Brussels, Mar 25, 2015 - SEP Policy Workshops

Hosted by DG FISMA and DG CNECT, SEP Investors Forum organizes in Brussels a by-invitation-only workshop (targeted at venture capital investors, tech startups, and finance experts from the startup community) to discuss the obstacles start-ups face to access finance from Europe’s capital markets, as well as possible measures to overcome these obstacles in the context of putting in place the building blocks for a Capital Markets Union by 2019. In this context, SEP Investors Forum specifically focuses on the discussion of actions which could facilitate the access of European startups to capital and the impact of such measures on the tech startup ecosystem.The workshop will contribute to identifying possible priorities for the medium to longer term, balancing ambition and political realism. The conclusions of the discussions will be reflected in a paper to be submitted to the European Commission by end April. Here is the link for downloading the SEP Policy Report “Towards the EU Capital Markets Union. Venture Capital, Crowdfunding and Startups”.

Agenda

Introduction by Alberto Onetti, Coordinator, Startup Europe Partnership

Introductory remarks by Martin Merlin, Director for Financial Markets, DG FISMA and Viorel Peca, Head of Unit, Innovation Unit, DG CNECT

Presentation of the CMU project by the European Commission

Kick-off Interventions moderated by Alberto Onetti, Coordinator, Startup Europe Partnership

Robert Wardrop, Executive Director, Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, University of Cambridge
Patric Gresko, Head of Unit, Venture Capital, European Investment Fund (EIF)
Erika Blanckaert, Senior Public Affairs Manager, European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (EVCA)

Parallel Working Groups led by coordinators:

Working Group A: How to increase scale of venture capital markets and develop these markets EU-wide
Working Group B: How to develop private sources of VC funding to better complement existing sources of public funding

Networking Lunch

Parallel Working Groups led by coordinators:

Working Group C: How to increase the take-up of EU Venture Capital Funds created by the EUVECA Regulation
Working Group D: How to develop exit opportunities for VC investors and create a better investment eco-system (including crowdfunding or P2P lending) for startups to boost the supply of VC funds to start-ups

Wrap-up moderated by Alberto Onetti, Coordinator, Startup Europe Partnership