Abstracts

Panel 1: 
19 February 2019, Tuesday
09.30 – Fuji Hall 2

Key Concepts for Start-ups: Understanding the Investment Strategies of Angel Investors, Angel Investor Groups, VCs, Private Equity Funds and Co-Investment Funds  

This panel will focus on how we can increase open learning space opportunities for entrepreneurs to expand their understanding of the investment strategies of angel investors, the fund-raising strategies of successful entrepreneurs, term-sheet negotiation techniques, company valuations, due diligence checklists used by global investors, and ways to access co-investment funds.

Moderator 
Eythor Ivar Jonsson, Managing Director, Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Iceland

Charles Sidman, Founding Member, American Angel Capital Association (ACA), USA
Marek Rusiecki, President of the Management Board of Xevin Investments, Poland
Ramin Komeilian, Founder of Ava Angel Investors Network, Iran

Panel 2: 
19 February 2019, Tuesday
10.30 – Fuji Hall 2

The importance of a well-functioning early-stage ecosystem for creating more liquidity for entrepreneurs — from seed funding to IPO

With new trends in global capital markets such as corporate venturing, angel investment, crowdfunding, private equity, and sovereign wealth to empower economies, some countries are struggling to take on of some of these investment methods – crowdfunding, for example – despite proven positive economic impact and the need for such financial instruments. This panel will discuss how innovative policies can be developed and what the role of public–private partnerships might be in this process. The panel will attempt to put forth a concrete approach to changing the mindset of individuals who are in decision-making positions, both in public and private institutions. Any policy that supports entrepreneurs and SMEs directly, or that supports the supporters of entrepreneurs and SMEs, is useful, including converting public money to smart money by involving more angel investors and corporate ventures. A critical game-changer question will be addressed: How can we create an entrepreneurial ecosystem by bringing all stakeholders around the same table to create more liquidity, ease access to finance and accelerate early exits?

Moderator
Michael Gold, Chief Executive Officer, Crimson Capital, USA

Ian Sosso, Founder & Managing Partner, Monte Carlo Capital, Monte Carlo
Emre Yilmaz, CTO Techdesign, Turkey
Yousef M. Hamidaddin, Innovation & Change Advocate - Early Stage Fund Management, Jordan

19 February 2019, Tuesday
11.30 – Fuji Hall 2

Nasdaq Talk: ANATOMY OF AN SME IPO 

Traditionally, an IPO has not been top of mind when young companies were looking to raise capital, expand and grow. This has changed. Today, most exchanges offer a junior market option where simpler rules and regulation make it possible for SMEs and startups to begin life as listed companies. In Europe, Nasdaq operates its Nasdaq First North market where more than 500 young companies have started their journey, raised capital and grown since First North launched in 2005.

 Our 15 minutes session will show you what to look for and how to execute, and will address some of the following topics:

• How to successfully plan and structure a public offering?
• When is the right time to list? 
• What are the key considerations companies should take before listing?

Carsten Borring, Associate Vice President Listings EMEA

Panel 3: 
19 February 2019, Tuesday
14.30 – Fuji Hall 2

Enhancing Innovative Cultures Through Entrepreneurship: Innovation Education for Non-Business Students and Founders of Start-Ups, Scale-Ups and High-Growth Businesses 

The past decades have seen a rapid increase in the offerings of entrepreneurship education worldwide. There is an explicit political agenda—both nationally and internationally— to promote entrepreneurship education at all levels of school systems. Policymakers expect entrepreneurial skills to be the key to developing an innovative culture, which in turn will result in higher competitiveness and economic growth. Educational systems and teaching methods must therefore move from traditional educational models to creative, interactive and student-centred ones that will prepare students to meet the challenges of the future. This panel will offer a unique opportunity for researchers, educators and politicians to share their experiences with the major challenges and advances in enterprise education, with a special focus on entrepreneurship and innovation.

Moderator
Adnan Akdemir, President, WBAF Academy

Prof. Leonid Nakov, PhD, Director, Center for Economic Researches, Faculty of Economics - Skopje, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia 

Prof Panayiotis H. Ketikidis, The University of Sheffield International Faculty CITY College and Chairperson of SEERC, Greece

Sabur Khan, Chairman, Daffodil International University, Bangladesh

Panel 4: 
19 February 2019, Tuesday
15.30 – Fuji Hall 2

Unicorn or mini-corn? Overcoming the challenges of creating a unicorn business by focusing on creating a mini-corn

Twenty-five members of the 2016 FORBES Billionaires List made their fortunes via unicorns – start-up companies valued at $1 billion dollars or more. Eighteen of these billionaires are under age 40, and the average age of the group is just 36 years old. That is about half the average age of all of the world’s 1,810 billionaires. This small group of billionaires is one measure of just how successful tech start-ups have been at raising funding from venture capitalists over the past few years. Nearly half of these 25 billionaires are newcomers to the list this year, and 40% saw their fortunes increase in 2015 because of new funding rounds. More than half of the returning billionaires were newcomers on the 2015 Billionaires List.

But the number of unicorns in the world is not more than 200, so is it a good idea to put ‘creating a unicorn’ as an indicator of the success of a country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem? Or is it a better idea to focus on mini-corns? This session will discuss the challenges to and opportunities for building a billion-dollar tech business from start-up to scale-up to unicorn and how to compensate for challenges by introducing a different criterion for success.

Moderator
Peter E. Braun ,EBAN Board Member, Switzerland

Julius Akinyemi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, UWINCorp, USA
Miguel Martin, Founder and Co-investor at Immerxing Hub, Spain
Sergio Vella, Director of Financing and Investor Relations, ICEX-Invest in Spain

Panel 5: 
19 February 2019, Tuesday
16.30 – Fuji Hall 2

Increasing the Financial Inclusion of Migrants Through Innovation and Entrepreneurship 

Migrants and hosting countries alike will benefit from increased financial inclusion of migrants. Migrants are keen risk-takers with a unique mindset who are able to empower economies in the pursuit of their dreams. As a natural outcome of increasing their financial inclusion, they will be more engaged with local economies, which in turn will mean more jobs, more social justice and increased revenue for governments. Migrants from Turkey in Germany are a good example. Migration to Germany started in the 1970s, and in the late 1990s, 50,000 Turkish migrant entrepreneurs had created 185,000 new jobs in Germany. The total amount of revenue generated by Turkish entrepreneurs in Germany is around 10 billion EUR. This panel discussion will focus on the question of how world economies can turn the ambitions of entrepreneurial migrants into a win-win scenario.

Moderator
Prof Enriko Ceko, Dean of Economic & Social Sciences Faculty at University College Wisdom, Albania

Ismail Haznedar, Founder & Chairman, AIN Angel Investing Network (JAIN Global)
Dr Hashim S. Hussein, Head, The United Nations Industrial Development Organization - ITPO, UNIDO
Vitaly Polekhin, President, Russian Business Angels Association, Russia