An affiliated partner of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) will focus on angel investors partnering with private equity funds at the World Congress of Angel Investors in 2019. The discussions will explore how private equity funds can foster open innovation and deliver more business value through partnerships with angel investors, start-ups, scale-ups, high-growth businesses and SMEs. The CEO-Preneurship Summit will focus on connecting angel investors with corporate ventures, while the FinTech Summit will deal with issues of financial inclusion and ways to democratise access to finance from start-up to scale-up to exit. LPs, start-ups, scale-ups and angel investors will be able to connect at the Take Investment Summit and on the Global Pitching Stage.

On their retirement, corporate CEOs will have more time to mentor start-ups, scale-ups, high-growth businesses and SMEs. They come with a good financial package and a vast network that they have built over the years. The only thing they may lack is know-how: they need to learn about the principles of investing in start-ups and about founding a company from scratch. The time is now right for the CEOs of today to take a smart step — to focus on the potential of their future role as angel investors. The World Business Angels Investment Forum is taking the initiative, creating an international platform to support the transitioning of today’s CEOs to the qualified angel investors of tomorrow. WBAF believes that G20 countries can do more to foster economic development by involving CEOs more directly in early-stage equity markets.

The FinTech Summit at WBAF 2019 in Istanbul will address the challenges and opportunities of the global fintech ecosystem. Global equity market leaders — family office managers, wealth management executives, stock exchange executives, financial experts, policymakers, academics, active members of early-stage investment markets, bank executives and WBAF delegates — will come together to discuss a wide range of topics related to transformations in the finance industry through the incorporation of cutting-edge technology.

Now is the time to focus on developing ways to finance all these social investments. The World Business Angels Investment Forum brings together angel investors, corporate venture executives, fund managers, stock exchange executives and public institutions at WBAF 2019 to discuss the increasing need for innovative and effective approaches to solving social and environmental issues. Cooperation with and partnerships between governments, NGOs, corporates, and private investors are new ways that can combine the forces of entrepreneurship, innovation and capital in order to improve peoples’ lives, increase awareness and expand the investor base to achieve more inclusion and more sustainable societies with action plans to make impact investment a more influential practice.

Aside from presentations by renowned thought leaders in the field of entrepreneurship and global angel investors, the Take Invest Summit at WBAF 2019 will feature keynote speeches, fireside chats, presentations and panel discussions. Each one will offer important insights into the start-up ecosystem. The summit will be also an open learning space for entrepreneurs to increase their understanding of the investment strategies of angel investors.

The WBAF wants to give 100 start-ups, scale-ups and high-growth businesses an opportunity to connect with hundreds of highly qualified angel investors from five continents. We are therefore allocating a special area at WBAF 2019, where 100 start-ups, scale-ups and high-growth businesses will each have a designated area to showcase their business. The WBAF Take Invest Summit 2019 will essentially be a co-investment platform for angel investors, start-ups, scale-ups and high-growth businesses. In addition to opening an exhibition booth, each team will be asked to make a 3-minute pitch to investors on the Global Pitching Stage.

The World Business Angels Investment Forum offers a wide variety of workshops at WBAF 2019, using a range of inputs (case studies, panel discussions, and presentations, to name a few), all of which encourage active participation and interaction on the part of those attending.The WBAF 2019 Workshops serve not just business angels; all types of stakeholders are welcome.

After the first cohort of the QBAC+ program at the London Stock Exchange Group, the next cohort of the certification program will start immediately after WBAF 2019. An intensive course will be held in Istanbul at the Swissotel The Bosphorus 20 – 22 February, which will provide an opportunity to be recognised as Qualified Angel Investor. For anyone new to angel investing, this is an invaluable course that covers the most important aspects of investing and ways to avoid the pitfalls angel investors may encounter. This course is for professionals (including CEOs) from listed companies or anyone who has an entrepreneurial background,directors of business angel networks, acceleration and incubation centres and technoparks and anyone who wants to set up a business angel network or create a business angel investment group.

With its Excellence Awards, the World Business Angels Investment Forum looks beyond borders. It seeks to promote and nurture start-ups, scale-ups, high-growth businesses, SMEs, angel investors, and a dynamic business community throughout the world. From business angels to policymakers to academics, the Awards salute those who stand out in imagining, discussing, and shaping the future of an entrepreneurial world.