Lukas Püspök, the Managing Partner from Push Ventures, was awarded as “Business Angel of the Year 2018” at the Business Angel Day in Graz. Mr Püspök is CEO of one of the biggest wind energy companies in Austria and has been an active early-stage investor since 2013. His portfolio now consists of 17 companies and he achieved a very successful exit with mySugr last year when La Roche bought this app for people with diabetes for an impressive €74 million Euros.
The Who’s Who of the Austrian Business Angel Community Meets in Graz
We congratulate Mr Püspök for receiving this award. He joins a very eminent line of “Business Angels of the Year” with Herbert Gartner (2017), Hermann Hauser (2016), René Berger (2015), Michael Altrichter, Hansi Hansmann, Christopher Grabherr (2014), Norbert Zimmermann, Hansi Hansmann, Boris Nemsic (2013), Werner Wutscher, Stefan Kalteis, Stefan Klestil (2012), Hansi Hansmann, Hermann Futter, Alon Shklarek (2011), Markus Wagner, Hansi Hansmann, Christian Lutz (2010), and Manfred Reich, Daniel Keiper-Knorr, Michael Grabner (2009).
More angels = more entrepreneurs = more exits = more angels
We hope that more people with the entrepreneurial background will follow their examples and invest in a new generation of companies either by taking on the full risk and investing on their own or joining with other business angels and co-investing in what is called a ‘syndicate’.
The latter is a trending topic in Austria and Europe as a whole. Indeed, the syndication of angel investments was heavily discussed at the Business Angel Day, with our board member Berthold Baurek-Karlic participating on a panel about this topic.
What are syndicates?
There is still a lot of confusion of what business angel syndicates are and how they work but the concept is extremely simple. Business angel syndicates are a group of like-minded investors who invest together to pool risk, share opportunities and get access to larger deals that they could not do on their own. The members of those groups are high net worth individuals, providing smaller amounts of finance (in the range of €50,000 – €250,000 per deal) and are focused on early stage, rather than venture capital rounds. However, we as a club aim higher and syndicated deals between €1 -10m.
In general, there are two types of syndicates:
- Syndication on a deal-by-deal basis: a syndicate could be formed around an opportunity or on an ad-hoc basis, which normally happens when you are a member of an angel network.
- Syndication on a formal basis: A group of investors who are regularly looking out for investment opportunities and investing through SPVs or partnerships.
The advantages of angel syndicates
In the past, angel syndicates were often informal networks of investors. New members could only join when introduced by an existing member. However, with the professionalisation of the early-stage industry more institutionalised investment syndicates emerged, offering its members services along the full investment cycle. Syndicates not only enable investors to retain their anonymity but have the following advantages:
- Having a diversified portfolio decreases risk: investing in more than one company means you have a much higher chance of covering the losses from one company with the returns from another
- Sharing economic resources: syndication provides the opportunity to invest in larger deals.
- Sharing skills, contacts and experiences: syndicate members benefit from each other’s skills, their network and experience, which increases the possibility of success and ROI.
- Increasing the number of investments in your portfolio.
- Supporting new rounds of funding as well as mobilising the investment volume of other investors. It provides a better opportunity for people to identify the next funding stage.
- Investing together regularly as a syndicate may mean you are also eligible to apply for angel co-fund or other relevant co-investment funds.
A Club for Super Angels
The European Super Angels Club is a pan-European investment club for growth-Stage tech investments. Members may invest in startups from all over Europe at a growth stage. Club deals are syndicated through an exclusive members fund structure. We aim for better returns of investments through combined financial strength, collective know-how, and professional management capacities.
Learn more about our approach and meet us at our next “invest and connect” event in Vienna on 26th of November at Park Hyatt Vienna.
Please note: This is an investors-only event and we can only accept registrations from active early-stage investors. By registering for a ticket, you agree to receive information from the European Super Angels Club.