A business angel is a private investor who invests a small proportion of their wealth into a startup to become a shareholder. The term “angel” comes from the fact that business angels invest more than a proportion of their wealth in the projects they chose; they also invest personally in them to help and support them in their growth.

Business angels invest capital when other financiers will not, or cannot do so, considering the project either too risky, or not mature enough or not yet able to reimburse. By investing in your project from the outset, business angels take a certain level of risk. The risk will be remunerated through the sale of their shares a few years later, generally 5 - 7 years.

This means that you are going to open your capital to third parties, probably for the first time. The process is governed by a shareholder agreement which will provide a framework for your relations with the business angels, notably aspects of governance, that you have agreed together, and the proportion of the capital which will be held by the business angels following their investment. Business angels generally plan to sell their shares within the next 5 - 7 years. The shareholding acquired by an investor in a company varies depending on its stage of development, its business sector and the amount of funds raised. It rarely exceeds 25% and varies generally between 1% and 25%.

If all goes well, the investor gets paid when he resells his shares, making a capital gain. He hopes to be able to resell his shares for more than what was purchased on the day of his purchase.

Business angels do not receive any remuneration during the duration of their investment, except at the exit. If all goes well, investors are remunerated through capital gains from the sale of their shares. They hope to be able to sell their shares at a higher price than their purchase price.

The average investment ticket for BeAngels members, for an initial fundraising round, is €250k, generally through several investors.

Although business angels are an integral part of the startup from a shareholding point of view, this does not necessarily mean that they are actively involved in the daily management of the company. It is up to you to decide jointly if you would like them to have greater involvement or not, for example by appointing them as board members or to your strategic committee.

The valuation is the value ascribed to the company, at a specific point in time, taking chiefly into account the potential future development of the start-up. It is calculated using several financial methods, which are not readily applicable to the start-up industry. Investors will take several factors into account, including the potential market and (future) revenues and the quality of the team.

Setting the valuation of a project is recognized as a difficult exercise. Although several methods can be used, no single method is better than the other alternatives. We advise you to reflect upon a suitable financing strategy and bear in mind the shareholder dilution through successive funding rounds. Valuation is established based on the maturity of the project, along with realised sales and exit potential. You have to strike the right balance between the funds raised and the level of dilution in order to remain in charge of your project. All of these factors depend ultimately on supply and demand, which is why valuation is difficult to establish.

If the initial valuation is too high, it can jeopardize subsequent fund-raising rounds and make the search for new investors more complicated, or even impossible. Valuation must effectively reach progressive milestones, based on identified development stages. The next valuation will depend on the company’s capacity to reach its sales/profitability goals, and/or the interest of market players from a strategic point of view. If these milestones are not achieved, then any further fundraising round may potentially be realized at a lower value than the initial valuation, which will penalize both the founders and the start-up investors.

Most business angels pay great attention to the quality of the team, its ability to listen and its skills.

It is the initial fundraising round for a startup. To begin with, an entrepreneur draws primarily on shareholders’ equity or funds from friends, fools and family (FFFs).

It does help, although it is not vital. The only real condition is to have progressed beyond the idea stage and formalised an investment project.

Not necessarily. The company can be set up at the same time as fundraising, which may also help.

No, not necessarily, although the project must ideally be anchored in Belgium, in order to generate maximum interest among our members. Be aware that most business angels like to invest in projects which are geographically accessible, in order to be able to meet the teams, particularly in the context of participating in the company’s board of directors, and being available when there is a problem, etc. Bear in mind that most investors hope to play an active role in your project’s growth.

When business angels invest their own money into your project, they are taking a risk. As an entrepreneur, it is important to affirm your commitment towards the project and demonstrate to the investor that the risk is shared. The funds raised must not serve solely as remuneration.

Generally speaking, it takes between 3 and 6 months from the time your request is submitted to our platform until funding from our members is finalized. You can view all of the BeAngels process stages on our fundraising page.

Go to our “fundraising” page and click on the “submit my project” tab. You need to create an account and reply to the questions relating to your project.

You can log on to our platform at any time using your login and password. If your project appears, it has been submitted to our team.

Yes, by logging onto our platform and clicking on the “edit” tab. You can do this at any time.

You can skip questions without replying. Bear in mind however that you will increase your chances of being selected by our Selection Committee if your request is complete. If you enter an investment forum, the information submitted will be included in a document provided to investors.

Our DealFlow manager will contact you within 2 weeks at the most after the project is submitted.

Not at all. Less than 40% of the projects financed by BeAngels members are eligible for the Tax Shelter, which is a minority. Investors consider being eligible as a nice-to-have, but not a must-have.

As well as assessing the project’s innovative character and growth potential, the Selection Committee also pays particular attention to the following points:

• Team quality
• Business model
• Project scalability (growth outlook)
• Market size
• Value proposition clarity
• Investment opportunity appeal for business angels

Yes, if you are invited to present your project to our investors, our Deal Flow Manager will share the feedback from members of the Selection Committee with you and also make recommendations to improve your pitch.

On the day you present to a forum, you will have 10 minutes to present your pitch and another 5 minutes to reply to any questions from the investors.

We take a commission on the amount of funds raised from our investing members. The tariff varies according to the amount raised (3 - 5%).

All BeAngels investing members have signed a contract which includes a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) relating to the projects presented within BeAngels.