Comparing a BAP with angel groups, Business Angel Networks and equity crowdfunding platforms in Italy, the study finds that BAPs combine two qualities that have often been separated: the selectivity and personal involvement of traditional angel investing with the reach, coordination and standardisation offered by digital platforms.
The findings show that this model is built around five connected elements: collective investment through an online platform, selective access for investors, a structured process for selecting and completing investments, ongoing investor support, and the sharing of investment knowledge and experience. Together, these support two wider functions. BAPs can make angel investing easier to enter and participate in, while also creating a community that connects selected investors with start-ups and supports them beyond the initial investment. Importantly, the platform is therefore more than a digital marketplace. Screening, onboarding, training, expert evaluation and post-investment monitoring are deliberately built into the model to preserve trust and relational involvement as participation expands.
The practical implications extend to both sides of entrepreneurial finance. Investors, including those with less experience or those located further away, can gain structured access to opportunities, training and collective expertise. Entrepreneurs can benefit from a more streamlined fundraising process while gaining not only capital but also the experience, networks and guidance traditionally associated with active business angels. The digital model may also reduce geographical barriers, allowing investor expertise to reach start-ups in peripheral or underserved innovation areas, while creating new opportunities for collaboration with incubators, accelerators and venture capital funds. The authors therefore position BAPs as part of a wider entrepreneurial support infrastructure rather than simply another financing channel.
For students and professionals, the paper provides a useful mindset shift in how digital transformation and business model innovation can be understood. Technology does not necessarily replace human relationships, expertise or judgement. In this case, it reorganises them so that they can operate across a larger and more distributed network. The study challenges the established image of the business angel as a primarily local, informal and individual investor, showing instead how knowledge, relationships and investor support can become coordinated capabilities within a digital organisational model. Because the evidence remains exploratory and centred on the Italian ecosystem, the authors call for further work on performance, internationalisation and inclusivity. Yet the broader lesson is already significant: meaningful innovation can come not from choosing between digital scale and human involvement, but from redesigning an organisation so that the two reinforce one another.
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