Nordic Angel Program (NAP) is building on its 2018 achievements that saw 8 angel training and investment programs in four countries attended by 237 investors. 1,5 million euros were invested into eight companies picked from an initial application pool of 922 startups that were processed through a pre-selection funnel to identify the most promising ventures. 18% of the participating angels joined programs in countries different from their own.
This cross-border perspective is an important way in which NAP distinguishes itself from most syndicated investment programs. Traditionally angels invest in companies that are close to home because it is difficult and time consuming to understand the business culture and investment framework in other countries. NAP addresses this issue by welcoming cross-border colleagues to learn alongside local teams and to develop international partnerships that can foster more joint investments in the future.
The 2019 NAP spring programs are running in four different countries, Estonia, Denmark, Finland and Norway. All the national programs consist of a three-month angel training with four sessions where the latest best practices regarding startup investing are discussed. The national programs are hosted by the local angel networks EstBAN (Estonia), FiBAN (Finland), DanBAN (Denmark) and BAN Norway in close cooperation with the main startup events in the region including Arctic15 and EBAN Helsinki, Latitude59, and TechBBQ.
As Jaakko Salminen, lead angel for Finland NAP spring 2019 program, explains: “The Nordic & Baltic region is becoming increasingly a single market for angel investing. The benefits are significant to both angel investors and startups – not only by providing access to a larger base of angels and a bigger deal flow of cases, but also because cross-border angel syndicates have a much better capability to bring the startups over one of the biggest hurdles: Expansion to international markets. Programs like NAP are the next step up in angel investing for us.”
Investors and startups who want more international exposure across the Nordic & Baltic region are encouraged to read more about the programs and register their interest at www.nordicangelprogram.com
Nordic Angel Program (NAP) is an international cross-border training and investing program for business angels. The goal of the program is to increase cross-border investing awareness among existing and potential startup investors. With the goal to inspire new cross-border angel investments, NAP aims to channel investments in total worth 4 million euros in 16 startups during 2018 and 2019. The main goal for the program is to educate business angels about cross-border investing including joint study trips, evaluation of startups and discussing investment opportunities on a digital platform. Read more about the program on www.nordicangelprogram.com
The program is powered by EU’s Horizon2020 and coordinated by Civitta and NordicBAN.
