment Manager at the European Investment Fund, will join us from Luxembourg to give this special masterclass with a case study from Croatia.
The second masterclass will be a BIC Masterclass: New Methodologies to Pick Winners When Angel Investing in Blockchain Powered Projects by Brad Bulent Yasar, Founder of the Blockchain Consortium, USA.
Of particular interest this year will be a session called Nasdaq Talk. Carsten Boring, Head of Listings & Capital Markets will give an keynote speech on the anatomy of an SME IPO. How to successfully plan and structure a public offering? When is the right time to list? What are the key considerations companies should take before listing?
The WBAF 2019 Workshops will be delivered by leading names of the world’s equity and capital markets. These include Callum Laing, partner in Unity Group Private Equity – Singapore; Ian Sosso, Founder of Monte Carlo Capital – Monte Carlo; Wayne Clarke, Founding Partner, The Global Growth Institute – UK; Patrick Kedziora, WBAF High Commissioner – France; Michael O’Connor, CEO CorkBIC, Ireland; and Marcel Dridje, President Sophia Business Angels – France.
During the conference, 66 selected startups will have a chance to pitch their projects on the Global Fundraising Stage in front of an audience of investors, in addition to receiving training from a variety of experts on investment readiness for GFRS 2019.
Immediately after the Congress, you will have the opportunity to join the QBAC+ Qualified Angel Investor Executive Programme of the WBAF Academy on 20 –22 February. The venue is the same venue as for the Congress—Swissotel The Bosphorus. This is an exclusive training programme. If you have not registered yet, please consider doing so right away.
We are also looking forward to hosting you at the VIP Gala Dinner of the World Excellence Awards, often referred to as ‘t he Oscars of the World’s Early-Stage Equity Markets’. Among last year’s awardees were the President of Macedonia, the Development Minister of Turkey and the Mayor of Porto. This year’s line-up is sure to be equally impressive.
There is still time to register for the Congress. Please consider it an investment in a rewarding experience at the World Congress of Angel Investors.
We hope to see you in Istanbul!
World Business Angels Investment Forum committed to empowering the economic development of the world
www.wbaf2019.istanbul
World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF)
An affiliated partner of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) is an international organisation aiming to ease access to finance for businesses from start-up to scale-up, with the ultimate goal of generating more jobs and more social justice worldwide.
