The World Business Angels Association (WBAA) is an international, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to stimulate the exchange of knowledge and best practices in the field of global angel capital financing for high-growth and innovative startups.
Based in Brussels, the WBAA was formed by the leaders of twelve national business angel federations to create an international community of business angel networks and leaders for the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship through the financing of high-growth start-up companies with the support of business angels worldwide.
The organizational meeting of the WBAA was in Estoril, Portugal, on October 10, 2007 [1] and was co-organized by Portuguese Business Angels Federation (FNABA), European Business Angels Network (EBAN) and US Angel Capital Association (ACA). A follow-up meeting of the organization's Charter Members was held on April 19, 2009 in Dubai, [2] leading to the Inaugural World Business Angels Association Global Conference in Beijing, China on December 5–6, 2009. [3]
WBAA is an NGO whose direct members are national federations, [4] which in turn represent business angel groups and networks in their respective countries. Neither business angel groups themselves, nor individual business angel investors, are members of WBAA, although they may be involved with the organization in other ways and participate actively in its programs. Countries whose national business angel federations are represented in the organization include Australia, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, New Zealand, Panama, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union.
The primary mission of the WBAA is to raise global awareness of the importance and practice of business angel investment, stimulate the exchange of best practices in angel investing, and enhance the development of cross-border angel investing. It does this by promoting the professionalization of the angel market through the fostering of angel groups and associations; coordinating research produced on the angel market worldwide; standardizing terminology at an international level regarding angel investing; organizing in-person meetings and conferences for international angel investors; and developing online resources for information about, and access to, local, regional and cross-border angel investing resources. [5]
AIESEC is an international "youth-run" and led, non-governmental and not-for-profit organization that provides young people with business development internships. The organization focuses on empowering young people to make a progressive social impact. The AIESEC network includes approximately 40,000 members in 120+ countries.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Following the success of ASEAN's series of post-ministerial conferences launched in the mid-1980s, APEC started in 1989, in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional trade blocs in other parts of the world; it aimed to establish new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe. Headquartered in Singapore, APEC is recognized as one of the highest-level multilateral blocs and oldest forums in the Asia-Pacific region, and exerts significant global influence.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization for public - private sector collaboration based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer Klaus Schwab. The foundation, which is mostly funded by its 1,000 member companies – typically global enterprises with more than US$5 billion in turnover – as well as public subsidies, views its own mission as "improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas".
The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is an international space advocacy organization based in Paris, and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay the information for international space cooperation. It has over 390 members from 68 countries across the world. They are drawn from space agencies, companies, universities, professional associations, museums, government organizations and learned societies. The IAF organizes the annual International Astronautical Congress (IAC). As of 2019, Pascale Ehrenfreund has served as the president of the IAF.
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is an interdenominational organization of evangelical Christian churches, serving more than 600 million evangelicals, founded in 1846 in London, England, United Kingdom to unite evangelicals worldwide. WEA is the largest international organization of evangelical churches. The headquarters are in Deerfield, Illinois, with UN offices in New York City, Geneva, and Bonn. It brings together 9 regional and 143 national evangelical alliances of churches, and over one hundred member organizations. Moreover, the WEA includes a certain percentage of individual evangelical Christian churches. As of March 2021, the Secretary General of the WEA is German theologian Thomas Schirrmacher.
The Community of Portuguese Language Countries, also known as the Lusophone Community, is an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language. The CPLP operates as a privileged, multilateral forum for the mutual cooperation of the governments, economies, non-governmental organizations, and peoples of the Lusofonia. The CPLP consists of 9 member states and 33 associate observers, located in Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania, totaling 38 countries and 4 organizations.
The International Lutheran Council (ILC) is a worldwide association of confessional Lutheran denominations. Member bodies of the ILC hold "an unconditional commitment to the Holy Scriptures as the inspired and infallible Word of God and to the Lutheran Confessions contained in the Book of Concord as the true and faithful exposition of the Word of God." The member church bodies are not required to be in church-fellowship with one another, though many of them are.
The Boao Forum for Asia, initiated by 25 Asian countries and Australia, is a non-profit organisation that hosts high-level forums for leaders from government, business and academia in Asia and other continents to share their vision on the most pressing issues in this region and the world at large. BFA is modelled on the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland. Its fixed address is in Bo'ao, Hainan province, China, although the Secretariat is based in Beijing. The forum, sometimes known as the “Asian Davos”, takes its name from the town of Boao, located in China's southern Hainan province, which has been the permanent venue for its annual conference since 2002.
FDI World Dental Federation, often shortened to FDI, is the largest organization representing the dental profession worldwide. Its mission is to lead the world to optimal oral health by promoting oral health as a fundamental human right and advancing the dental profession worldwide. FDI serves as the most prominent representative body for over one million dentists worldwide, developing health policy and continuing education programs, speaking as a unified voice for dentistry in international advocacy, and supporting member associations in oral health promotion activities worldwide.
EBAN is an international, not-for-profit organisation whose function is to represent the pan-European early stage investor community, gathering member organisations and individuals from Europe and beyond. Originally targeted only to business angels, today EBAN is a cross sector representative of equity early stage investors.
An angel investor is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. Angel investors often provide support to startups at a very early stage, once or in a consecutive manner, and when most investors are not prepared to back them. In a survey of 150 founders conducted by Wilbur Labs, about 70% of entrepreneurs will face potential business failure, and nearly 66% will face this potential failure within 25 months of launching their company. A small but increasing number of angel investors invest online through equity crowdfunding or organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share investment capital and provide advice to their portfolio companies. The number of angel investors has greatly increased since the mid-20th century.
The Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) is an organization providing a global "community" for mergers and acquisitions and corporate growth professionals. Founded in 1954, ACG has grown to more than 14,500 members from corporations, private equity, finance, and professional service firms representing Fortune 1000, FTSE 100, and mid-market companies. There are 57 chapters in North America and Europe. These chapters meet regularly, support events and provide a forum for senior-level M&A professionals to network, share best practices and source deals.
M.R. (Madhavan) Rangaswami is an Indian software executive, investor, entrepreneur, corporate eco-strategy expert, community builder, and philanthropist. Recognized as a software business expert, he participated in the rapid expansion of the Silicon Valley software industry during his tenure as an executive at both large and small software companies. In 1997, he co-founded Sand Hill Group, one of the earliest “angel” investment firms, and in 2007, founded Corporate Eco Forum.
EU Business School is a private business school with campuses in Geneva (Switzerland), Barcelona (Spain), and Munich (Germany). It is a member of OMNES Education Group since 2022.
The "Graduate Business Forum" (GBF) is a United States based non-profit foundation, best known for its annual global Graduate Business Conference. The conference brings together top business leaders, political leaders, governments and selected students from the top 55 MBA Business Schools in the world to exchange the ideas about best practices on "Student-Government Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)", "Community Services" and to discuss the "Most Challenging Issues" facing the world from the perspective of a responsible leadership. The Forum also organizes a series of regional meetings throughout the year.
Wolfgang Lehmacher is a thought leader, technology evangelist and practitioner in the field of supply chain, transport and logistics. Lehmacher has been involved in various initiatives in the supply chain industry. He is a writer and speaker. Important roles during his career include president and CEO of GeoPost Intercontinental and member of the executive board at GeoPost, the express parcel holding of French La Poste, and director of Supply Chain and Transport Industries at the World Economic Forum.
John May is an American venture capitalist, the Managing Partner of the New Vantage Group, which has organized five angel investing organizations in the Washington, D.C. area since 1999, placing funds into more than 50 companies.
The Global Mayors' Forum (GMF) is a three-day international conference held annually by the GMF Council on the topic of urban development. The forum focuses on issues related to sustainable development but also covers other issues including international cooperation, modern development practices, public relations, hosting large scale activities and other topics in the fields of urban planning, economics and international relations. The Global Mayors’ Forum is divided into several conference sessions, forum sessions and meetings. These various sessions have different focuses but are all related to the theme of the GMF for that year. For each conference a new host city is selected by the GMF Council.
The Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) is a state-led, informal and non-binding process, which helps shape the global debate on migration and development. It provides a flexible, multi-stakeholder space where governments can discuss the multi-dimensional aspects, opportunities and challenges related to migration, development, and the link between these two areas. The GFMD process allows governments - in partnership with civil society, the private sector, the UN system, and other relevant stakeholders – to analyze and discuss sensitive issues, create consensus, pose innovative solutions, and share policy and practices.
Baybars Altuntaş is a Turkish entrepreneur, angel investor, speaker and author based in Istanbul. He founded Deulcom International, a vocational training school in Turkey in 1992 and currently serves as the president of the executive committee of the company. He is currently a jury member on the new Turkish entrepreneurship program and is the current host of the Turkish version of The Weakest Link, En Zayıf Halka