This week, the European Commission announced five new actions to support business angels under its EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy. The measures aim to improve access to early-stage investment opportunities, strengthen angel investor networks and make it easier to invest across European borders.
The Commission’s five actions
- EU Innovation Platform: A single entry point connecting innovators and investors, giving business angels and angel network managers access to investment-ready, EU-backed projects.
- Crowdfunding: A workshop bringing together angel investors and crowdfunding communities, potentially followed by support for angel-led fundraising and cross-border investment.
- Cross-border co-investment: Mapping existing angel ecosystems and national co-investment schemes with InvestEU Advisory to identify gaps and opportunities for further support.
- European Angel Accreditation: A common framework for verifying angel investors, which Member States could use to extend tax incentives and co-investment opportunities across borders.
- European Angel Investor Network: An extension of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Trusted Investor Network to business angels, providing access to early-stage investment opportunities from the EIC pipeline.
EBAN calls for a European co-investment scheme
The European Business Angels Network (EBAN), which represents business angels, seed funds and other early-stage investors, has welcomed the proposals while calling for more ambitious measures to address fragmentation across Europe’s investment ecosystem.
Founded in 1999 with the support of the European Commission, EBAN represents more than 130 member organisations and works to facilitate cross-border investment and influence European policy on early-stage financing.
The organisation supports the Commission’s broader efforts, including the proposed EU Inc, but argues that Europe needs stronger connections between research commercialisation, angel investment, venture capital and growth financing.
Central to its recommendations is a streamlined European co-investment scheme that would reduce risk for angel investors, mobilise additional capital and support startups with strong scale-up potential, regardless of where they are based.
EBAN also supports expanding national co-investment schemes to countries where they do not yet exist, alongside a common accreditation framework that would allow angels to be verified once and recognised across borders. It argues that these measures should build on existing national and regional investment networks rather than create parallel structures, with clear implementation timelines and measurable outcomes for founders and investors.
According to Jesper Jarlbaek, President of EBAN:
“We believe the Commission is moving in a very positive direction. EBAN is keen to help turn this ambition into practical results. We can take a leading role in connecting the angel-investment community to this wider effort.”
