Balkirat Singh Bhue’s Post

Supporting startups and entrepreneurs requires more than registering IP rights. To function as a true business tool, intellectual property (IP) must be embraced for its strategic potential to drive innovation, attract investment, and foster growth. By raising awareness among investors and startups, we aim to amplify IP’s role as a catalyst for economic development.   I am honoured that the EUIPO’s efforts in this field have been recognised with the Award for Valued Partner from the EBAN - European Business Angel Network at the 2024 European Angel Investment Summit. This award reflects our commitment to building essential links between intellectual property, innovation, and angel investing throughout Europe. Our collaboration within the Ideas Powered for Business network, of which EBAN is a valued member, plays a key role in advancing these efforts.   An interesting focus of the summit was gender balance in angel investing—a priority that EUIPO and EBAN share as we work to close the gender gap in the innovation ecosystem. The EUIPO also led a workshop on IP due diligence in deep tech, underscoring the pivotal role of IP in guiding investment decisions.   Congratulations to EBAN on its 25th anniversary, and to the newly elected President, Jesper Jarlbæk. We look forward to strengthening our collaboration in supporting entrepreneurship and innovation as part of the EUIPO’s 2030 Strategic Plan.   Together, by engaging sectors like finance, economics, academia, and business support organisations, we can position IP as a cornerstone of sustainable business growth and investment across Europe.   #Innovation #IntellectualProperty #Entrepreneurship #EBAN #AngelInvesting #EconomicGrowth #IPfinancing #IPDueDiligence #EAIS24 #ValuedPartner

As one of the Innovation Fund winners, we’re proud to be part of the Mastercard Strive EU program, which trusts us to equip European small businesses with the innovations they need to grow and thrive. Through our data analytics solution that provides financial institutions with the required climate data to provide small businesses with the necessary funding and know-how, i.e. we increase small businesses’ access to financial and non-financial support to become more sustainable. ➡️ Check out this interactive report to learn more about the challenges faced by micro- and small businesses in Europe and see how innovations like ours are making an impact: https://lnkd.in/dXg-6Uac Together, we’re shaping a stronger, more inclusive future for small businesses across Europe! https://lnkd.in/dhGE-zMf #InnovationFund #InclusiveGrowth #smallbusiness

🌟 Zosia Wanat from Sifted wrote an insightful piece on the EBAN - European Business Angel Network Annual Congress in Tallinn: 👉 Angel investing in Europe is maturing, with over 40k investors becoming more professional and structured. The community now includes national associations, syndicates, funds, and startup founders, highlighting a diverse and professional investor base. EBAN plays a crucial role in supporting this professionalisation by organising networking events, facilitating peer learning, and sharing best practices. 👉 Many angels are investing through syndicates or funds to mitigate risks and build long-term portfolios. Smaller ecosystems like Lithuania and Ireland are showing strong growth alongside leading countries like the UK, Germany, and France. AI and defense tech have become the hottest investment areas, replacing fintech and B2B SaaS. 👉 EBAN advocates for supportive regulations and tax benefits, aiming to harmonise rules and tax systems across Europe to ease investment. Mobilising idle funds into startup investments could significantly transform the European economy. You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eCGib_DW #angelinvesting #EBAN2024 #startupecosystem #innovation

Across the EU micro- and small businesses need innovative solutions to support their digitalization, growth and resilience 🚀 Our newest report highlights how: 🤖 Small businesses underutilize advanced digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), to the detriment of their efficiency and profitability gains with just 6.4% of small businesses in the EU used AI technologies. 🔐 They often lack the tools and know-how to protect against cybersecurity threats - despite almost one-third of EU SMEs having experienced a cybercrime within a 12-month period. ♻ Small businesses have greater difficulty navigating evolving consumer preferences and regulatory expectations around environmental sustainability. 💳 Small businesses have limited and restricted access to working capital and credit with an estimated annual small business financing gap in the EU in the range of €20 to €112 billion per country ---- Read more about the exciting work that Caribou Digital is delivering in partnership with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth PS - a HUGE shoutout to our massively talented team who contributed to this report including Hanna Laufer, Marius Karabaczek and Janet Shulist #SmallBusiness #InnovationFund #DigitalFinance #InclusiveGrowth #DigitalTransformation

Sharing the latest insights from the Mastercard Strive EU Innovation Fund 👉 https://lnkd.in/epEmbR8a Micro-businesses with fewer than ten employees make up the majority of businesses in the EU. Employing almost one-third of the EU’s workforce, they deliver €1.8 trillion of wealth as measured by value added. Our commitment to supporting the digitalization and resilience of small businesses across Europe thrives on collaboration - with the innovative minds of our 10 winners, the expertise and network of the Mastercard Strive EU Business Council, which I am proud to chair, and knowledge sharing within the wider community. Together, we can enable an ecosystem where small businesses can grow and succeed. #smallbusiness #InnovationFund #InclusiveGrowth

🚀 Exciting insights on the student entrepreneurship funding ecosystem! 📊 In a report by Jules Deplanck and Campus Fund Did you know that American student VC funds are, on average, 2.4 times larger than their European counterparts? Despite Europe having a larger student population and similar check sizes, this funding gap highlights significant opportunities for growth and innovation in our region. Factors such as a more established VC ecosystem in the U.S., varying approaches to risk, and heightened competition among late-stage VCs contribute to this disparity. However, the future looks bright for European student entrepreneurs! 🌟 At Round One Ventures, we believe in the untapped potential within the student ecosystem. We’re proud to be a part of a movement with the likes of Graduate Entrepreneur Fund, Creator Fund, ASIF Ventures, Dutch Student Investment Fund, and S2S Ventures that are dedicated to nurturing student talent and bridging this funding gap. Let’s collaborate and empower the next generation of innovators! This being a big opportunity for Europe. 🇪🇺✨ #StudentEntrepreneurship #VentureCapital #FundingGap #Innovation #Europe #RoundOneVentures

As announced in the 2024 Policy Address on 16 October, the Government will increase investment and guide more market capital to invest in I&T industries, reflecting a revamped approach of Government in this. Including set up a $10 billion I&T Industry-Oriented Fund & optimising the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund. Apart from that, the Government will launch the I&T Accelerator Pilot Scheme to attract professional start-up service providers to set up accelerator bases in Hong Kong. 團結香港基金 Our Hong Kong Foundation launched Building Hong Kong as a Cradle for Successful Entrepreneurship in Mar 2024, observed the less Government's early-stage investments in local start-ups, compared to other funding support. The report advocated establishing an angel fund of funds to provide seed and early-stage venture capital to Hong Kong start-ups. The report also suggested accelerating disbursement of government funding schemes, and supporting start-up expansion to GBA Mainland cities and ASEAN countries and other proposals. Building Hong Kong as a Cradle for Successful Entrepreneurship Full Report: https://bit.ly/4f6kwsJ Press Release: https://bit.ly/4eLvKTB #PolicyAddress #2024PolicyAddress #IT #InnovationandTechnology

Balderton announces $1.3B in new funds to back Europe’s top entrepreneurs as they build world-changing businesses #balderton #fund #venture #growth #tech A $615 million Early Stage Fund IX and $685 million Growth Fund II, to back Europe’s most ambitious entrepreneurs from seed stage through IPO. ➡️ Balderton has invested in more than 275 technology companies from across Europe. ➡️ The current portfolio includes global category leaders like Revolut, Dream Games, GoCardless, Contentful, Aircall, Wayve, Writer and PhotoRoom. ➡️ Many previous portfolio companies have successfully exited, such as Darktrace, Depop, MySQL, Peakon, Recorded Future, Talend and THG. ➡️ Balderton’s investment history spans technology sectors including AI, fintech, B2B SaaS, digital health, mobility, gaming and marketplaces. ➡️ 65 team members across Europe, and a strong portfolio of more than 125 companies Bernard Liautaud (Managing Partner) states: "At Balderton, we believe the best way to change the world is to build a business – and that many of these world-changing businesses will be built in Europe. As a firm, our mission is simple: to be the partner of choice to the founders starting and growing those European technology companies. These new funds put us in a position to do just that". https://lnkd.in/eDruq3pm

In our recent research, we explored the perceptions of ICT practitioners (members of startups) about the StartUp GOV.BR program and its surrounding issues. Our aim was to identify the relationships, potentialities, and constraints of this program to contribute to growth strategies and understand the necessary assets and capabilities for successful digital transformation in a startup-based environment. The full paper can be viewed at: https://lnkd.in/d-pPTqqj George Marsicano Elaine Venson

The Overseas Investment Office has given US private equity firm BV Investment Partners the green light to take a controlling stake in one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing software firms - Auckland-based Kami, whose online tools are used by some 40 million teachers and students worldwide. The transaction valued Kami at $300m. That makes it our second-largest edutech deal (the biggest was when US private equity giant KKR took majority control of Dunedin’s Education Perfect in a mid-2021 transaction that valued the Kiwi firm at $455m). I've seen big dreams go south before as American capital takes control (especially if there's then an on-sale or IPO later). Private equity is what private does. But Kami founders Hengjie Wang, Alliv Samson, Jordan Thoms and Bob Drummond seem to have their heads screwed on. And Wang says BV has a 40-year track record of helping founder-led companies scale. The founders say they'll stay long-term and keep core operations in NZ - and that the deal has generated big returns for early investors that will be fed back into the NZ startup ecosystem. One example: James Pinner, chief investment officer for the Crown-backed NZ Growth Capital Partners, says NZGCP's Aspire fund made a 70x or $37m profit on its early investment. Chintaka Ranatunga and Flying Kiwi Angels' David Russell got in on the ground floor #privateequity #education #AI