Luxembourg Business Angel Network‘s board named Larissa Best as the new president of the association succeeding Marc Molitor. LBAN is counting 63 members currently who have raised over €5 Million in 2017.
by: Charles-Louis Machuron
photo: Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce
featured: Larissa Best
Mrs Best, what will be the main actions you will take this year?
LBAN will have three different actions this year:
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LBAN Pitching: We will be launching a pitching event where we will invite all incubators and start-ups of a certain sector in the local eco-system and the greater region to apply. LBAN’s members will then vote for the most promising start-ups who will be invited to pitch at our event. This initiative will streamline the efforts of finding financing for start-ups while matchmaking them with interested LBAN members;
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LBAN on road: We will become more active at encouraging individuals to become first-time business angels by presenting LBAN at the premises of big local corporates. This will be combined with a rotating education module for first-time BA to help them taking their first steps;
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Community Management of our existing members: We will maintain our angel cafés and add more mingling opportunities for our members in 2018. Details to follow.
“A Business Angel is an integral part of the innovation cycle within an eco-system.”
How to seduce private investors to become angels?
Good question. A Business Angel takes quite a big risk when investing in early stage companies. Of course, most BA invests for financial returns. But it is important to highlight non financial returns as well. As such a BA is an integral part of the innovation cycle within an eco-system. If you wish to see your local eco-system thrive, you need to invest into it. Thus, being the enabling element for disruption and innovation for a better future is a an important factor and selling point.
“LBAN itself will only share pitch decks where an active member has already invested in.”
How do you select the pitch decks?
LBAN itself will only share pitch decks where an active member has already invested in. All companies interested to pitch to LBAN, can now do so by attending our pitching events which we will start with in 2018. The selection criteria will include team, vision, financial viability and sector but also whether the startup has gone through an incubator for example. The exact criteria will be defined together with the board and published in the coming months.
