In 2021, private early-stage investors invested altogether 52,3M€ into 626 companies. Majority of the investments were placed in companies that received their first investment, shows FiBAN’s annual member survey, responded by 480 private investors.
“Early-stage investors play an indispensable role in nurturing the next generation of Wolts and Aivens with their know-how, experience, and networks. Our statistics reveal that a typical startup investor has an academic background, entrepreneurial experience, and 6-8 startups in their portfolio, the most active ones even over 30 companies”, says Annukka Mickelsson, Chair of the Board at FiBAN.
Private startup investing is professional – successes balance losses
In 2021, a significant share of exits were highly profitable; almost one-fifth of exits yielded more than ten. Out of 83 reported exits, over one-third were acquisitions, which indicates the interest from large companies towards startups. Exceptionally, the share of exits through IPOs grew to 6%.
“It’s great to see a growing trend in both exits and exit channels – however – we still need a functioning exit market for unlisted companies in Finland. The amount of exits and their profitability speaks of an ever more professional private startup investor base. Startup investing can turn out well when done professionally”, states Mickelsson.
Founded in 2010, FiBAN has today over 650 investor members. It promotes private investments into unlisted companies. The association has estimated that for every 1M€ invested by business angels, 19 new jobs are created.
“I’m extremely proud of how FiBAN has succeeded in attracting new investors to build up future success stories. Our mission is to pass the robust experience of the network to new investors. Only in 2021, we provided training for 130 private investors”, Mickelsson celebrates.
Take a look at the statistics here.
More information:
Annukka Mickelsson, Chair of the Board
+358 50 3390963, annukka.mickelsson@fiban.org
Aija Bärlund, Interim Managing Director
+358 40 6810245, aija.barlund@fiban.org
