VentureWell in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s GIST (Global Innovation through Science and Technology) initiative hosted their annual investors forum on the 20th to 21st November in Washington D.C.
Since 2011, GIST has engaged with science and technology innovators and entrepreneurs in 135 emerging economies around the world, providing training and resources to help them build successful startups. GIST has partnered with ANGIN earlier this year to deliver an investor training program for in-country stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem as a way to bolster local financial support for startups.
ANGIN Investment’s Gema Minang came as a representative from Indonesia. The forum was attended by ecosystem leaders in four other emerging countries (Vietnam, Malaysia, Egypt, and Mexico) and a group of American investors and incubator leads. The forum began with an introduction to the ecosystem of each emerging countries, identifying existing challenges, opportunities, and areas that demand further exploration. The forum was followed by a roundtable discussion about angel investment and early stage investment practices initiated by VentureWell. Representatives from investor networks shared their challenges in managing investors while also listing down the best practices in sustaining their operation. ANGIN shared our insights as the largest investors network in the country: how we deliver support, engagement, and knowledge to accommodate investor and entrepreneurs throughout their fundraising journey.
The Angel Capital Association (ACA) delivered a session about designing educational tools that serve as a guidance for aspiring investors. The association itself provides free and paid materials about executing investment and hosts various webinars covering various topics around early stage investment. Following this, another roundtable discussion was started to address the right metric to focus on, whether it is the quantity of investors or the number of executed deals in every investor network. The first day was concluded with a closing statement from each participant about cross-border initiatives that we can pursue collectively and key takeaways from day 1.
On the next day, GIST hosted the demo day for their newest incubation batch, showcasing around 24 startups from various emerging countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. For the demo day, these startups did a 3-minute pitch followed with a 2-minute q&a session with participating investors. Halfway through the startup pitches, GIST hosted a panel discussion with the invited investors representatives from five emerging countries. ANGIN gave an introduction about our services and highlighted the key characteristics of the Indonesian market. The panel discussion was delivered as an interactive q&a session with the startups, covering topics about investment, developing ideas, and know-hows in navigating the ecosystem. The final day was concluded with a networking event with over 100 participants from various backgrounds.
