IM capital was invited to the GBAN Annual Meeting which was held in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. As in previous years, the meeting is aligned with the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC), which ran from April 16-19. With 80 members representing more than 60 countries, this third gathering offered opportunities to share and learn from other fellow members on: • Global angel investing trends • Best practices for building thriving angel ecosystems • Network to network mentoring • The challenges and rewards of cross border investing • Building cross-border connections, portfolios, and creating liquidity events Dr. Rouhana was a panelist during the Plenary Discussion on “Trends & Perspective of Early-Stage Investing from Around the World”, sharing experience on Nascent Angel Ecosystems and how to build a thriving angel investor network with peer to peer mentoring. Members also addressed issues based on the relative maturity of their angel ecosystem on developed Angel Ecosystems: • Creating Liquidity Events for Angels • Building Angel Co-Funds • Building Investment Portfolios • Strategic Priorities & Member Information Exchange • Member Activities and Areas of Focus The full Congress offered also opportunities to bring perspective to bear on a variety of efforts to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world. In addition to the GBAN Annual Meeting at the GEC, the IM team was able to: • Participate in the GEN Annual Meeting on Monday, April 16, to connect with other elements of the Global Entrepreneurship Network engaging entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and other startup champions. • Gain valuable insight from leaders in the field on the key elements of ecosystems that encourage entrepreneurial growth and are conducive to innovation. • Learn about one of Eurasia’s most vibrant startup hubs and next generation efforts to support entrepreneurs. • Participate in a wide array of sessions on everything from crowdfunding and co- founder matchmaking to angel investing and public policies to promote entrepreneurial growth. • Brainstorm about building on global successes, overcoming individual challenges and strengthening inter-disciplinary collaborative efforts for the future. • Meet and engage with delegates from approximately 170 countries. GEC 2018 is co-hosted by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and Kauffman Foundation along with Endeavor Turkey, Habitat, Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).