The European Business Angels Association (EBAN) which on May 13, 2011 met in Warsaw for its Annual Meeting, awarded Francesco Marini Clarelli - president of Italian Angels for Growth (IAG) - as best European Business Angel of the Year, 2011.
EBAN is the trade association that brings together at European level, supports and represents business angels, groups of angel investors, seed funds and other actors operating in the world of early-stage investments. Overall, with its presence in 26 countries where it operates, through direct and indirect membership, EBAN involves more than 300 groups, 20,000 business angels and 40,000 entrepreneurs. For the next few years the organization has set itself the ambitious goal of bringing the early-stage investment level from the current estimated value of € 4 billion to € 10 billion.
Is therefore understandable the satisfaction with which Marini Clarelli (53 years, angel investor since for more than 20 years) has welcomed the award:
"This awards shows that it is possible, for Italy and Italians, to excel in investing in innovative start-ups, which play a key role in the economic and social growth of the country".
"This awards shows that it is possible, for Italy and Italians, to excel in investing in innovative start-ups, which play a key role in the economic and social growth of the country".
"The steady growth of a group of business angels as Italian Angels for Growth (IAG) is a further evidence of the existence of good practices and high potential of Italian entrepreneurs and private investors - says Francesco Marini Clarelli -. This award represents also a stimulus in doing better in the involvement of a higher number of private investors as to size the attention of the legislator on the importance of encouraging the creation of innovative entreprises in Italy."
Is not the first time that the Italian Angels for Growth (IAG) association has been awarded by EBAN; already last year it received the award for its investment in Biogenera (Italian bio-tech start-up) as "Best investment in social enterprise."
Francesco Marini Clarelli and IAG
Italian Angels for Growth (IAG) is an association of business investors born in 2007 on initiative of eight people, including Francesco Marini Clarelli co-founder and current president of IAG. In less than 4 years, the association has reached a total of 85 members who have invested in 9 new companies (11 investments, 9 deals) including six Italian (SiteName, Spreaker, Euge, S5Tech, biogeneric, PassPack) and three foreign companies (Trumedia, Senseor, Quotient Diagnostics).
Francesco Marini Clarelli started his "angel investor" activity at the age of 30, in 1987, investing in a small videography distribution company, Panarecord SpA, sold to RCS Group, after growing its turnover from €1 million to €15 million. Among is major recent successes as angel investor, there is Yoox.com, which went public in 2009 on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 1991 he founded and developed Astor Partners, a company involved in consulting on merger and acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate restructurings, specialized in Private Equity operations and consulting on portfolio management. In the course of his professional career and as part of his "angel investor" activity he has invested in more than 20 companies in the initial phase of their lives. Currently, he holds various corporate roles, including:
- Member of the Board of Directors of Sportswear Company SpA, Modena
- Member of the Advisory Committee of Value Secondary Investments, Luxembourg
Francesco Marini Clarelli graduated with Honors in Economics, in 1980, from the University of California in Santa Barbara (UCSB), and once finished his studies he begun in the USA began its training at major financial institutions, including Bank of America's New York branch.
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