The South African early stage investor community got a big boost recently with the official launch of the South African Business Angel Network, (SABAN).
The formalization follows the launch of the African Business Angels Network (ABAN) in the fall of 2014, and is another step in a growing movement to evangelize an angel investing movement across the continent.
The non-profit organization has the following objectives:
– Raising awareness of Angel investing activity
– Capacity building / training
– Networking with peers
– Research
– Accreditation
– Seeding Angel Groups in major economic hubs
– Lobbying for regulatory improvements
– Recognizing Angel achievements
The convener of the angel network is South African based entrepreneur Chris Campbell who says he got inspired after the EBAN (European Business Angel Network) Winter University 2014 in Helsinki, Finland and thought he would like to replicate the effects of EBAN in South Africa.
Many of the key individuals helping drive SABAN forward are familiar to EBAN – Audrey Mothupi (NFBAN Board Member), Craig Mullet, Anthony Farr, Vuyisa Qabaka, Alexandra Fraser, Dean Cannell, David van Dijk, Ben White, Tomi Davies, Llew Claasen, Matsi Modise, Elizabeth Gould, Garreth Bloor, Anthony Record, Christophe Viarnaud, Rebecca Enonchong, Abu Cassim, Candace Johnson and Baybars Altuntas.
“Today’s launch was to introduce SABAN to the investor community and get feedback on which challenges we should tackle first. The next three months will be to build capacity, prioritise and plan. There will be a Cape Town event in November where we will lay out our plans for 2017,” says SABAN co-founder and deal executor at South African Enterprise Development, Mvikeli Hlophe.
The organization is headed by a steering committee of Chris Campbell, Bodo Sieber (CEO of Tagmarshal, which recently received German angel investment) and Mvikeli Hlophe (fund manager at SA Enterprise).
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