A lot of the work that FiBAN does happens in the background, and all our activities are not visible to our members. To increase visibility, going forward, FiBAN’s Managing Director Amel and Chair of the Board Reima will share what is happening behind the scenes in our monthly updates.

The year 2020 is FiBAN’s tenth year of operations and it was supposed to be a unique year for business angels. Well, it surely became a unique year, but not the way we projected.

As COVID has changed our way of working, it has allowed us to reflect our operations as well. One of the things that we noted was that a lot of the communication between FiBAN office, the board, and the members flows through informal communications channels, especially through discussions at events like Pitch Finland. Since online events do not offer similar opportunities for communication, we need to find new channels as well.

To increase the visibility of FiBAN’s work, going forward, Amel and I will share what is happening behind the scenes in our monthly updates.

In the spring the board outlined a new strategy that is built on our four stakeholders: 

For our members – Our vision is to be the most attractive angel network

For the startups – The most wanted partner for the best startups

For our partners – Trusted, mutually beneficial and professional partner

For the ecosystem – Acknowledged and engaged expert on angel investing

Several initiatives have been launched to meet these goals: 

  • Beginning collaboration with more partners that provide value to our startups: Free tools, cooperation & pilot opportunities as well as funding and potential exit channels.
  • Launching Fiban Founders Club to share best practices between FiBAN members portfolio companies and build a unique network of founders in our members’ portfolio.
  • Creating a research team to work on our own data and research to be used in developing angel investing, helping startups, raising awareness in the ecosystem, and providing tools in our discussions with the political stakeholders. More information here.

For our members, these initiatives should result in better quality deal flow, more tools to develop the companies, and better exit opportunities; for startups, more value and opportunities in business, funding, and exit; for partners, valuable cooperation; and for the ecosystem better awareness on angel investing, our impact and the importance of angel investing to the Finnish economy.

The work is continuous and an association is a collective of its members. Thus, all ideas and inputs of what FiBAN should do are always highly appreciated. Feel free to reach out to our board or our office at any time.

More information:

Reima Linnanvirta, FiBAN Chair of the Board, reima.linnanvirta@fiban.org