ESADE BAN invests 4 million euro in 29 start-ups, twice as much as last year

ESADE BAN business angels channelled €4 million to 29 start-ups during the 2014-2015 academic year, nearly doubling the amount invested by the group’s members the previous year. The start-ups that received the largest investments were Wuaki.tv, Intercros Alimentación, RedPoints, Notegraphy, Signaturit, thethings.iO and Wallapop. In fact, at ESADE’s 2015 Alumni Entrepreneurship Day, ESADE Alumni and Banc Sabadell presented Wallapop with the Start-up of the Year Award.

ESADE BAN is an investors network created by ESADE Alumni that puts investors seeking investment opportunities into contact with entrepreneurs who have innovative projects in need of start-up funding. The network currently has 170 private investors on its membership rolls and analyses more than 800 start-ups each year.

ESADE BAN received the award for Best Business Angels Network at the 3rd National Conference of the Spanish Association of Business Angels (AEBAN) in November 2014. Over the past three years, the network has invested €15 million in 56 companies.

Major investments

Most of the 29 start-ups that received funding from ESADE BAN investors over the past year work in the fields of new technologies, ICTs, industry or healthcare. The following companies received major contributions:

• RedPoints is a technological tool that locates and eliminates illegal digital content that belongs to a company and which may be affecting its business. The company received €298,000 from ESADE BAN investors.
• Notegraphy is a mobile and web app that dramatically improves the appearance of written text and allows various forms of personalisation. Sixteen ESADE BAN business angels participated in a €390,000 capital increase.
• Signaturit is a system that streamlines procurement processes with an intuitive, effective and legally valid electronic signature solution. Fifteen ESADE BAN business angels participated in a €350,000 capital increase.
• Thethings.io is an ‘Internet of Things’ cloud solution whose target customers include developers of wearables and household devices as well as other industries. The company received €190,000 from ESADE BAN investors.
• Trabajo Próximo, a supply-and-demand employment marketplace app that uses geolocation and mobile technology, could be the ultimate solution for smartphone-based recruitment. The company received €317,000 from seven ESADE BAN business angels.
• Transmural is a start-up that has developed a fast, reliable, non-invasive tool that determines foetal lung maturity through ultrasound analysis. The company received €150,000 from ESADE BAN investors.
• Talent Clue is a leading aggregator of free talent sources in Spain and Latin America that helps users find the best talent in record time and at a low cost. The company received a €165,000 capital increase from ESADE BAN business angels.
• Intercros makes high-quality frozen artisanal pastries. The company has received €780,000 from family offices and business angels in the ESADE BAN network in three rounds of financing between 2013 and May 2015.

Sectors of interest

In addition to the investments highlighted above, the sectors that received the most interest from ESADE BAN investors were technology, healthcare, energy efficiency and industry. ESADE BAN allows co-investment by multiple members through the syndication of operations and provides training through ESADE’s Business Angels School. The network’s members are business angels, private investors, business owners, family offices and venture capitalists.