Brussels, July 2026 - Moldova's startup ecosystem is growing, but access to early-stage investment remains limited. ESIL (the Early Stage Investing Launchpad) Moldova, a new programme focused on business angel investing, aims to help address that gap by supporting a new generation of investors capable of backing innovative Moldovan startups with both capital and expertise. ESIL Moldova will provide aspiring and existing business angels with access to training, mentoring, netw

Europe’s future innovation needs skilled and confident business angels, and now there’s a course designed to help them get started. The ESIL Angel Academy, developed by the EU-funded Early Stage Investing Launchpad (ESIL), is now live. This e-learning course offers over 20 hours of on-demand content designed to guide aspiring and early-stage angel investors through the fundamentals of startup investing and mentorship. Course features include: Video lectures and expert interv

Two Golden Aurora winners reflect on investing, impact, and the future of female leadership in Europe. This year, Business Angels Europe proudly awarded the Golden Aurora Award 2026 to Vicky Brock, recognizing her as one of Europe’s leading female business angels. She succeeds Cintia Mano, last year’s winner and a powerful voice driving meaningful change in the investment landscape. More than a recognition, the award reflects a growing movement of women actively reshaping Eur

Business Angels Europe (BAE) is launching a pan-European survey to better understand the needs, experiences, and expectations of business angels regarding secondary markets, both at national and EU-wide level. As Europe’s startup ecosystem matures and holding periods lengthen, secondary transactions are becoming an increasingly important—yet still underdeveloped—tool for early‑stage investors. Through this survey, Business Angels Europe aims to capture angels’ perspectives on

Vicky Brock, Golden Aurora Award 2026 Winner and Reginald Vossen, BAE President and President of the Jury During the SIM Conference 2026 in Porto, Portugal, on May 14th, Business Angels Europe (BAE) proudly announced Vicky Brock as the winner of the Golden Aurora Award 2026, recognising her as Europe’s most influential female business angel. Business Angels Europe annually organises the Golden Aurora Award for best female angel investor of the year, aligning with the broader

Business Angels Europe is proud to announce the five nominees for the Golden Aurora Award 2026, recognising Europe’s most impactful female business angels who are driving innovation, backing bold founders, and strengthening the continent’s startup ecosystem. This year’s nominees represent a diverse and influential group of investors who are actively shaping the future of entrepreneurship across Europe. Through their investments, mentorship, and advocacy, they play a key role

The European early-stage investment ecosystem continues to gain momentum, and the coming months promise a dynamic series of ESIL (Early Stage Investing Launchpad) events across Europe. These events are designed to strengthen cross-border collaboration, connect investors with high-potential startups, and accelerate the journey from research to market. Several key ESIL events will be taking place in the coming weeks and months, continuing to build bridges between academia, inno

STEP is an EU initiative launched in March 2024 to boost Europe's competitiveness and ultimately its sovereignty by supporting the development and manufacturing of critical technologies in the EU. It is not a standalone fund but rather a platform that coordinates and steers resources from 11 existing EU programmes to aim reducing strategic dependencies and strengthen value chains in key technology sectors. STEP finances strategic projects in four sectors: digital and deep t

Business Angels Europe is pleased to share the publication of the new WomenINvestEU report, “Taking Action on Gender-Conscious Investment in Europe: Case Studies of Good Practice from Angels, VCs and Banking Organisations,” now officially released as a European Union publication. This important milestone marks a significant step forward in advancing gender-conscious investment practices across Europe, providing practical insights and real-world examples from across the inves

Bridging financial and non-financial support for early-stage startups: the European Business Innovation Centre Network (EBN) and Business Angels Europe (BAE) announce a strategic partnership to unlock the innovation potential of the European entrepreneurial ecosystems. EBN and BAE, the European Confederation of Angel Investing, signed a strategic partnership. Combining EBN’s incubation & acceleration excellence and innovation ecosystem orchestration know-how with BAE’s invest

Business Angels Europe is proud to launch the open call for nominees for the Golden Aurora Award 2026, celebrating Europe’s most impactful female business angels. Since 2018, this prestigious award has honoured women investors who are shaping the future of innovation, entrepreneurship, and impact investing across Europe. Past winners include inspiring leaders such as Cintia Mano (2025), Annegien Blokpoel (2024), and Mary McKenna (2023). The award continues to spotlight wom

Announced in October 2025 at Bpifrance’s European Defence Week, the Defence Angels European Network (DAEN) officially launched its operations during a high-level kick-off meeting gathering strategic partners and leaders from Business Angels communities across 16 countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine). DAEN is the first pan-European Business Angels network,

Reginald Vossen, President of BAE and Arthur Jordão, Executive Director of ESNA The Europe Startup Nations Alliance (ESNA) has announced a strategic partnership with Business Angels Europe (BAE), European Confederation of Angel Investing based in Brussels. This partnership aims to strengthen the European startup ecosystem by combining ESNA’s knowledge and capabilities with BAE’s investor network and policy expertise. Brussels, 27 November 2025 – On this collaboration Busine

Paris, the 29th of October — Bpifrance, the French Public Investment Bank, has launched its first edition of the European Defence Week in Paris . This event marks a milestone for Europe’s strategic startups, with the announcement of Defence Angels European Network - DAEN - the first pan-European network of Business Angels dedicated to DefenceTech and strategic innovation. For the first time, private investors from across the continent are joining forces to support Europe’s

Cintia Mano, Golden Aurora Winner 202 5 and Reginald Vossen , Chairman of BAE Last week, during the Impactfest The Hague ( https://www.impactfest.nl/ ), in a session co-organized by Business Angels Europe (BAE) and BAN NL (the Dutch angel federation), the Portuguese Cintia Mano was awarded the 2025 Golden Aurora. Every year, BAE organizes the Golden Aurora award to celebrate women angel investing. This is part of a wider array of initiatives to boost women angel investing by

Business Angels Europe is proud to unveil the five outstanding national nominees shortlisted for the Golden Aurora Award 2025 – European...

How do groundbreaking ideas scale from early-stage innovation to global impact? On 16 June 2025, from 16:00 to 18:30 CEST , join ESIL for...

On Tuesday, 12th February, the Board of Business Angels Europe convened in Paris for its meeting. This gathering was not only focused on...

Big Angels Day will bring together over 80 promising startups and a powerful network of angel investors, policymakers, and innovation...

Annegien Blokpoel, winner of the 2024 Golden Aurora, along with Mary McKenna, winner 2023. Annegien Blokpoel, a Dutch leading...