Events

ESIL Annual Event: Business Angels and Deep Tech Teams

Workshop

5 June 2026

Brussels, Belgium

Join us in Brussels for a deep dive into the future of angel investing and deep tech in Europe.

Many promising research results still struggle to reach the market. While connections between researchers and investors have improved, funding alone is often not enough.

The ESIL Annual Event focuses on what is still missing: how funding, skills, networks and ecosystem actors can be better aligned to support the full journey from lab to market.

Key topics:

Innovation-driven research teams: How research teams can move beyond scientific results towards validation, application and market readiness
The role of Business Angels beyond capital: How investors contribute through mentoring, experience and networks to support early-stage deep tech
Aligning funding and support instruments: How EU, national and regional mechanisms can better support the transition from research to market

Who is the event for?

Researchers and deep tech founders
Business Angels and investor networks
Universities and Technology and Knowledge Transfer Offices
Innovation actors (accelerators, venture builders, programme managers)
Policymakers and funding bodies

Agenda

8:30 - 9:00	Registration Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium	Floor 8Room 180Auditorium
9:00 - 9:15	Indroduction: From Research Excellence to Market Impact Andreas Schwarz, Chief of Staff Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, European Commission Luigi Amati, Director META Group Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium
9:15 - 10:00	Panel From Research to Market: Innovation Driven Research Teams Terezia Jacova, Local Leader Czechia, Lumus Renata Brkic, Local Leader Croatia, Feels good Capital Moderated by Jenny Tooth OBE, VP of Diversity at BAE & Executive Chair of UKBAA Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium
10:00 - 10:45	Panel The Value of Business Angels Beyond Capital Viorel Peca, Head of Unit, European Innovation Council (EIC Transition) Marco Franchin, Exploitation Manager, PHIRE project Stefano Giancola, CTO, Orchestra Scientific Ivano Ciceri, Head of Tech Transfer Office, Politecnico di Milano Sven De Cleyn, Programme Director, IMECstart Moderated by Francesca Natali, Greebone/Angiodroid investor Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium
10:45 - 11:30	Panel From Grants to Market: Aligning Funding and Support Instruments Floor 1, Cantine	Floor 1Cantine
11:30 - 12:00	Conclusion René Reijtenbagh - CEO BAConnect and VP BANNederland Cynthia Verswijvel - Cornelissen, President, BAN Flanders Jean-Marc Boyer, Chairman, Global InsurAngels Jörg Stein, Healthtech Angel Investor Moderated by Reginald Vossen, President, Business Angels Europe Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium	Floor 8Room 180Auditorium
12:00 - 13:00	Networking Lunch Milen Ivanov, Local Leader Bulgaria, Sofia Angels Ventures Christian Dubarry, Director European Affairs, Bpifrance Sara Dagostini, Policy Officer, European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy Claire Munck, Director, BeAngels Moderated by Jacek Blonski, Local Leader Poland, APER Angels Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium

Practical

European Commission Covent Garden Building
Place Rogier 16
Brussels 1210
Belgium
5 June 2026
9:00 - 13:00 CEST
Registrations start at 8:30

Register

First Name*

Last Name*

Email*

Company or Organisation*

Role / Position*

Country based in*

Do you have a LinkedIn profile link you'd like to share?

Please select your role*

Participant Speaker (please only select this role if this has been confirmed by the ESIL team)

Phone number*

ID information

To grant you access to the European Commission premises for the ESIL Annual Event, we are required to collect your ID information beforehand. Please complete and submit the form below using the same details shown on the ID card or passport you’ll bring to the event.

Nationality*

Date of birth*

Type of document*

Passport or ID number*

Document expiry date*

I consent to my submitted information being shared with the European Commission*

Do you have any specific comments you wish to share?

Do you have any dietary requirements or food allergies?

How did you hear about this event?*

Email invitation Social media ESIL website ESIL newsletter EIC/ESMEA communications META Group channels Business Angels Europe channels Bpifrance channels Word of mouth Other (specify)

Yes, please subscribe me to the ESIL newsletter I agree to the privacy policy*

Thank you for registering

A confirmation email has been sent to the supplied email address.

If you have any questions please email: info@europeanesil.eu

Agenda

8:30 - 9:00	Registration Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium	Floor 8Room 180Auditorium
9:00 - 9:15	Indroduction: From Research Excellence to Market Impact Andreas Schwarz, Chief of Staff Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, European Commission Luigi Amati, Director META Group Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium
9:15 - 10:00	Panel From Research to Market: Innovation Driven Research Teams Terezia Jacova, Local Leader Czechia, Lumus Renata Brkic, Local Leader Croatia, Feels good Capital Moderated by Jenny Tooth OBE, VP of Diversity at BAE & Executive Chair of UKBAA Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium
10:00 - 10:45	Panel The Value of Business Angels Beyond Capital Viorel Peca, Head of Unit, European Innovation Council (EIC Transition) Marco Franchin, Exploitation Manager, PHIRE project Stefano Giancola, CTO, Orchestra Scientific Ivano Ciceri, Head of Tech Transfer Office, Politecnico di Milano Sven De Cleyn, Programme Director, IMECstart Moderated by Francesca Natali, Greebone/Angiodroid investor Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium
10:45 - 11:30	Panel From Grants to Market: Aligning Funding and Support Instruments Floor 1, Cantine	Floor 1Cantine
11:30 - 12:00	Conclusion René Reijtenbagh - CEO BAConnect and VP BANNederland Cynthia Verswijvel - Cornelissen, President, BAN Flanders Jean-Marc Boyer, Chairman, Global InsurAngels Jörg Stein, Healthtech Angel Investor Moderated by Reginald Vossen, President, Business Angels Europe Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium	Floor 8Room 180Auditorium
12:00 - 13:00	Networking Lunch Milen Ivanov, Local Leader Bulgaria, Sofia Angels Ventures Christian Dubarry, Director European Affairs, Bpifrance Sara Dagostini, Policy Officer, European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy Claire Munck, Director, BeAngels Moderated by Jacek Blonski, Local Leader Poland, APER Angels Floor 8, Room 180, Auditorium

Practical

European Commission Covent Garden Building
Place Rogier 16
Brussels 1210
Belgium
5 June 2026

Register

First Name*

Last Name*

Email*

Company or Organisation*

Role / Position*

Country based in*

Do you have a LinkedIn profile link you'd like to share?

Please select your role*

Participant Speaker (please only select this role if this has been confirmed by the ESIL team)

Phone number*

ID information

Nationality*

Date of birth*

Type of document*

Passport or ID number*

Document expiry date*

I consent to my submitted information being shared with the European Commission*

Do you have any specific comments you wish to share?

Do you have any dietary requirements or food allergies?

How did you hear about this event?*

Email invitation Social media ESIL website ESIL newsletter EIC/ESMEA communications META Group channels Business Angels Europe channels Bpifrance channels Word of mouth Other (specify)

Yes, please subscribe me to the ESIL newsletter I agree to the privacy policy*

Thank you for registering

A confirmation email has been sent to the supplied email address.

If you have any questions please email: info@europeanesil.eu

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