Lithuanian Business Angels Network (“LITBAN”) will host monthly Startup Pitch events, where select startups will have an opportunity to present their investment needs to the community of investors

A recently-established business angels network “LitBAN” has begun to look at investment opportunities within the Lithuanian startup community. Last week, the first monthly “Startup Pitch”event took place, where the first 5 selected startups had an opportunity to ‘pitch’ a group of potential investors.

Business angels are affluent individuals who have accumulated business experience and capital, who invest in business start-ups at an early stage of their existence. Most often, they contribute not only financially, but also with helping a start-up with useful connections and sound business advice.

LitBAN intends to host a number of events introducing the most promising startups to the network members, including the ‘Event Fund Training Program’, where in partnership with Koinvesticinis Fondas, a co-investment venture capital fund, they will make a joint investment of up to 100,000 Euros into one start-ups at Lithuania’s Startup Fair. As part of the program, LitBAN members will complete the Angel Investor certification program and attend masterclasses hosted by experienced international business angels.

Overall, LitBAN hope to create an ecosystem where deal flow potential could happen frequently – hence, the monthly “Startup Pitch” Events. Last week, the 5 select start-ups made a presentation to LitBAN hoping to secure funding in exchange for equity in their business:  DealLink, an online system for B2B sector procurement and new business deals; IVO, a wedding photography solution that facilitates professional photo editing with the help of artificial intelligence (AI); NEO Finance, a peer to peer lending platform; ViLim Ball, a company who created a therapeutic device designed to reduce hand-shake in people with Parkinson’s disease and rigidity for those with rheumatoid arthritis; Ovao, a smart device for swimmers that monitors and tracks ones training regimen with the help of a ‘virtual trainer’, sending real time colour and sound coded feedback to the swimmer wearing the device.

Financial investment hopefuls received a lot of feedback from the business angels who are looking to make an investment together with other members of the network, thus diversifying their portfolio and helping Lithuanian startups achieve desired goals. One of the founders of LitBAN, Gytenis Galkis, encouraged startups to sign up by registering on litban.org website to potentially be selected for upcoming “Pitch Events”. It takes 10 minutes to present your business idea and 10 minutes to answer business angels questions. The goal of the event is to engage business angels in further discussion, which can attract investment, secure sound business advice, reaching a wide investor audience, as all the pitches are filmed and later shown to an audience of a rapidly growing business angels network.

Business angel group, which is growing more rapidly than expected already has 60 angels in their ranks. The network members  will be able cooperate and invest together in the startups they believe in, or invest together with the Co-Investment fund, who are offering attractive terms for joint investment.  “There is an appetite for early investment in the market,” said Daiva Gerulytė, Member of the Co-Investment Fund’s Investment Committee. “Since the Co-Investment Fund is a quiet investor, its partner must be an entrepreneur with a business-development experience,” she explains, “business angels are precisely this active investor we are looking for – as the fund is committed to being financially stable, reliable and independent.”

About LitBAN

LitBAN is a Lithuanian Business Angels Network with a goal to promote business angels activity through communication, events, opportunities for cooperation, and investment syndication. The network brings together investors, businessmen, CEOs and others who have an interest in angel investing activity and want to share their knowledge with other members and startups. The monthly ”Startup Pitch” events will provide means for startups to present themselves to the business angels from Baltic and Nordic countries.