LBAN is the business angel network in Luxembourg. Its mission is to develop, support, and promote early stage investing by connecting and nurturing a community of investors and start-ups. On one hand, it provides quality deal flow (potential high growth investment opportunities) to its members. On the other hand, it provides funding and experience to innovative start-ups, accelerating their growth and chances of success. LBAN eventually engages with the entire ecosystem, ultimately promoting Luxembourg as a thriving place for startups and investors.
Today we have more than 130 members, each with an individual investor’s profile, all of whom desire to offer their experience and network to invested startups, which benefits fellow business angels. They can either be successful entrepreneurs who are also founders of startups, or high profile corporate professionals with skills useful for founders’ projects. The individual ticket size usually ranges from EUR 25.000 and 100.000, while the syndicated amount from the business angels pool hovers around EUR 150.000 and 300.000 per startup, though outliers can be significantly higher. Business angels mostly focus on early-stage startups with a valuation between one million and ten million Euros.
It’s a bit too early to display a significant track record of success, as it usually takes five to seven years for business angels to exit their startups.
SaaS (Software as a Service) is by far the most popular investment segment among LBAN members, with a concentration in vertical SaaS, focusing on specific needs of a singular industry. However, industry preference can vary a lot between business angels, from foodtech, adtech, and edtech to e-brands and circular economy, to name a few examples.
LBAN as an association has acclaimed significant achievements in recent years. I would like to mention four specific areas of interest:
Likewise, we are actively engaged with the ecosystem, acting as effective levers for startups and entrepreneurs in various ways as,
This more prominent role is recognised by the authorities, but we have recently experienced a fast growing interest from Luxembourg corporates. They are willing to join our cause and give us a helping hand, but all hands are welcome!
It’s a bit too early to display a significant track record of success, as it usually takes five to seven years for business angels to exit their startups. I think we’ll see more of it within the next two to three years, but believe me, some senior angels are extremely happy with the performance of some of their portfolio startups.
I personally believe the main risk is two-sided:
We are carefully addressing these two points as we move forward, like offering opportunities for new members to quickly take on new roles and more responsibility, which should generate more sustained effort from all members.
There is one additional risk that can only be addressed at the political level : the absence of a real tax shelter that puts
With more resources, we know we can do much more and build a strong network to support and accompany the launch of new businesses. This will create new jobs in Luxembourg, allowing us to leverage our experience in other European startups to further strengthen Luxembourg’s image as a true startup nation. However, the absence of a real tax shelter is Luxembourg may soon become a real deterrent when neighboring countries offer actual incentive to angel investments.
