From trailblazers to changemakers: two Golden Aurora winners on what comes next

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 Europe’s investment ecosystem.

To celebrate the momentum behind female leadership in early-stage investing, we bring both winners together for a candid exchange. From personal journeys to bold visions for the future, this conversation captures the power of community, representation, and ambition.

We also take a moment to recognize the other outstanding nominees of the 2026 Golden Aurora Award, whose contributions continue to shape Europe’s startup ecosystem: Isabel Faria (for Portugal), Diana Sabrina Vaturi (for Italy), Anna Fedulow (for Germany), Yasemin Tümer (for The Netherlands).

Together, they represent the strength and diversity of women transforming the world of business angel investing.

Defining the journey

If you had to capture your journey as a business angel in just three words—and unpack them—what would they be? And what is something people consistently underestimate about you when they first meet you?

Vicky Brock: In just three words: founder-centric, hands-on, fun. What people underestimate about me is the same as what many potential women angels underestimate about themselves: that it is the assumption that if you are not super-rich, you can’t make a meaningful input as an angel. I massively disagree with that. I am not super-rich, but my money is the least useful and interesting thing I bring to an angel investment. I have a clear ‘why me’ pitch that I share with potential investee founders, and money isn’t even on the list. My primary motivation is achieving positive impact, but also doing something interesting and fun with my time and money, and the community aspect. If it was ‘only’ about the money I’d choose a lower risk asset class.

I recognise that as an angel backed founder, I didn’t initially know how to get the most from the angels I had, and was unduly intimidated. I now try to help founders to understand how to unlock a more constructive working relationship with their angels, who are often just waiting to be asked for help.

Cintia Mano: In three words: enthusiasm, connection, and humanity. Enthusiasm, because I am genuinely energized by founders, new ideas, and the possibility of helping meaningful businesses grow. Connection, because angel investing is much more than capital: it is about opening doors, sharing knowledge, and building bridges. Humanity, because behind every startup there are people taking risks, making hard decisions, and pursuing a vision. I’ve been there, as a founder and I know what it takes.

What people often underestimate about me is the depth of my business, finance, and execution experience. Angel investing, for me, is not a casual activity. It is the result of a senior executive career, disciplined savings, and a broader investment strategy. I bring not only capital, but also strategic thinking, operational experience, and a strong commitment to helping founders grow.

On winning the Golden Aurora Award

Vicky, you’ve just been named this year’s Golden Aurora Award winner. Can you take us back to that moment; what went through your mind, and what does this recognition change for you, both personally and professionally?

I was genuinely delighted and astounded to win. The other finalists are such role models in their own right, real inspirations, and I guess I always feel like a bit of a maverick. It is not that I consciously break the normal rules of how things should be done, I’m usually just blissfully unaware of them, and I just kind of get on and do my thing. But this win felt special and important.

As a result, I have a unique opportunity and duty to be ‘usefully visible’ and I take that responsibility seriously. Professionally, I hope that it opens the necessary doors to ensure that angel investors, women investors and women founders have a voice representative on the main stage and in the rooms where they need to be. Personally, it enables me to extend my reach and amplify my messages about the best investment decisions being diverse ones: a more diverse range of founders, but a diverse group of thinkers, perspectives and lived experiences on the investment side too.

Cintia, one year after receiving the award, what did it unlock that you didn’t anticipate? And did it tangibly change how people engage with you as an investor?

As an angel investor, especially as a woman in this space, recognition matters. It helped make my journey more visible and gave me a stronger platform to speak about angel investing, entrepreneurship, and the importance of bringing more diverse voices into early-stage investment.

I would say it also changed how some people engage with me. The award became a kind of external validation: founders, investors, and ecosystem players often approach me with a clearer understanding that I am not only active in the space, but committed to it. It opened conversations with more trust from the beginning, and that has been very valuable.

Instinct, decisions & lessons learned

Vicky, when you meet a founder for the first time, what makes you lean in within the first five minutes? And on the other hand, can you share a decision or missed investment that fundamentally shaped how you operate today?

What makes me really lean in to a founder is when they accept and embrace uncertainty, rather than pretend to have all the answers. The best founder of the best startup can play their best game and still lose for reasons beyond their control. I like the ones who I can tell will survive that, because they have survived and thrived through some challenging life experience before, and so have the necessary resilience and openness to opportunity to pivot or go again if they have to. And on a less abstract level, I like founders working on real world problems that they have some experience of, and that will make the world a little better if they succeed - that is a prerequisite for me.

The only missed investment decision in my life that ever shaped me, was when as a teenager I wanted to buy shares in the British retailer where I had a Saturday job. Because they were hugely under-priced and I could see how spectacularly the retailer was going to turn it around and how general market conditions would also improve. But because I was only 15, I needed my parents to do the trade for me and they refused. They were working class, probably had no idea what I was talking about and saw only risk and not opportunity. So I didn’t get to invest my own money and make what would have been a life changing return. That really shaped me and I have always been fiercely protective of my financial independence - first as a founder, now as an angel. It is my money, my decision, and while my risk appetite never remotely normalised (thank goodness), I trust my judgement while fully provisioning for the fact that I’ll probably not get a return at an individual deal level, so have to think at portfolio level. Never taking a risk isn’t safer, it is limiting to your life prospects, and I am just more comfortable when I’m being brave.

Bias & breaking through

Cintia, even today, this ecosystem isn’t fully equal. Can you share a moment where you felt underestimated, and how you handled it? And what is one bias that still frustrates you today?

One moment that stayed with me, happened during a pitch. I was trying to ask a question, but the founder kept moving on and giving the floor to other people. It was uncomfortable, because it was subtle enough to be dismissed, but clear enough to be felt. At some point, a male investor stepped in and said that he would only ask his question after I had been given the chance to ask mine.

That moment reminded me that bias does not come only from investors or from the capital side of the ecosystem. It can also come from founders. Sometimes, consciously or not, people give more weight to certain voices in the room. I handled it by staying calm and asking my question when I had the floor, but I also understood that these moments still matter because they show how credibility is not granted equally.

Over time, however, I have also learned to use being underestimated almost as a superpower. When people do not immediately see me as a potential investor or someone who can write a cheque, they are often less guarded. They speak more openly, reveal more about how they think, how they treat people, and how they make decisions. That gives me access to a different kind of information and in early-stage investing, observing people when they are not trying to impress you can be extremely valuable.

One bias that still frustrates me is the narrow image of what a credible investor is supposed to look and sound like. Warmth, empathy, and a collaborative style are still too often mistaken for lack of authority. I believe the ecosystem needs to broaden its view of competence and recognize that strong investors can also be human, generous, and deeply connected to people.

Community & what’s missing

Vicky, no one builds a career in investing alone. Who opened doors for you along the way, and what role did community play?

Angel investing is all about community and human connection for me. Firstly I get to work alongside an amazing group of fellow angels, who have different skillsets and life experiences, and together we can make better decisions and source better deals than we ever could alone. Being part of Anglia Capital Group, in Eastern England, also being engaged with Equity Gap and Apollo Informal Investments in Scotland, and taking part in UKBAA and other European ecosystem events has been hugely instrumental for me. Jenny Tooth at UKBAA particularly welcomed me as an angel-backed founder, and now many years later again welcomes me as an angel. And those things are so important, as investing is a long, long game. I try to extend that generosity of time and experience myself, to enable founders and potential angels on their paths - the SIM conference in Porto was a wonderful event, as was Latitude59 in Tallinn, because I got to directly meet and champion some terrific internationally diverse founders that just wouldn’t have been on my radar otherwise.

Advice as a role model

What is one piece of advice women should absolutely follow if they want to step into investing, and one piece of advice they should ignore?

Vicky Brock: My advice is to embrace the community and seek out people who are different to you - join a group (or multiple groups), get involved on a screening panel or as a lead investor. Anything to make sure you are tapping into the wisdom of the crowd, rather than doing all this alone. Diversity of thinking lowers risk and improves decision making. Ignore anyone who says small cheques are pointless - one of the richest exited founders I know still invests 3-5k in her first angel round with a company, with the intention of later doing up to six figures in a small sub-set of them. My follow-on capacity is less than hers, but it is still factored in - so a lot of smaller investments, with the intention of larger follow-ons into those who prove capable of listening, executing and adapting. The risk profile of your portfolio improves once you get to about 16+ companies so you need to allow yourself the capacity to get there. It isn’t all or nothing, so the little cheques are often just as smart as the big ones. You have every right to be in the room.

Cintia Mano: What is still missing for female investors in Europe is visibility, access, and influence. Last year and again this year, through the Golden Aurora Awards, I met extraordinary women investors from across Europe. Women with deep experience, strong investment judgment, and thoughtful perspectives on startups, capital, innovation, and the future of the European economy. We need to give more space to these women: to their stories, their reflections, and their voices. That means more panels, more keynotes, more cross-country exchanges, and more opportunities for female investors to shape the conversation — not only to be celebrated within it. At a time when Europe is trying to accelerate innovation and unlock important barriers to growth, bringing these perspectives forward is not just about diversity. It is about making better decisions for the future of the European economy.

Looking ahead

Cintia, Looking forward, what are you personally here to change in this ecosystem?

What I am personally here to change is the perception of who belongs in angel investing and what kind of investor can create value. I want more women, more experienced professionals, and more people outside traditional finance circles to see themselves as potential investors. Europe needs more smart capital, more diverse perspectives, and more people willing to support innovation with knowledge, networks, and courage. This is also one of the reasons why I wrote my book, Angel Investing Explained: to disseminate knowledge, demystify angel investing, and make the topic more accessible to people who may not yet see themselves in this space.

Vicky looking forward, if you could accelerate one shift in European investing tomorrow, what would it be?

I want European investing to support European quality of life, quality of work and economic stability for our communities. I’d send all the unicorn hunters on an extended safari very far away and rebalance the perceived risk profile to open up different types of funds into different types of businesses. Especially multi-generational businesses, family owned businesses, revenue generating, profitable and meaningful job-creating companies, companies that are at the hearts or community or important to sovereign security. I’d like to reset the narrative away from chasing over-valued ‘unicorn’ style deals that will ultimately be US funded and the angel investors wiped out, and instead look at how angels can meaningfully participate in - and successfully exit from in appropriate ways - the more typical shaped businesses that Europeans tend to found and work in.

Shaping what comes next

The Golden Aurora Award is more than recognition, it is a catalyst. Across editions, we see a growing community of inspiring women who are not only investing in startups, but also in each other. From this shared energy, a clear signal has emerged: the need for a stronger, connected network.

That is why Business Angels Europe is preparing the launch of a dedicated Alumni Community, bringing together all Golden Aurora winners and nominees from past and future editions. A space to connect, share opportunities, celebrate milestones, and actively support one another. Because the future of investing is not only about capital, but also about collaboration, visibility, and collective growth.

Stay tuned, this is only the beginning.