An affiliated partner of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) will focus on angel investors partnering with private equity funds at the virtual version of the World Congress of Angel Investors in 2021. The discussions will explore how private equity funds can foster open innovation and deliver more business value through partnerships with angel investors, start-ups, scale-ups, high-growth businesses and SMEs. Summits of the WBAF 2021 will focus on connecting angel investors with corporate ventures, democratising access to finance from start-up to scale-up to exit and accelerating business transformation of ventures. LPs, start-ups, scale-ups and angel investors will be able to connect through the Global Fundraising Stage.

The Forum interacts with leaders in all areas of society, first and foremost in business and political spheres, to help assess needs and establish goals, bearing in mind that the public interest is of paramount importance.

The World Congress of the World Business Angels Investment Forum starts with the Grand Opening Ceremony, an invitation-only event for 500 special guests from around the world. The Grand Opening Ceremony includes keynote speeches from renowned businessmen, entrepreneurs and investors from around the world, presidential and ministerial speeches, video messages, the formal signing of economic cooperation agreements and an opening bell that signals the official opening of the Congress. A ministerial round table on critical issues and the state of the world will conclude the Grand Opening Ceremony.

An affiliated partner of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) is aiming to ease access to finance globally. World Congress WBAF 2021 will feature 32 panel discussions at 6 summits.

• Europe Summit
• Latin America Summit
• Asia Summit
• North America Summit
• MENA Summit
• Africa Summit

At WBAF 2021, we are allocating a special day where selected 100 startups, scaleups, and high-growth businesses will each have a virtual area to showcase their business and to pitch their businesses on the Global Fundraising Stage (GFRS) on 20 February.The 2021 GFRS is supported by the WBAF Angel Investment Fund, whose mission is to invest in startups and scaleups who pitch on the GFRS. The aim is to showcase the world’s top startups and scaleups, which, typically, are funded companies in the process of raising €50K – €3M, with the ultimate goal of globalizing. GFRS participants will have a free Investment Readiness Workshop from the WBAF Business School. They will also have a free Investment Readiness Workshop.

WBAF 2021 will host the Bell Ceremony for the World Business Angel Investors Week 2021, which will be celebrated every third week of October under a global theme. The first one will take place 18-24 October 2021 with the theme of ‘Business Transformation in Pandemic Times’ and will be celebrated in 125 countries.

During World Business Angel Investors Week, partners will host events and exhibitions related to the theme of the year. These event partners will be individuals and organizations from various sectors who volunteer to share their insights on angel investment, the startup economy, financial inclusion, gender equality, entrepreneurship and innovation to audiences and collaborators in various sectors.

It is the position of the WBAF Business School that when investors have had the advantage of training in the best practices of negotiating deals for early-stage investment, they are in a better position to ensure a good return on their investments. The WBAF Business School takes advantage of the Congress to deliver free workshops and masterclasses to support participants’ professional development.

• Investment Readiness Workshop
• Business Transformation Workshop

Through the World Excellence Awards, the World Business Angels Investment Forum celebrates high growth and success in the equity and capital market – recognising the fastest growing brands and acknowledging the founders, angel investors, crowd-funders and early-stage venture capital investors behind them.

Open to both companies,investors, NGOs, policy makers and public institutes, these awards recognise the year’s most disruptive new market entrants and provide a definitive list of the most exciting individuals and organisations to watch in the investment, equity and capital space.

A mountain of research shows that professional networks lead to more job and business opportunities, broader and deeper knowledge, improved capacity to innovate, faster advancement, and greater status and authority. Building and nurturing professional relationships also improves the quality of work and increases job satisfaction.

WWBAF 2021 will host many special networking sessions in small groups where participants will be able to network effectively. This will give a great opportunity for angel investors, startups, entrepreneurs, policy makers and company executives to a shared learning platform where each participant of the Congress will have direct connection with many new professionals from around the world through the virtual networking sessions of the WBAF.

The World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) aims to ease access to finance for businesses from startup to scaleup to exit, with the ultimate goal of generating economic development, jobs and more social justice worldwide.

To achieve this goal, WBAF developed the WBAF Angel Investment Fund as an international co-investment financial tool to invest in the startups and scaleups of the Global Fundraising Stage GFRS; it incorporates a mix of private, public and non-profit sources for the benefit of startup ventures looking for smart finance.