Under Slush, take this as a strong signal of which industries and company stages are now seen as the most prominent for early-stage investors and what kind of fertile ground Finland provides for future businesses and international investors.
Key takeaways
Angels Are Mostly Exited Entrepreneurs: The FiBAN Member study showcases that over half have invested over €200,000 in startup ventures, with 38% having exited a company successfully before diving into angel investing. Compared to other countries, Finland has an exceptionally large amount of current or former successful entrepreneurs as existing investors.
IT and Impact Investing In High Demand: 86% of angel investors actively seek new opportunities. Software solutions, sustainable development, and medical technologies are emerging as the top sectors. However, a significant number also reported to be industry agnostic.
Angel Age Demographics: out of our 670 members, most FiBAN members are men, and only 12% are women, yet we are working to change this. While many were born between the 1950s and 1970s, the survey signals a rising presence of young business angels. However, the under-thirty angel remains a rarity in the Finnish landscape. FiBAN’s youngest member is 22 years old.
Boardroom Affinity: More than just financial backers, Finnish angel investors are often seen actively participating in the boards of their portfolio companies, indicating a solid commitment to supporting and shaping the success of these startups. A vast majority, 152 respondents, have served in at least three board positions.
Finnish Angels are highly trained: Over half of Finnish Angel investors rate themselves as experienced or highly experienced as investors. For a decade FiBAN has organized close to a hundred educational sessions on different aspects of angel investing from start to exit. Providing professional angel investing training is one of the critical focuses of FiBAN, benefitting both angels and startups.
Although this summary of the research merely scratches the surface, stay tuned as we’ll release more insights on our member study results soon on our data page.
More information
Tiina Laisi-Puheloinen
CEO, FiBAN
Email: tiina.laisi-puheloinen@fiban.org
Phone: +358 40 750 7417
Ivan Helin
Investment Analyst, FiBAN
Email: ivan.helin@fiban.org
Phone: +358 45 7838 7905
Milja Mäkelä
Communications Manager, FiBAN
Email: milja.makela@fiban.org
Phone: +358 40 538 5418