There are hundreds of Angel investor groups in France, so what sets the SBA apart? A few things: We are an international group of members but based in Sophia Antipolis – the technology and innovative center on the French Riviera for one. Number 2, we conduct business in English to help companies scale pan Europe and globally, especially the US. And third, it is the events that we run bringing together our community and fostering relationships with entrepreneurs, incubators, financial institutions and other angel groups. From our flagship International Venture Academy, the popular Startup Factory, to our new Pitch & Coach session online, SBA is about building success through networking and community. Please join us!
OUR EVENTS
NETWORKING
Our ever popular “Start Up Factory” provides new entrepreneurs and students, with either an active project or simply an idea, the opportunity to network with private investors, bank executives and other experts in the Startup Ecosystem. Some early stage startups pitch to the audience of around 150 people. These evening events take place each quarter in Sophia Antipolis, the entrepreneurial hub of the Côte d’Azur, and are conducted in French.
COACHING
The world-famous SBA Venture Academy is a Pitching & Coaching Event jointly organised by The SBA and our partners. It runs twice a year in April and October. It starts with Thursday afternoon coaching, Friday morning pitching, more coaching and then a final pitching session. Prizes are awarded on the Friday to the three most investible startups. Ten selected companies have the opportunity to benefit from personalized coaching by Business Angels and industry experts. In addition there are three networking opportunities; cocktails on Thursday and Friday, plus lunch on Saturday. This event is in English.
PITCHING
From social constraints in 2020 came opportunity. SBA created the Pitch & Coach (P&C) session featuring a new online format only that is more suitable for online engagement. The Zoom-based interactive event features a select number of early stage startups. They each pitch for 7 minutes and coaches will provide feedback on the strengths and areas for improvement for investment readiness.
The benefit to the startups is they receive targeted feedback on their pitch content and form. Promising companies will be invited to attend a more detailed investment pitch session that will be scheduled a couple of weeks later.
Members and coaches will be alerted in advance, by invitation only, of the upcoming schedule for the P&C events which we hope to hold a few times a year.