Saab Gold Sponsor of the Business Angels Conference – EBAN Winter University 2016.

The Saab Group has become the gold sponsor of the Business Angels Conference – EBAN Winter University 2016, which will take place on November 29 and 30 in Zagreb. The cooperation agreement was signed at the residence of the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden, Lars Schmidt. The official signing of the agreement was attended by the president of CRANE, Davorin Štetner, representatives of the Saab Group, Sanja Hrvojević Beganović and Pierre Gauffin, with the support of Ambassador Schmidt.

– I am extremely pleased that a multinational company like the Saab Group has recognized the importance of the conference and decided to support us as a gold sponsor. Their support is a clear indication of the quality of our work and an excellent motivation to continue at an even stronger pace. The Saab Group is known for its global presence and continuous investment in technology and innovation development, which actually makes it a symbol of the values we want to promote through our conference, said Davorin Štetner, president of CRANE and the main organizer of the conference.

EBAN Winter University 2016 is the largest European conference for business angels, organized by the Croatian Business Angels Network (CRANE) in co-organization with the City of Zagreb, at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall on November 29 and 30. The conference will feature a series of lectures, panels, and workshops from the leading experts in the field of investment, providing conference participants with information and insights into the latest trends in the startup industry. Some of the most prominent business angels, such as the best European early-stage investor, Johann Hansmann, Business Angel of the Year in the UK, Peter Cowley, and the founder of Slush and startup sauna, Riku Asikainen, have already confirmed their participation in the conference. Alongside them, the lecture will be given by Iron Maiden’s frontman, commercial pilot, and entrepreneur, Bruce Dickinson, the inventor of the USB stick, Dov Moran, Tom Tyler from Bloomberg, global managing director of Cisco, Tom Yoritaka, and many others.

– The contribution to the development of innovations is embedded in the foundations of our business. Saab believes that innovations are a key driver of economic growth and competitiveness. Annually, we invest about 25 percent of our sales in research and development, and in line with our global strategy, we have initiated the creation of the Croatian-Swedish Innovation Initiative in Croatia. We are very pleased that now, as a gold sponsor, we can support the EBAN University conference for the first time in Zagreb, especially due to the presence of eminent experts and the exchange of new ideas and trends. We are convinced that this will create fertile ground for the development of innovations and contribute to the creation of a society rooted in knowledge and excellence, said Sanja Hrvojević Beganović, Saab’s representative for Croatia and director of sales and marketing for Central and Southeast Europe.

Saab was founded in Sweden in 1937 with the aim of ensuring national supply of military aircraft. Today, Saab is a company present on every continent, offering leading global products, services, and solutions for military defense and civil security in the global market. With nearly 15,000 employees, annual sales amount to 27 billion Swedish kronor, of which as much as 25% is reinvested for research and development.