Cintia Mano

Cintia Mano awarded Golden Aurora 2025 as Europe’s most influential female business angel

Last week, during the Impactfest The Hague (https://www.impactfest.nl/), in a session co-organized by Business Angels Europe (BAE) and BAN NL (the Dutch angel federation), the Portuguese Cintia Mano was awarded the 2025 Golden Aurora.

Every year, BAE organizes the Golden Aurora award to celebrate women angel investing. This is part of a wider array of initiatives to boost women angel investing by BAE, amongst others WomenINvestEU, Empowomen and WA4E. See all BAE programmes via this link.
 
In a final with 5 national nominees (see full list at: Five National Nominees Announced for Final of the Golden Aurora Award 2025 – European Woman Angel of the Year) Cintia Mano came as the winner. She is an experienced former executive, who as Partner and CEO of COREangels (https://www.coreangels.com/) leads an international network of more than 340 angel investors deploying €14M into over 120 startups across Europe, LATAM, the US, and MEA. Individually, she has invested as a business angel in 36 startups, with 30% cross border startups, 11% female led investments, and achieved four positive exits to date.
 
Cintia is also co-author of Angel Investing Explained (2024), published in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, reflecting her mission to democratize access to angel investing.
 
Cintia Mano said:
“It is an honour to receive the Golden Aurora Award 2025 and to represent Portugal among such remarkable women who are shaping the angel investment landscape in their countries. Through my experience leading COREangels, an international network of angels, I have seen how diversity strengthens innovation, as different perspectives contribute to better investment decisions. This recognition reinforces my commitment to continue opening doors for new angels and to democratize access to angel investing, as I did together with my co-author Andrea Piazza in the book Angel Investing Explained. I hope it also encourages more female executives, entrepreneurs, and wealth managers to see that this space can be for them as well. Why not?”
Reginald Vossen, Chairman of BAE and Jury Chair of the Golden Aurora Award 2025, highlights Mano’s new role as a leading investor.
“With the Golden Aurora Award, BAE aims to underscore the importance and value of female investors. Cintia Mano has not only demonstrated that female investors play a crucial role in supporting female (but also male) entrepreneurs, but also leads as a pioneering investor, serves as a leading example in cross border (and even cross continent) investing, creates synergies with other angel investors and innovates in angel funds creation. As co-author of “Angel Investing Explained” (2024, 3 languages) and regular international speaker, she serves as a true ambassador for female angels. At the occasion of the Impact Fest at The Hague (NL) it was also noticeable to see the significance of impact and sustainable growth in her investment strategy.”