Academic Gianni Romaní, principal investigator of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation line of the Millennium Nucleus for the Integral Development of Territories (CEDIT), participated in the Global Business Angel Network GBAN Summit held in Melbourne (Australia), as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Conference - GEC 2023. The academic's participation was as a leading member for Chile and representing Atacama Angels, the first network of angel investors in northern Chile.
Various investor networks from around the world participated in this Summit, including the European Business Angels Network, the American Angels Association, Angels Nest of Mexico, Atacama Angels of Antofagasta, Chile, the Africa Business Angels Network, the Sri Lanka Business Angels Network, and the Bangladesh Business Angels Network, among others. At this meeting, each network presented their main progress and challenges in the face of the "new normal." One of these was increasing investment between countries and regions to strengthen this activity, as well as increasing the number of networks in regions like Latin America, where there is still little awareness of the importance of this type of investment for regional development.
The academic presented the Overview of Angel Investing in Chile, highlighting that it is an emerging activity with six angel investor networks operating, four of them located in Santiago and two in the regions: one in Antofagasta (Atacama Angels) and another in Concepción (Austral Angels). She also spoke about the challenges of angel activity in Chile, where greater awareness is needed about the role of networks in regional development and the strengthening of the regional entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem, as well as the sustainability of networks and the need for co-investments with other networks, funds, etc.
The academic also participated in the session "Unlocking Diversity Among Emerging Investors: Pathways through Education," presenting the case study: The creation of Atacama Angels, the first angel investor network of northern Chile. She highlighted the importance of creating local financing systems so that local capital can fund the initiatives of regional startups. This prevents the flight of local entrepreneurial talent to other regions where better alternatives exist to finance the scalability of their ventures. "The creation of Atacama Angels is a response to this need in the region, which is expected to contribute to the region's productive diversification, innovation, and the creation of quality jobs," Romaní stated.
More than 400 delegates from around the world participated in the Global Entrepreneurship Conference (GEC) 2023, and parallel sessions were held on various topics and regions, including Entrepreneurial Education in Emerging Countries, Inclusive Ecosystem Development, Artificial Intelligence and Entrepreneurial Development, among many others.