This document discusses perspectives on the digital economy and provides recommendations for entrepreneurial Belgium. It notes that Silicon Valley remains the global hub of innovation due to factors like alliances between universities, government, and entrepreneurs; access to finance; culture; and diversity. It then discusses recent startup successes and funding in Belgium. The document concludes by providing three recommendations to support entrepreneurship in Belgium: improving access to finance through mechanisms like tax shelters and peer-to-peer finance; developing infrastructure like startup hubs and open data; and fostering a supportive culture through education, diversity, and an entrepreneurial mindset.

1. BART BECKS
Founder, angel.me
!
!
@bartbecks
bart@angel.me
PERSPECTIVES ON
THE DIGITAL
ECONOMY
!

2. 1
DIGITAL STARTUPS
ARE REDEFINING OUR LIFE

4. San Francisco
Silicon Valley
THE GLOBAL HUB OF
INNOVATION REMAINS
SILICON VALLEY

5. FACTORS THAT DEFINE SUCCESS
1. Alliance between
universities, government
and entrepreneurs
2. Access to finance
3. Culture
4. Diversity
5. Success

6. THE PAYPAL
NETWORK

7. EU funding per startup
is only 23% of that of
the US*
* February 2015 study, Global Innovation Dealflow Partners

8. 2
WHAT ABOUT
BELGIUM !?

9. Showpad closes
additional $8.5M for its
mobile-first software
to enable sales reps to
be more productive

11. FIS to pay €375M
for Clear2Pay
payments
capabilities

12. L’appli festival
Beatswitch recolte
€750.000 et
accueille
Tomorrowland
comme client

14. Cubigo selected as on
of the ‘Most promising
companies’ by Google

15. Microsoft buys
Sunrise Calendar in
acquisition deal
worth over $100M

17. The increasing battle to
become a European tech hub

19. The increasing battle to
become a European tech hub

20. Brussels !?

21. Calendar:
!
April 27th : Media innovation (Muntpunt)
May 6th : Think Digital (Egmont Palace)
June 2nd : Crowdfunding

22. 3
3 RECOMMENDATIONS

24. RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR
ENTREPRENEURIAL
BELGIUM?
1. Access to finance
2. Culture
3. Infrastructure

25. 1. Access to finance
2. Infrastructure
3. Culture
1. (S)EIS / TAX SHELTER
2. P2P FINANCE (REGULATION)
3. PUBLIC SPENDING

26. 1. HUBS
2. OPEN DATA
3. GOVERNMENT AS A PLATFORM
1. Access to finance
2. Infrastructure
3. Culture

27. 1. EDUCATION
2. DIVERSITY
3. ENTREPRENEURIAL AMBITION (DARE)
1. Access to finance
2. Infrastructure
3. Culture

29. THANK YOU
bart@angel.me | @bartbecks