An interview With Anna Longoni, Malaga EBAN Congress Director

‘’I am looking forward to contributing to the success of some European startups building my portfolio, contributing to cross border investments and getting interesting marketing and sales advisory roles in the investee startups. I also hope to be part of a movement engaging more women to tech, and to invest in tech, as in Spain, as in most European countries, less than 10 % of the angel investors are women.’’

You have just chaired the successful Malaga EBAN Congress - can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a multicultural Finn that has lived, studied and worked in several European countries. I speak 7 languages. I hold a M.Sc. Economics from Helsinki Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, and I studied finance in EMLyon Business School in France.

My early work experience includes: 8 years in different marketing and sales managerial positions in a French multinational company, L’Oréal, After L’Oréal, I worked with software development outsourcing as CFO of a Finnish IT-startup.

In recent years, I have worked with consulting assignments, among others for Finnish companies interested in establishing a unit in Russia, and lately with projects developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Andalusia. Angel investing is my newest challenge.

I live in Malaga with my Italian husband and our 3 children. My hobbies include dancing, gym, skiing and swimming. As I spend much time on calls and webinars, I recently decided to start walking meetings. I do long power walks almost every day, often while on Skype and conference calls. 

How did you get into angel investing?

I got into the startup world, as my brother asked me to join the software development outsourcing company he founded. Those were some dynamic days! After the multinational world, it was a fantastic journey to work in an agile growth company giving me experience in all aspects of building a startup. Those were especially interesting times, as they overlapped with the period of ‘hype of entrepreneurship and creating startups’, we lived in Finland through the start of the Slush movement. After the sales of the company, angel investing seemed like a new thing to learn, and together with some other starting angel investors we created Tartecfund, our vehicle to invest into startups.

What took you to EBAN?

When entering into something new, one should always try to find the ways to learn from the best in their fields. Therefore, I started to search for information on the different Business angel networks around. I joined FIBAN, Finnish Business Angel Network, as well as some regional BANs, such as Marbella Tech Angels and Red Malaga Business Angels. Living between different countries, EBAN, the European Business Angels Network, was a good choice. Not only was I able to learn from the best, but also getting to know like-minded investors with whom to co-invest and access interesting deals.

So please tell us about the great EBAN annual Congress? What were the topics treated?

On 7-9 June, more than 500 attendees from 46 countries across the world gathered in Malaga, Spain, for 3 days of celebrating the spectacular developments in the innovation, entrepreneurial and early stage investment ecosystem. Guests of the event included angel investors, entrepreneurs, corporates, politicians, accelerators, incubators, crowd funders and more!

 EBAN Malaga Congress focused on what the future holds for many of the hot-topic sectors of today, be it Connected Mobility, Artificial Intelligence, Sustainable Energy, or Entrepreneurship and Investing itself. 

The quality of the startups was really good as the featured startups were selected from the 246 startup applications received. The 2017 EBAN Annual Congress featured 50 startups  from 16 different countries pitching throughout the 3 days of the Congress and competing for spectacular prizes, with the main prize being seed investments from EBAN Member Marbella Tech Angels, led by serial entrepreneur and angel investor Andreas Mihalovits. Considering the additional 41 startups pitching at the Malaga Innovation Showcase, EBAN Malaga truly gave entrepreneurs the chance to shine.

 EBAN Malaga smashed records with a total of 1.15 Million Euros invested in 3 companies below who won the prizes from Marbella Tech Angels:

500 ke investment for Best European Startup: 360Visualizer

450 ke investment for Best Spanish Startup: Wuolah

200 ke investment for Best Andalusian Startup: PadelManager

In addition to the seed investment prizes, startups pitching at EBAN Malaga were competing for several other prizes from different sponsors. Ericsson gave 2 entrepreneurs a week-long trip to the Ericsson Garage Incubator in Sweden.

Minerva, an entrepreneurship program promoted by Junta de Andalucía and Vodafone gave out iPads. Spanish law firm Caveat Abogados gave out 2 legal services prizes.

 On 7 June, entrepreneurs had the chance to attend pitch training sessions and present their companies at the Global Investor Forum, both powered by the ePlus project. 2 startups received distinguished titles – “the Most Investible Company” being Workkola and the “One to Watch” being Alternative Energy Innovations. 

The training activities included several workshops for investors and entrepreneurs. The investors attending EBAN Malaga for sure got a comprehensive guide on angel investing with capacity building workshops on making investments, on running angel networks, on the nuts and bolts of angel investing and on follow on rounds.

How was the program during the 3 days and which speakers stood out?

The conference was opened by Candace Johnson, EBAN president, Tomi Davies, ABAN President, Juan Alvarez de Lara, AEBAN Vice President, and Francisco de la Torre Prados, the Mayor of Malaga.

Throughout the event, Gina Smith, New York Times bestselling author of Apple founder Steve Wozniak's biography, acted as Master of Ceremonies, giving a unique flavor to the proceedings.

 The conference got off to a great start with keynote speeches and a panel exploring the future of Connected Mobility with Bradley Mead from Ericsson, the future of Technology with Steven C. Tiell from Accenture, the future of InsurTech with Christian Gruendl, AXA Germany; the future of Sustainable Energy with Diego Pavia, KIC InnoEnergy, and the future of Entrepreneurship itself with Jeff Hoffman, Serial Entrepreneur and Global Mentor to Startups.

Legendary Jeff Hoffman (Priceline, UBid, ColorJar) was one of the special guests at EBAN Malaga. In his inspirational speech, Jeff emphasized that entrepreneurs are the answer to world problems “If you want to make a world a better place, unleash an army of entrepreneurs” he said. Hoffman also stressed the importance of entrepreneurship, as “it is the shovel you use to dig a path for a brighter future”.

In addition to the amazing speakers who gave speeches on "the future of" some fascinating topics, there were even more spectacular keynote speeches throughout the EBAN Annual Congress, with eg. renowned FIFA World Cup Referee Urs Meier discussing how to make fast decisions and stick with them, Hugh Campbell, Founder and Managing Partner of GP Bullhound, discussing tech trends, unicorns and clusters and Javier Placer, CEO of Telefonica Open Future, speaking about how to accelerate global companies.

Could you name some of the panels and workshops of the congress?

EBAN Malaga 2017 stood out with a large number of panels covering a multitude of fascinating topics such as: Public Private Co-Investment Angel Funds & Accelerator Funds. The "Investing like a Super Angel" panel gave the audience a chance to hear from angels who have years of experience and great advice to give to those just starting out. The panel on Open Innovation provided great insights on collaboration between corporates and startups. Investing in Spain, Andalusia and Malaga was treated in several panels. Turning from Spain to the world at large, the Global View on Angel Investing panel featured perspectives from all over the world.

The workshops gave EBAN Malaga attendees the chance to pick and choose from a variety of fascinating topics the ones they were interested in: 

For those interested in Artificial Intelligence, the Accenture workshop on AI as an Innovation Ecosystem Engine was the obvious choice. Other workshops organized were: The Corporate Venturing Workshop, Women Investor Networks and Women Entrepreneurship Workshop, Impact Investment. ‘How Public Authorities can support Entrepreneurs and Investors: Lessons from the EU and Quebec’.

Representatives from Africa, MENA and Latin America got together to discuss the Africa, MENA and LATAM opportunity – How to tap into these booming markets. 

 The GUST workshop on ‘Best Practices for Angel Networks’ continued the important conversation on what BANs can do to develop their operations, while a workshop titled ‘KNOW HOW 2 IP in Startups: An ultimate short guide to IP elements for startup entrepreneurs & investors’ focused on the differences in legal regimes and scope of protection of patents, design & utility models, trademarks and domain names, and main differences in regulation between EU and the US.

Were there some EBAN Awards given out this year?

The EBAN Malaga Gala Dinner and Awards celebrated individuals and organisations who work tirelessly to improve the venture and entrepreneurial finance eco-system the world over. The honorees were: Tom Schulz, Co-founder & General Manager of AQAL Capital - Best European Early Stage Investor; Danish Business Angel Network - Best Performing EBAN Member; Monte Carlo Capital - Best performing New EBAN Member; Albert Colomer, President of BANC - Early Stage Investor who has been a game changer for Europe; Baybars Altuntas - Promotion of Early Stage Investment within the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem; Halo Business Angel Network (Ireland) - Best European Business Angel Week Initiative; Faveoo, Galata Business Angels and Sophia Business Angels - Successful Business Financed by Early Stage Investors.

Special recognition awards went to Francisco de la Torre Prados, Mayor of Malaga, Andreas Mihalovits, Founder of Marbella Tech Angels; Francisco Garzon, CEO of ICEX, councillor Mario Cortes from the City of Malaga and Jeff Hoffman. ?

Were there some other activities celebrated during the same week in Malaga?

As Malaga got awarded to host the EBAN annual congress, Malaga innovation Festival - a week dedicated to innovation, investment and entrepreneurship - was created. EBAN Malaga was the international flagship of the week.

The first edition of the Malaga Innovation Festival, included 30 exciting activities – not the least of them being the GreenCities and HiDrone Congresses, which all Congress attendees were able to attend.

I’m already looking forward to the 2018 edition of the Malaga Innovation Festival!

What was the best part for you working with the EBAN congress?

Obviously, it was an honor. It was a unique opportunity to get to know all the local players in the early stage ecosystem in Andalusia, to network and to get the chance to work with the different organizers and partners of a truly global event.

What do you want to do in the future for the European Innovation, Entrepreneurial, and Early Stage Community?

I am looking forward to contributing to the success of some European startups building my portfolio, contributing to cross border investments and getting interesting marketing and sales advisory roles in the investee startups. I also hope to be part of a movement engaging more women to tech, and to invest in tech, as in Spain, as in most European countries, less than 10 % of the angel investors are women.

I see a huge potential in developing the Costa del Sol innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. I have followed the developments of Malaga, since I first visited the region in 2000. What the City of Malaga has done since, in terms of infrastructure improvements, is truly impressive; international airport, harbor, metro, tripled hotel capacity, cultural offer etc. If the same systematic efforts that were put to develop the city, will be put to develop the tech sector, with the public and private sector working closely together, I’m convinced that Malaga can, in 10 years, be one of the main innovation hubs of southern Europe.

To end, I want to quote EBAN president, Candace Johnson’s ‘motto’, that I share as an entrepreneur: “Don’t ever give up. Don’t take no for an answer. When you know you are on to something great, don’t ever walk away, (even if others would want you to).” So I assure you, I have only just started!