The EU4Digital Facility will hold the second ICT Innovation networking event on 8 October back-to-back with the annual Steering Committee Meeting. It will be held remotely in the form of a virtual session. 

The event will focus on the topic of Integration of business angels and venture capital (individuals and associations) into EU and global networks and their capacity building to increase digital SMEs’ access to finance in the Eastern Partnership region.

A number of EU business, business angel and crowdfunding networks have been invited to the event. They will present their value propositions, plans and visions of possible cooperation in the EaP region. As a result, the event is aimed to help integrating organisations from Eastern partner countries into EU networks and platforms, leading to partnerships of business networks and associations in the region with their European counterparts, as well as building capacity among players in the field.

The event will be made up of different sessions that will focus on several aspects of the issue of access to finance:

• Networking of innovation & business support ecosystems
• Networking of Business Angels and Venture Capital associations
• Networking of crowdfunding ecosystems

The sessions will include presentations from key EU participants in the area, Q&A panels and discussions on possible cooperation led by the following organisations:

• European Business & Innovation Centre Network (EBN)
• European Business Angels Network (EBAN)
• Business Angels Europe (BAE)
• European Crowdfunding Network (ECN)

The list of speakers and moderators leading different sessions of the event:

• Anna Pobol, EU4Digital ICT Innovation Lead
• Jesus Lozano, ICT Strategic Advisor at European Innovation Council and CEO at IT Entrepreneur
• David Uhlíř, President at European Business & Innovation Centre Network (EBN) and Chief Strategy Officer at South Moravian Innovation Centre
• Luca Maini, Quality & Research Officer at European Business & Innovation Centre Network (EBN)
• Inna Petrenko, Advisor at SME Development Office Ukraine (SMEDO)
• Jacopo Losso, Director of Secretariat at European Business Angels Network (EBAN)
• Jan Debets, Head of Operations at Business Angels Europe (BAE)
• Oliver Gajda, Executive Director at European Crowdfunding Network (ECN)
• Otar Gorgodze, Head of Financial and Supervisory Technology Development Department at National Bank of Georgia

The detailed agenda and more details about the event can be found here.

ICT Innovation Networking events

ICT Innovation networking events aim to facilitate the establishment of EaP communities in the selected ICT Innovation policy areas. In addition to creating networks in the region, it strives for the establishment of bilateral and multilateral bridges between the Eastern partner organisations and EU stakeholders to enable further sustainable joint activities and projects. These efforts aim for overall deeper knowledge and understanding of the relevant EU best practices by stakeholders in the region. Therefore, the series of events targets a wide audience, including ministerial level representatives and agencies, associations and networks of relevant policy areas, ICT Infrastructure organisations as well as other ICT Innovation ecosystem actors.