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SeedBlink Academy | Decoding SEE Startup Investment with Milen Ivanov

Roxana Cicea

We continue the SeedBlink Academy events for Elite Investors by having a discussion about the SEE startup investments with Milen Ivanov, CEO Angels Club Bulgaria.

Milen Ivanov has been a serial entrepreneur for 15 years and is the CEO of Angels Club, Bulgaria's largest angel club. Angels Club is a co-investment angel fund focused on European pre-seed and seed-stage startups with a full-time team and a scalable business model that has the potential to easily internationalize.

Startup accelerators are beneficial for getting started, but for founders, it is a different type of activity, one that is more educational. It's a fantastic opportunity to build a network of like-minded people. Milen emphasized the importance of having specialized accelerators (e.g., fintech-focused) to be able to provide assistance and support tailored to the specificities of that vertical, resulting in the development of a cohort of founders who are well prepared, know and understand the market they are addressing. Concerning the notion that funds prefer startups that have participated in accelerator programs before, Milen suggested that it is not a mandatory criterion, but it is a plus for founders who have this type of experience.

Another point of interest was the investment thesis and the companies in which the Angels Club chose to invest. Milen told us that they prefer companies with skin in the game, a market-validated solution, and a co-investor, an angel who validates their offering, so that the fund can pursue its mission of helping companies in progressing from seed to Series A.

As a co-investment fund, the emphasis is on portfolio diversification in order to generate and sustain return, while being meticulous in deal selection. They prefer deals that already have a co-investor, and only after that they conduct commercial due diligence, term sheet, and financial and legal due diligence. Diversification is essential for achieving the typical return that most investors seek, 10x in 6-10 years.

To sum up, the criteria they consider before investing in a company are: a co-investor who can validate the offering, the team and expertise (the execution), and skin in the game.

👇 Watch the video below to learn more about deal sourcing, how the tech ecosystem is changing, and where the SEE startup investments are going:

Becoming an Angel Investor - your guide from A to Z

European Ecosystem - who should I follow

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SeedBlink S.A. is registered in the Register of the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF), under number PJR28FSFPR/400001, as of 03.11.2022 with an EU passport as per European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) register of crowdfunding services providers.

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Investing in start-ups involves risks, including loss of capital, illiquidity, dilution, lack of dividends. It is suitable only for investors capable of evaluating and bearing those risks. In any event, it should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio (meaning a portfolio in which investment in start-ups represents only a fraction of the total investments or assets). Before investing please read the risk warnings available at https://seedblink.com/generalterms as well as the risks related provisions of the investment facilitation agreement that will be provided to you for the relevant round. SeedBlink is not responsible for any information provided by the start-ups, even if distributed through or by SeedBlink. SeedBlink does not endorse any start-up for investment nor does it advise you on the merits of your investment. Seedblink does not provide to you any other advisory services. The decision to invest is yours only. If you require help in evaluating a decision to invest, you should consult a professional adviser. The messages and documentation you receive from SeedBlink or the start-ups have been neither verified nor approved by the Romanian or the European authorities. Nothing in this message shall be considered an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security to any person in any jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful.