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SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2016

Why Malta?Investing in start-upsZest: digital business event of the year

Official Zest Publication

2 The Sunday Times of Malta JUNE 26, 2016

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The Malta Communications Authority, incollaboration with TakeOff Business Incu-bator and key players on the tech start-upscene are organising Zest, Malta’s biggestdigital business event.Spread over two days, the event will fea-

ture two parallel programmes – one focus-ing on disruptive trends and the other onstart-ups. Zest will feature a tech demospace, a buzzing network piazza, a hip co-working space, and for those who want totake the networking opportunity to the nextlevel, the Zest after-party.The event’s theme is ‘breaking borders’, re-

ferring to the blurring of lines between indus-tries, professions and countries or regions. This is particularly relevant today be-

cause of the way every industry is being dis-rupted and reshaped. Taxi companies,media firms and tour operators are nolonger recognised in the traditional sense.Uber, Netflix and Airbnb have changed

the rules. From the professional servicesperspective, marketers are no longer viewedas the creatives, but rather as numbers peo-ple, coders, or even scientists. Even thesharpest financial advisers are now chal-lenged by the perfection of artificial intelli-gence and the consistency of automation.Zest will challenge this idea and questionwhether professionals share the same fate oftelegraphists in the post-Victorian era.Yet Zest will also expose the silver lining.

In 2016, Malta is no longer a remote islandbut rather a buzzing nimble place for globaldisruptive ventures.

Thought leaders from Amazon Web Serv-ices, Microsoft, Gartner, Forbes, Leo Bur-nett and Techstars, to mention a few, willadd flavour to the discussionLeading the discussion will be a line-up

of international and locally renownedspeakers at the helm of such disruptive en-deavours. Remarkable companies that willfeature at Zest include Funderbeam, whichis focused on merging crowdfunding withstock exchange models; Jobbatical, aimedat bridging the places where people live andwork; and Leaf Music, aspiring to take mar-keting and lead generation to a completelynew level.Thought leaders coming from Amazon

Web Services, Microsoft, Gartner, Forbes,Leo Burnett and Techstars will add flavourto the discussion. Zest will also showcaselocal disrupters such as Hotjar, the fastestgrowing analytics company in the world.Disrupting borders takes a new meaning

when the Mediterranean region is dis-cussed. With a particular focus on NorthAfrica and the Middle East, input from play-ers such as Flat6Labs, the largest seed fundin the area, is expected to bring new per-spectives to the discussion.

Zest is also about inspiration, creativ-ity, ingenuity and enterprise. The pro-gramme will feature Jack Cator, founderof HideMyAss, who became a millionaireat just 16 years of age. Reinhold Karner, asuccess adviser and mentor, will bring in-genuity and invaluable insight on the dis-ruptive traits we are witnessing today.

Inspiration also comes from Nathan Far-rugia who has no boundaries to his aspi-rations and the impact he leaves on thepeople around him.Zest is taking place at the Westin Drago-

nara tomorrow, June 27 and June 28. TheTimes of Malta is media partner for Zest. Formore information, visit www.zest.org.mt.

Breaking bordersGet ready for Zest, Malta’s biggest digitalbusiness event.

JUNE 26, 2016 The Sunday Times of Malta 3

In what ways are start-ups disrupting tradi-tional set-ups? Disruption can happen in every business di-mension one can think of, from product, serv-ice, time to market and time to servecustomers to distribution, payment models,and channel to market.

We are seeing disruption in all sectors andin all elements of the value chain across theworld. Some researchers have grouped thesedisruption models into eight areas, namelydigital stores, content hubs, sharing hubs,promoters, aggregators, discriminators,crowd sourcers and matchers. However, Iwould imagine there are and will be moremodels than these.

For traditional businesses, is it a matter ofbeating start-ups or joining them?

Our view is that embracing change is alwaysgoing to be better than resisting it. Start-upsoffer traditional businesses vast opportunitiesfor innovation, sensors to market, better,faster cycles to market, cost efficiency and cul-ture change to enable sustainable growth andsuccess. And, of course, traditional businessesoffer start-ups significant opportunities for ac-cess to markets and customers as well. So it isa win-win for all if challenges are managedwell and parties focus on opportunities togrow the pie.

What different role do start-ups play in theUS, EMEA regions and Asia?

There are different types of start-ups andvarious factors impacting a specific ecosys-tem. For instance, according to entrepreneurSteve Blank, there are six types of start-ups:lifestyle, small business, social, scalable,buyable and large. The types of start-upsprevalent in each region as well as different

needs of each entrepreneurial ecosystem de-termine the role start-ups play in that region.

In the US, start-ups play a major economicand disruptive role because the focus is onscalable, buyable, or large start-ups, espe-cially in Silicon Valley. They also play a hugerole in being a role model to the rest of theworld in terms of investment models,growth management and engineering talentdevelopment.

In EMEA – which I would split into two asEurope and MENA – the story is different. InEurope, start-ups challenge and initiate gov-ernments to move faster for social impact,green technologies and smart cities. They arethe locomotives of social change and eco-nomic development. There is almost alwaysan underlying expectation that entrepreneursshould give back and businesses are there toserve society, not the other way around.

In MENA, most start-ups are smaller scale.They are more about lifestyle or small busi-ness models, or ‘copycats’ of ideas done else-where. As such, even though we do not see toomany unicorns there, start-ups play a hugerole in bringing social hope, cultural change,and economic progress to the region. For in-stance, we are seeing female entrepreneurs inthe Middle East starting online businesseswhich they manage from home. These peoplewould have normally shied from going to theoffice where they would need to work withmen. As such, in addition to economic devel-opment, start-ups and digital disruption en-hance gender equality and e-learning in theseemerging markets.

Asia, on the other hand, is completely dif-ferent. My observation is that start-ups therepave the way for deeper cultural change. En-trepreneurs there demonstrate that it is fine tobe more individualistic, to take more risk and

to fail. We even get requests from govern-ments to help support start-ups and ecosys-tems in these areas.

Within a start-up context, failure is embracedas part of the journey. But for how long wouldan economy suffer failure?

This is a very relative question. Just like eachindividual entrepreneur has (or should have)a target date to pull the plug on his business ifsuccess or breakeven does not seem to arrive,economies and governments should havetheir plans, budgets, and timelines to incen-tivise their entrepreneurial ecosystems. Whilewe all know start-ups are the future for eco-nomic growth and sustainability, how longeach ecosystem will need in order to get therewill be determined on a case-by-case basis.

How does Microsoft support start-ups? We support start-ups worldwide, along

their whole start-up life cycle. Over 100,000start-ups and 1,500 partners from more than100 countries have benefited from Microsoft’sprogrammes and packages such as BizSparksince 2008.

At our seven Microsoft Accelerators aroundthe world – London, Paris, Berlin, Tel Aviv,Seattle, Beijing and Bangalore – we offer a verydemanding and successful acceleration pro-gramme to high growth start-ups. The resultshave been phenomenal to date.

We also offer many other benefits and pro-grammes such as start-up bootcamps for earlystage start-ups, innovation and matching daysfor our corporate partners and customers,alumni and mentoring programmes, and suc-cess management resources to scale high po-tential start-ups. Finally, we have recentlylaunched a fund called Microsoft Ventureswhich invests in start-ups as well.

What are the benefits that such partnershipspresent to Microsoft?

We value the innovation and disruptivethinking start-ups bring to our sector im-mensely. They also enable us to monitortrends and technologies on a global scale.

In turn, all these efforts bring business tous. They enable us to serve our current cus-tomers and partners better as well as to ac-quire new customers and users for ourplatform and services. Simply put, we grow asstart-ups grow.

You will be participating in the Zest event.What does Microsoft plan to achieve throughyour participation?

I am part of a business unit called the Evan-gelism team which means we aim to share ourservices, know-how, and support with thewider developer and start-up ecosystems. Mi-crosoft Accelerators, in particular, have beenso successful in their four years of existencethat start-ups around the world as well as ourpartners such as corporates, governments, oruniversities request us to scale our efforts rap-idly so that they can benefit from our learning,know-how, and technology support. Our aimis to serve them in the most efficient and im-pactful manner.

Meeting start-ups as well as potential part-ners at Zest would enable us to achieve thesegoals and give us an opportunity to enhanceour scale out strategy and plans, if necessary.

Investing in start-ups is trending as 2016takes a massive turn towards expeditinginnovation and entrepreneurship. Wehear about a new idea being funded al-most every minute. Right now, it is an ex-citing phase globally, with almost everycountry trying to nurture a start-upecosystem to counter the uncertainties ofeconomic imbalances and loss of jobs dueto tectonic shifts in the investment andconsumer markets.

Given the scenario, angel investors andventure capitalists have the potential tochange the world by supporting the rightfounders and their start-ups.

Malta is an ideal breeding ground forstart-ups, giving budding entrepreneursaccess to quality talent and lower burnrates of capital. Most importantly, thereare young entrepreneurs coming in fromall over Europe to take advantage of whatMalta has to offer.

One of the reasons why a start-upecosystem thrives is the availability of cap-ital for a founder to get started or to scaleup. While funding for scaling a venture isthe interest of venture capitalists, seedfunding for starting up is mostly fuelled byangel investors.

There are two types of angel investors:structured and professional angel groups

or unstructured and individual investors.Obviously, the structured and profes-sional angel groups are making the mostout of the windfall gains when a start-upmakes it big.

However, there is still a huge gap betweenthe number of aspiring entrepreneurs andavailable angel funding today. There are afew million of us who are yet to warm up forthe game or may be sitting on the fence!Angel investors and venture capitalists arenow seeking opportunities which allowthem to expand their portfolios – investingin start-up is key. As an investor they wouldbe contributing to an entrepreneur’s attemptto innovate for the betterment of societythrough a valuable product or solution.

For investors, participating in the bot-tom of the pyramid economy as one of theprivileged few means they also benefitfrom managing a large enterprise whichonce was a small business or a start-up.For many investors, the appeal is securinga place in the innovation economy whilebeing engaged in the routine of a large en-terprise without any conflict of interest.

Investors also benefit from the growthof a start-up by taking up an active role, ifand when the need arises, while getting toknow the dynamics of a start-up ecosys-tem as an insider.

Diversifying the investment portfoliofrom standard offerings in the marketsuch as fixed deposits, property and mu-tual funds to a direct experience of invest-ing into those value creators who drive thestock markets eventually is attractive.Reap windfall gains of multiple times theoriginal investment from an eventual exitby promoters to a larger acquirer or froma planned IPO is the ultimate goal.

The only obstacle to jumping on thisbandwagon seems to be the fear of losingthe small portion of one’s own net worthin case the venture idea does not take offas expected. Nevertheless, the feelingwould be better than a rollercoaster rideat Disneyland.

The potential return for angel investorsand venture capitalists can be huge. Prof-its from a successful start-up can be in thethousands of per cent and if a company isable to reach the level of going public prof-

its can be in the thousands of per cent.However, any early stage or start-up busi-ness is considered very high risk, no mat-ter what the business is. As a result manyangel investors want a higher return in ex-change for this risk, ideally 30 to 40 per cent.

Some will accept less and some willwant more but this should be your realistictarget and objective for what an investorwants for return on investment. The oddsof increasing the investment returns canbe increased by retaining close ties withthe company even after the initial invest-ment. When the angel investor continuesto be attached with the business, their ex-perience can help flourish the business. Sofar the typical angel investor tends to investin local companies as it is easier to do duediligence in local companies before writingchecks. Furthermore, mentoring localcompanies is convenient for angels.

Reach for the starsInvesting in start-ups can be risky. However,when start-ups take off, the potentialreturn is huge, Patrick O’Brien says.

Investing in a start-upcan feel like a

rollercoaster ride.

The value of disruptionEmbracing change is better than resisting it, Didem Un Ates,global partnerships director at Microsoft Accelerators, says.

DidemUn Ates

What elements have enabled youto become a leader in your sector?BMIT’s mission statementspeaks about our passion in de-livering top-notch IT services inorder to “help our customers at-tain increased business agilitythrough new breed ICT serv-ices.” This passion has enabledus to maintain consistent deliv-ery of our service offerings aswell as roll out various new serv-ices, win new customers andalso grow together with many ofour existing ones.

In order to ensure that ourportfolio fully addresses ourever-changing customer needs,over the recent years, we haveundergone a full transformationof our service offering. As a re-sult, we have shifted from a tra-ditional co-location and hostingprovider to a fully-fledged IT so-lutions provider, with servicesnot only including co-locationand hosting, which services re-main core to our business, butalso a full suite of cloud enabledservices as well as the ability tooffer our customers managedservices and solutions.

Whether we use internal re-sources, or partner with associ-ated companies or some of theworld’s largest IT providers, weare able to deliver a one-stop-shop to provide solutions whichspan across all customer IT re-quirements.

All businesses are becomingincreasingly IT-based. However,a lot of companies do not havethe resources to handle thistransformation. What advan-tages does outsourcing to thirdparties offer?

Outsourcing is very oftenviewed mainly as a strategy forproducing cost savings. However,by simply following a traditionalcost-focused approach, countlesscompanies may be missing op-portunities to add value and gainfurther competitive advantage.Outsourcing should not focussolely on cost considerations –rather it should be concernedwith building a competitive edge.

A key advantage is the abilityfor the business to focus on whatit does best and let third partieshandle certain operational as-pects. Another advantage is thatan organisation and its staff canincrease their interactivity withother IT organisations, andtherefore develop best-of-breedsolutions. Through outsourcing,a business can also achieve en-hanced efficiency, while credibil-ity with stakeholders andregulators is further developed.

The decision to outsourceshould not be purely an eco-nomic consideration. The abil-ity to react to changes in thebusiness with timely delivery ofquality services plays a majorrole in a company’s decision tooutsource discrete businessprocesses or services.

Do companies still see outsourc-ing as loss of control?

Some companies still consideroutsourcing as a threat to theirability to control their IT. But ingeneral, there is nowadays a bet-ter understanding of the value ofletting a third party handle as-pects of the IT delivery. This is re-sulting in an increasing numberof organisations outsourcing theirIT to varying degrees, with sometotally handing over the opera-tions of their IT to an externalpartner-company.

IT-as-a-service is one approachwhich facilitates and puts in con-text the value and potential ofoutsourcing and how to turn itinto a key component of how ITteams deliver solutions to theirorganisation. This in turn facili-tates the adoption of outsourcingwithin IT teams of organisationsand businesses of all types.

What are the main services thatyou offer?

BMIT started off as a co-loca-tion and hosting provider, whichservices we continue to offer aspart of our data centre servicesportfolio. We now operate twodata centres in Malta and alsohave data centre presence in Italyand Germany, therefore allowinga high degree of flexibility to ourcustomers.

Through these ISO 27001 andPCI-DSS certified data centreswe offer a full suite of co-loca-tion services, ranging from basicco-location services to managedhosting services. Our customershave access to up to 40Gbps ofinternet connectivity via a pri-vate network linking our datacentres in Malta, Italy and Ger-many. Additionally, we provideadvanced protection and mitiga-tion against malicious attacks onwebsites, also known as DDOSattacks, or distributed denial ofservice attacks.

A second category of servicesare cloud-based. Besides beingthe leading hosting and co-loca-tion provider in Malta, we alsoprovide a range of public, on de-mand cloud services as well asprivate and hybrid cloud solu-tions as part of our portfolio.

Since such cloud services arehosted at our own data centres,and managed by us, we can pro-vide assurances on data locationand retention that can’t be of-fered by the bigger cloud serv-ices players.

Our managed IT servicesrange was developed specificallyto assist operators run their serv-ices more efficiently. In caseswhere the operator has its ownIT team, our role is usually tosupplement their efforts and as-sist them in their support func-tion. Other operators opt tooutsource all IT support to us, inwhich case our role is to ensurea round-the-clock upkeep of thesystems, as well as provide ad-vice on best-practice.

Data is the lifeblood of anycompany. In what ways do youhelp businesses address poten-tial data losses?

Companies that outsourcetheir data management needscan invest in only the servicesthey’ll actually use, rather thanspend money on additionalequipment required for physi-cal backup and recovery, someof which is hardly ever used.

We offer companies the pos-sibility to choose from a rangeof services, depending on spe-cific business requirements, in-cluding co-locating data in oneor more of our data centres foradditional security, as well as a

simple and scalable cloudbackup solution that sendscopies of data from any com-puter to BMIT’s secure backupfarm. Such services address thetechnical requirements of a ho-listic disaster recovery plan.

With regards to limiting riskexposure, what best practice ad-vice do you offer your clients?

Our experience with dealingwith such situations shows thatone should never put all eggs inone basket. In this context thismeans that one should, asmuch as possible and feasible,have off-site backups of data.This can take several forms,

ranging from having a cloudbackup solution, up to have re-dundant backup and storage ca-pability across different datacentres. One need not break thebank to have a backup solutionin place.

For example, we have backupplans which allow backing up to50GB from the customer to oneof our data centres for just €5per month.

Any risk management shall beundertaken as part of a holisticplan which identifies the riskpoints and seeks to provide asolution towards addressingthem or mitigate them as muchas possible.


EnablingtransformationOutsourcing helps organisations builda competitive edge, Jack Mizzi, chiefmarketing and business developmentofficer at BMIT Ltd., says.


At Zest, local and foreign entre-preneurs will be networking hardto meet potential business part-ners, pitch to investors and makecontacts. One key person to be onthe lookout for is Tugce Ergul, co-founder and CEO of Angel Labs,who will be speaking at the two-day event. Ergul is of Turkish descent and

comes from a family that has beenin finance for generations. Freshout of college, she started out asan investment banker in Paris andthen joined Turkey’s first venturecapital fund. She later moved toSan Francisco to join a Silicon Val-ley-based fund investing inemerging markets. “I learned a lot and it was a

great opportunity where I wasmanaging more than 30 invest-ments in 11 countries around theworld,” Ergul says. Angel Labs was the next step

though, as she wanted to focus onsupercharging investor communi-

ties around the world, introducingtech investing to high-net-worthindividuals coming from tradi-tional backgrounds, and unlock-ing new smart capital forentrepreneurs.Ergul explains that Angel Labs

is the world’s first investor accel-erator. Today it has a presence in41 countries, focusing on super-charging investor groups. Theirmain goal is to build the next gen-eration of angels and venture cap-italists. These are people whoprovide capital to start-ups in re-turn for partial ownership, andare ready to invest in early stagestaking high risks, even before acompany has finished developingits key product. These type of investors differ

considerably from traditional fin-anciers who invest in companieswith an already proven businessprofile and therefore with consid-erably less risk. Angel investors orangels, as these seed investors are

Getting offthe groundStart-ups are most likely to earnangel investment if they’ve alreadybuilt a business that shows strongtraction and validation, Tugce Ergul,co-founder and CEO Angel Labs tellsIan Vella.

known in the tech-world, are bet-ting against the odds and expectto make outsized returns on theirinvestments. Angels need to invest in people

and follow their gut since moststart-ups don’t have any proventrack record and are far from turn-ing any profits. This type of invest-ment is definitely riskier andangels should look for decisiveand passionate teams who don’tprocrastinate and are able tomove fast with a clear vision. That said, investing in start-ups

is not a leap in the dark. Ergul ex-plains that the key element thatangels look for when investing ispeople who already have start-upexperience. If you haven’t starteda company, some investors maysuggest joining a funded start-upteam as an early employee beforeyou get your hands dirty as afounder. Angel investors like toshare what they know with thecompanies they invest in, so theylike teams and founders who lis-ten and learn continuously. Astart-up has more chances to at-

tract investment if it is able to sat-isfy these requirements.Most angel investors aren’t wild-

eyed risk takers, eager to throwmoney at a good idea. They wantto see real profit potential and asolid and legitimate product thathas achieved product-market fit.Start-ups are most likely to earnangel investment if they’ve alreadybuilt a business that shows strongtraction and validation.Ergul reveals that Angel Labs is

hoping to launch in Malta and putthe country on the map for theirglobal investor community while

kick-starting the local angel in-vestor ecosystem in the country. For local start-ups to attract in-

vestment, Ergul explains thatmost first-time entrepreneursspend too much time on fundrais-ing when they are launching theirbusinesses. Ergul advises entre-preneurs to chase the vision, notthe money. “Build something you believe in

and fuel momentum around it. Themoney will end up following you.”Courage is also one of the most

important qualities you need tohave to start your own company.

People will outline how your com-pany will fail or why your productisn’t cool enough. It’s importantthat you find the right balance be-tween listening to valuable feed-back and acting on it while at thesame time ignoring the destruc-tive criticism aimed just to dis-hearten you.Ergul, who has become suc-

cessful in a heavily imbalanced,male dominated tech industry,strongly recommends to other fe-male entrepreneurs to never beafraid to ask other people for theirhelp or advice.

“I have definitely not launchedmy business by myself. I’ve had alot of support and great peoplewho have supported me. Askingfor help is not a sign of weakness,”she says.If you have a great idea for a

start-up, just go for it and tackleproblems one by one as theyarise. If you try to plan for every-thing and research the marketwithout getting your hands dirtyyou are bound to be easily put off.It’s much easier to tackle newtasks once you’ve already gotthings going.Ultimately, she advises, you

should keep a healthy balance.Starting a new business can con-sume you to a level that’s nothealthy – keep a balance so thatyou’re still in touch with familyand friends.During the Zest event, Ergul

and her team are hoping to get toknow the local ecosystem andbuild a solid foundation to suc-cessfully launch their operationin Malta. But it does not end there– Angel Labs have already built anamazing community of high-net-worth individuals and businessesin more than 30 countries. “I would like to see it grow to

100 countries and have millionsof people be a part of it,” Ergul says. Angel Labs is on a mission to

build the next generation of in-vestors, changing the face of theventure capital world and seeingthis community create a globalbusiness phenomenon. If you areattending the Zest conference,don’t miss her speech and be pre-pared for a quick, captivatingpitch if you get an opportunityduring the networking event.


Join a fast-paced environment where being agile is essential. Where ideas become reality and workbecomes a hobby. Develop your skills in our front-end development team and apply through

Develop mentManager

“Angel Labs ishoping tolaunch in Maltaand put thecountry on themap for theirglobal investorcommunity”

Tugce Ergul

When most people think of start-up hubs inEurope, their thoughts will wander up north,to the vibrant start-up communities in Stock-holm and Copenhagen. London is, of course,recognised as the start-up capital of Europe –it currently hosts more than 4,000 start-ups,has more than 70 co-working spaces and 36start-up accelerators, and in the first sixmonths of this year, generated more than€100 million in venture capital funding.

Berlin and Lisbon are also big players onthe start-up scene. Ranked as one of Eu-rope’s top innovation hotspots, and oftenreferred to Europe’s San Francisco, Lisbonhas a dynamic ecosystem, with various in-cubators and accelerators.

Malta doesn’t immediately come to mindwhen thinking of start-up hubs. Yet in recentyears, Malta has supported various start-ups,of which a significant number have becomeindustry leaders. What fuels the island’s cre-dentials as a start-up hub is its stable econ-omy and political scenario, a strong yetflexible financial regulatory regime, an excel-lent ICT infrastructure, increasing govern-ment support and an excellent quality of life.

A strong communityDespite a number of success stories, untilrecently, Malta’s start-up efforts were indi-vidual and fragmented. The island lackeda sense of community, also due to the factthat there was little official support.

Nowadays, however, the local start-upcommunity is engaged in meaningful and

constant conversations. This sense of com-munity has also been strengthened by anincreasing number of incubation and co-working spaces and official recognitionthat start-ups contribute a lot to the econ-omy. This is also translated into added sup-port, including funding.

Start-up support

Support for Malta’s start-up community isgrowing at an encouraging pace and is be-coming more targeted and relevant.

Private companies are extending theirhand to start-ups to support and engagewith them. Government is also support-ing start-ups, through tax incentives,funding, access to internationalisationand enabling legislation.

Takeoff Business Incubator at the Uni-versity of Malta has been critical to the

success of various start-ups. Malta’s firsttechnology business incubator, Takeoffbrings together innovators, entrepre-neurs, mentors and investors, with theaim of closing the skills and resourcesgap that entrepreneurs experience ontheir start-up venture.

Start-Up Malta is a meeting place forlegal, marketing, business, banking, fi-nance and investment services through aprofessional network. Start-Up Maltaseeks to meet and help start-up entrepre-neurs in pre-seed, seed or early stage byproviding finance as well as technical andcommercial mentoring. Startup Maltaalso helps European start-up companiesto get crowdfunded.

Malta Enterprise is also supporting start-ups in making their first step towards suc-cess. Malta Enterprise makes available apackage of assistance, which combines re-sources and support – this package helpsnurture a new business from incubationthrough the first three years. The packageincludes start-up advisory services, indus-trial and development services, and grantsto cover costs related to investments.

A strong economy

Malta’s economy is performing well, withstrong GDP growth and low unemploy-ment. Ratings agency Standard and Poor’ssays that the outlook is positive and projectsthat the Maltese economy will expand by2.8 per cent annually in real terms until

2018. Malta’s economic growth is also out-pacing that of the eurozone – this is beingdriven by strong investment in the energysector and growth in consumption, under-pinned by moderate inflation, wage growthand increase in employment.

These positive economic factors all gen-erate a healthy context in which start-upscan thrive.

Cost of living

Malta has a great combination: it offers anexcellent quality of life and a low cost of liv-ing. Moreover, while Malta offers excellenthuman resources, wages are still relativelylow compared to other European coun-tries. This means that start-ups can getmore bang for their buck by operating inMalta – the low operating costs means thatstart-ups need less venture capital.

Digital readiness

Malta avails of a strong ICT infrastructureand readiness. The Digital Economy andSociety Index 2016 – which summarises in-dividual European countries’ digital per-formance – places Malta in 11th place,ahead of Spain, France and Italy.

Moreover, DESI 2016 puts Malta in the‘Running ahead’ category. This categoryincludes countries that perform well andthat have been developing at a pace thatallows them to distance themselves fromthe EU average.

Other

There ar helping choice. ber of e ing to experien


No start-up is an island… especially in Malta, where a strong economy, increasing support andan excellent quality of life are boosting the island’s start-up credentials.

“Start-ups can getmore bang for theirbuck by operating inMalta”

The Digital Economy and Society Index2016 places Malta in 11th place, ahead

of Spain, France and Italy.

The local start-up community is engagedin meaningful and constant conversations.

factors

re various other factors which are Malta become the start-up hub of These include an increasing num-

stablished start-ups who are will- share their knowledge and

nce, and good connections to

most major European airports. Variousstart-up conferences are being organisedlocally, while support to attend industryevents abroad is increasing.

Then there is the climate and lifestyle.With beautiful weather all year round anda great entertainment offering, start-upscan work and play to their heart’s content.


Support for start-ups is growingat an encouraging pace.


When was Bit8 launched and withwhat aims?The company was founded six yearsago in July 2010. The aim was toequip betting and gaming operatorswith the best technology platformswith which to engage their cus-tomers. We wanted to make sure itwas innovative and scalable so thatour partners knew we were at thecutting edge and could keep up withtheir ambitions. We were also keento make these platforms work hardby bringing artificial intelligencetools on board which saved costthrough automation and maximisedplayer life-time values.

We are not resting on our laurels,but we feel we have now achievedour dream of providing the mostoutstanding and reliable gamingplatform on the market.

What niche in the market did youseek to address?

We think there is a great opportu-nity to provide operators with a risk-free lottery product which will becompelling to their players. Thatproduct will include high frequencyjackpots which keep players in-volved and ensure they don’t have towait days for another draw. In fact,our intention is to offer an extremelyattractive jackpot with an appealingtwist that makes it the first of its kindanywhere in gaming. We think that

this will really shake the market upand builds upon our experience ofproviding platform solutions to on-line and land-based operators.

Bit8 is now considered to be amarket leader, both on a nationaland international level. What ele-ments have led you to achieve andretain this status?

We have always been dedicated tocombining an excellent product withmeticulous attention to detail to en-sure our customers get great service.

We have an experienced team ofconsultants who are very experi-enced in the industry – however,they are not complacent and don’trely on tried and tested ways. In-stead, we always try to stay ahead ofthe technology curve, as evidencedby our use of artificial intelligencewhich we have been using for thepast six years, earlier than any othermainstream gaming industryprovider in the world.

Operators these days are not shortof content, but it is how you deliverthat content and engage with theirplayers that makes the difference.

In what ways do you attract and re-tain human talent?

We now have a team of over 70developers, analysts, and service de-livery staff in place located in twocountries. Among them are people

who have joined us from leadingcompanies in gaming, finance, andenterprise software industries. Weattract these people and retain themby empowering them and givingthem ownership, which results inpride and job satisfaction.

In addition, we sponsor a numberof community initiatives that ouremployees feel we should support.These include Hospice Malta, theInspire Foundation, Lifecycle Bicy-cle Marathon, as well as various ITstudent organisations such as ICTSAand MCAST.

We also believe in a healthy work-life balance and encourage our em-ployees to lead a healthy life byproviding them with a sport al-lowance and by organising regularsports and social events. Our team isexpected to grow to over 100 peopleand span four countries by the endof the year as we grow at a fast pace.

What unique selling propositionsdo your solutions offer?

We offer an all-inclusive casino,sportsbook and lottery platform thatincludes functionalities such asplayer account management, eWal-let, advanced artificial intelligenceplayer segmentation, real-time ana-lytical tools, automated rules and abonus engine that works with littleneed for human interaction. This re-sults in lower promotional and

labour costs, solving a long-termissue that has plagued the gamingindustry for some time now. Manyoperators have been saddled bylegacy systems that have been cum-bersome and expensive to run. Ourmain unique selling point is that weoffer the exact opposite. We like tothink that we can provide genuineinnovation rather than talking aboutit, as some of our competitors do.

What competitive advantage doyour solutions give to your cus-tomers?

Artificial intelligence tools allowour operating partners to worksmarter, not harder. They are also farmore cost-effective than employinga large workforce to do the same job.This frees up human resources to befar more creative and productive,concentrating on acquiring and re-taining players by providing themwith the best content and customerrelationship management.

Our solutions are completelyomni-channel and provide upgradepaths for land-based operators seek-ing to go online, including both pri-vate operators and large nationaland state operators.

As well as having great products,we provide great service too. Wemake sure our employees all have acustomer-centric, can do attitude,which makes us stand out. We love

what we do and I think that is re-flected in the great relationship wehave with our customers.

What are your short- to mid-termplans?

In the last six years we’ve movedfrom being a start-up to being ahighly respected supplier in theglobal i-gaming arena. Along theway we’ve had three funding roundsand picked up a number of industryawards, and we are continuing togrow as a business in over 50 coun-tries worldwide. Our strategic al-liance with Intralot also allows us tohave a global reach.

Our plan now is to continue thegrowth and development of ourplatform solutions, while really mak-ing a splash with our new lotteryproducts. We think there is a greatopportunity to deliver an excellentonline lottery product, with excitingand high frequency jackpots, to anumber of markets around theworld. The product is the perfectcomplement to sportsbook andcasino products, and the Bit8 plat-form is the perfect combination todeliver it.

Working smarterWe provide genuine innovation, Dr Angelo Dalli, CEO of Bit8, says.

Dr AngeloDalli


What growth has Konnekt achieved in recent years?Konnekt was established in 2007, starting off asa recruitment project for a large companywhich required the efforts of a number ofskilled people. Konnekt has now become Malta’s largest re-

cruitment agency. Nine years down the line,Konnekt now employs 31 individuals, 24 ofwhom are specifically focused on recruitment,and we are looking for larger office space, thesecond time in two years. In addition to general recruitment, Kon-

nekt has built two strong specialised teamsto manage IT and i-gaming, and financeand legal recruitment solutions in 2015.This decision was driven by the increase indemand for expert selection in these sec-tors. These teams now employ more than12 individuals collectively, five of who arein IT recruitment. Over the past year, theteams have been undergoing niche train-ing by experts in the field, in areas such asinformation technology, finance, employ-ment law and relocation services, to fur-ther strengthen their knowledge andexpertise when dealing with clients fromspecific industries. Konnekt handles more than 1,200 projects

per year and has dealt with clients from a rangeof industries. Konnekt was founded with aclear set of values in mind which have un-doubtedly led to our success. These values actboth as a benchmark and motivator for all ouractions and decisions. We are relationship fo-cused, rather than sales focused and holdstrong quality benchmarks which we strive tokeep to and exceed.

What is the current market outlook for IT re-cruitment?In 2015 more than 80,000 people changed

jobs – that’s almost half of the total working pop-ulation. IT is one of the industries where de-mand largely surpasses supply. This means thatthe tables have turned and these challenging sit-uations make it paramount to ensure that com-panies have the right human resources strategyin place. Shortage is experienced Europe-wideand companies are resorting to looking evenbeyond these borders to fish out talent.Attraction, and more importantly, retention

strategies become crucial in such conditions.It is not uncommon to have a recruitment re-quest of 20 developers. Start-ups need to evi-dently ensure that they have an employmentvalue proposition that makes them attractiveand ensure that recruitment processes areshort and precise in terms of timelines.

Recruitment is vital to ensure you have theright people who will take you in the right di-rection. What strategies are important in thiscontext?To put things into perspective, in the first five

months of the year, 62 per cent of our inter-views for IT and i-gaming recruitment wereconducted with foreigners, the majority of whoare not residing in Malta. This further empha-sises the importance to nurture an inclusiveand open mentality within companies lookingfor talent and society as a whole. Malta is becoming an increasing interna-

tional hub with widespread expat communi-ties, making the move for such candidatessomewhat easier. In this respect, relocationand support packages are important.

Where possible, companies should recruitpeople who tick most of the requirement boxes.However it is important to prepare for the even-tuality that you need to recruit on potentialrather than a perfect fit to the current role.Public and private institutions need to ac-

tively work together to attract talent to Maltaand ensure that we are still competitive as a re-location option. As for the issue of supply, uni-versities need to attract more students in ICT.The current figures indicate that the numberof graduates in this sector will not satisfy the in-creasing demand. Authorities need to ensurethat certain procedures such as employmentlicences do not take months to finalise, andmake it easier to recruit. Ultimately our com-petitiveness can and will suffer. For candidates,Malta is a far better alternative when comparedto most other countries within Europe whenkeeping in mind cost of living, climate and lan-guage. We should do our utmost to use thisasset to our advantage rather than deterring in-dividuals with a complex relocation process.

Looking at candidates, what are the typical requests of an IT candidate?The typical IT candidate is more challenge,

rather than money-oriented. The shortage insupply elevates the salary bars by default,therefore candidates know that they will get agood salary without much negotiation. In thisrespect, work-life balance is becoming evermore important and candidates look for an en-vironment that promotes it. IT candidates typ-ically like having flexibility rather than toomuch structure, both in terms of hours and lo-cation, and prefer companies that promote au-tonomy and creativity.

Most importantly they are more likely tochoose a company for its innovation and tech-nology used, and opt for the one which givesthem the better growth plan, both in terms ofexpertise and employment advancements, forthe next three to four years. In fact, this is con-sidered to be the typical workplace longevityfor such candidates.

What are the tips that will help start-ups se-cure the best talent?First and foremost, start-ups need to ensure

that they have a good value proposition. Can-didates will choose companies, rather thanthe other way round. They need to make surethat their recruitment strategies are fast, sim-ple and efficient. Openness to recruit and ensuring that work

environments cater for an international workspace, is crucial. Moreover, they need to en-sure that they have a good balance of leadersand juniors. Candidates look for and actuallydecide on the basis of whether their manageror colleagues will help them to grow. Ultimately start-ups can capitalise on the ad-

vantage that they can be fast changing, dy-namic and adaptable, a quality that cannot beeasily replicated in robust, big organisations.

The potential for talent Our focus on relationships has contributed to our success, EtienneGatt, IT and i-gaming recruitment manager at Konnekt, says.

Etienne Gatt


Technology and society are evolving faster thanbusinesses can adjust. Such is the pace of innova-tion that it has become a challenge to any leader-ship – it’s an adapt or die situation. Smartphones, apps, digital media, photos and

maps, social web, video games, the cloud, dronesand robotics, nearly accurate weather forecasts:these are just a few examples of the life-changingtools made possible by the reliable, exponentiallaw of growth in the power of computer chips overthe past five decades.Gordon Moore, the Intel co-founder behind

Moore’s Law, observed in 1965 that transistorswere shrinking so fast that every year twice asmany could fit onto a chip without increasingcosts. In 1975, he adjusted the pace to doubleevery two years. Although Moore’s law was originally not ex-

pected to remain valid for long – in fact, everydecade someone comes along to claim that the lawwill soon be defunct – it is still valid today and noone really knows when it will finally end. This power of constant doubling for nearly all

digital electronics is strongly linked to Moore’s law:quality-adjusted microprocessor prices, memorycapacity, sensors and even the number and size ofpixels in digital cameras, the speed of data trans-mission and its result into an avalanche of datageneration. Eron Kelly from Microsoft predicted:“In the next five years, we’ll generate more data ashumankind than we generated in the previous5,000 years.”Following this constant doubling, 30 exponen-

tial footsteps take you not just 30 metres but 26trips around the world. According to MIT profes-sor Andrew McAfee, using 1958 as a starting pointwhere information technology was first noted bythe US BEA, we are at exponential footstep 39. Thatwould take us 13,750 times around the world – justto illustrate the staggering and exponential speedof development of this major disruptive force.

So since the 21st century we definitely arrivedat the digital age and its digital economy with avast ever and exponential growing number ofuse-cases. What we can learn from anthropologist Ian Mor-

ris’s research is that in history so far, nothing bentthe curve of human history more than the first in-dustrial revolution. For thousands of years hu-manity was on a slow upward trajectory. Progresswas almost invisible. But when steam power ar-rived in the 18th century, this was soon followedby other technology innovations such as mechan-ical engineering, chemistry, metallurgy, electricityand the combustion engine. This meant that, injust 200 years, this fast progress bent the curve ofhuman history – of population and social develop-ment – nearly vertically.According to Prof. Morris the ability to generate

massive amounts of mechanical power was so im-portant that it “made mockery of all the drama ofthe world’s earlier history.”

Economy 4.0Digital transformation is disrupting most industries, economies, jobsand lives faster than most people realise, Reinhold Karner says.

Practically everything that can bedigitised and connected will be.

ReinholdKarner

“As most analoguerevenues flatten or evendecline in many industries,businesses are shifting toa new source of growth:digital revenue”


Prof. McAfee’s lesson is clear and right:now computers and other digital ad-vances are doing for mental power whatthe steam engine and its descendants didfor muscle power.

Digital transformation is disrupting mostindustries, economies, jobs and lives fasterthan most people realise. But this is notonly about digital start-ups – it’s every in-dustry. Global digital commerce now gen-erates over €1 trillion annually. In theprivate sector nearly 25 per cent of revenuecomes from digital and in five years, this ispredicted to be more than 40 per cent.

Digital business is now growing fastacross all industries. As most analoguerevenues flatten or even decline in manyindustries, businesses are shifting to anew source of growth: digital revenuefrom digital business, including the digi-talisation of things.

Digital business blurs the digital andphysical worlds and makes it possible for avariety of industries to participate seam-lessly in the same value stream processcomposed of people, businesses andthings. This is beyond IT and the control ofany one company and creates new revenueopportunities in its wake.

Digital business will break down tradi-tional barriers between industry segments,creating completely new value chains andbusiness opportunities. It will also chal-lenge existing industry boundaries and thedominance of leading players in an indus-try, and will cause them to rethink the busi-nesses they are in.

There is another unique economic prop-erty of digital information: such informationis non-rival and has close to zero marginalcost of reproduction. This means that it isnot finite and is cheap to reproduce.

To compete in a digital world, enterprisesmust digitalise their models, in which prod-ucts, services, markets, channels andprocesses are transformed through digitaltechnologies.

Gartner Inc., the world’s leading informa-tion technology research and advisory com-pany, believes that, “Digital business is theessence of digitalisation as it disrupts exist-ing business models, even those that wereborn of the internet and e-business eras. Asthe presence of the internet-of-thingsgrows, the things’ ability to generate newtypes of real-time information and to ac-tively participate in an industry’s valuestream will also grow”.

Practically everything that can be digi-tised and connected will be. Every piece ofequipment, anything of any value willhave embedded sensors and be con-nected to the internet.

Cisco’s executive chairman and formerCEO John Chambers said that 500 billiondevices will be connected to the internet by2025. He sees a global $19-trillion internet-of-everything opportunity and sees the next

decade as a period of explosive growth, notseen since the 1990s.

This year, investments in internet-of-things hardware will exceed €2.3 millionevery minute. Within five years, one millionnew devices will come online every hour,leading to approximately 50 billion con-nected things in 2020.

Also, 3D printing and industry 4.0 willchange production and logistics. 3D print-ers will soon be able to simultaneously printmultiple materials such as plastics, calciumphosphate, graphene, conductive ink,glass, advance nickel alloys, electronics,food, bio-inks, pharmaceuticals, carbonfibre, kevlar and fibreglass.

But we should also consider that asthings will become more intelligent, theywill become independent and au-tonomous. Things that can receive infor-mation, negotiate, buy and request servicerepresent new customer opportunities forall industries. This will have a great impacton supply chain, distribution networks andexisting sales models.

That’s a lot of interconnections, creat-ing billions of new relationships, notdriven solely by data but by algorithms.The algorithmic business is already here:interconnections, relationships and algo-rithms are defining the future of business.The internet of things will be the catalystfor a new age of the algorithms. The aris-ing algorithmic economy will includebusinesses that are key for creating highlybeneficial data products.

But it’s vital to understand that the realvalue is not in big data.

“Data is inherently dumb, it doesn’t ac-tually do anything unless you know howto use it, and how to act with it,” PeterSondergaard, senior VP and head of re-search at Gartner Inc., says. “The realvalue is not in big data but in algorithmsas they define action.”

Dynamic algorithms are at the core ofnew customer interactions. In the future

algorithms – all encoded in software – willdefine the way most of our world willwork. Using a set of rules to follow in mak-ing computations – which are finally algo-rithms – is how today’s leading websitesand services work their magic. Agents andvirtual personal assistants are becomingreal: Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana,Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant arejust the early prototypes that will lead usto the post-app era.

Agents enabled by algorithms define thepost-app era. A market for algorithms willsoon emerge. By 2020 smart agents will fa-cilitate 40 per cent of interactions and con-sumers will rely on virtual assistants –algorithms in the cloud – they trust.

The furious pace of technological adop-tion and innovation is shortening the lifecycle of companies and forcing executivesto make decisions and commit resourcesmuch more quickly. Leaders – in busi-ness, politics and society – should adjustto a new reality.

I could go on and on about the disruptiveforce of digital transformation and the im-plications of autonomous cars, digitalhealthcare, and the next phase of mobility.But there’s a very important issue that de-serves attention: robots, drones, smart ma-chines, and artificial intelligence.

Faster and faster we’ll see an emergingsuper-class of technologies. As long asthese technologies are supporting us in afruitful way we should be fine. But as weenter in a conflict of interest zone betweenus humans and these technologies andmachines, we should think twice, decideand regulate it in a wise way forward. Wemust do this soon. And we need to get thisright because if we fail, we might not get asecond chance.

■ Reinhold Karner is a global success advisorand mentor for entrepreneurs. He is also achair and fellow of Think Tanks and The RSALondon.

“Digital business will break downtraditional barriersbetween industrysegments, creatingcompletely new valuechains and businessopportunities”


What do you do differently at theMita Innovation Hub? We’re an early stage incubator thatoffers aspiring start-up foundersthe opportunity to validate and testtheir business idea, specialise in aniche area, and then go on to trans-form it into a deployable product orservice.

Our emphasis is on early stagebecause we want to focus on thecreation of credible teams.

These can gain an amazing levelof confidence once they actuallycreate their own first product, evenif it still does not have a market, or possibly only one customer –government.

In fact, we started off with thenotion of defining a problem – orcustomer pain point – for the teamswhich they then have to solvethrough apps. The Park Majjistral,Tarxien temples and very soon anurban development planning appare all firsts for Malta.

Through their products andMita’s endorsement, these start-ups can showcase themselves anduse their newly acquired talent toideate further and hopefully de-velop a better product, gain a sec-ond and then a third customer.

Of course, it’s very tough to pro-ductise and go global, but we hopethat with our work we are comple-

menting the good work that isbeing done by other incubatorssuch as Takeoff and Microsoft In-novation Centre, which are proba-bly better equipped to helpstart-ups with more polished andglobally viable products.

Why has Mita engaged in thisnew initiative which seems to differsubstantially from its core businessof delivering ICT projects and serv-ices to the public sector?

A 2012 European Commissionentrepreneurship survey revealedthat we Maltese have a fear of per-sonal failure when starting a busi-ness that is twice the average for EUcitizens. I’m not saying that we arenot entrepreneurial, but we proba-bly come from a traditional brick-and-mortar entrepreneurial culture.

Digital technologies have nowopened a world of opportunities thatdo not require a huge investment tostart off and test a digitally-enabledidea on the market. ICT is now pow-ering everything. In Malta it con-tributes five per cent to GDP whenyou consider only statistics aboutICT enterprises – in reality there ismuch more than that when youconsider that digital technologiesdrive huge contributors to nationalGDP such as i-gaming, financialservices, tourism and maritime.

As Malta’s agency responsible forICT, we think it is our duty to sup-port public policy and encouragestudents and aspiring tech entre-preneurs to give digital entrepre-neurship a try. It will also servethem well even if they fail in theirventure - it is only by failing that youcan learn to do it better next time.

The MITA Innovation Hub seemsto be a less high profile incubator inthe local scene. Is this by intent?

True, you hear less about our In-novation Hub than you do aboutTakeoff or the Microsoft Innova-tion Centre. There are various rea-sons for that. We are a smallincubator with only one full-timerrunning it. That’s because MITA isinvolved in so many fronts, thatyou hear more about all the manyother things MITA does, than theInnovation Hub. In reality since westarted launching our calls for start-ups, in just over one year we’ve re-ceived nearly 40 applications, outof which we chose only the bestseven or eight start-ups.

As a government agency – and allgovernment organisations world-wide are risk-averse as they have tobe careful how they use taxpayers’money – we tend to be a bit frugal.This could explain why we empha-sise feasibility of the solution with

respect to business viability. In facttill now, most business ideas werechannelled towards solving a de-fined problem for a government orinstitutional customer.

But we have already startedchanging that. In the last startAPP2.0 challenge we asked the start-ups to define the problem that theywant to solve for their identifiedcustomer segment as long as theyuse satellite data provided by theEuropean Space Agency.

In our next accelerator call, soondue, we will fund up to three start-ups proposing any digitally-en-abled business idea as long as theycan demonstrate it is viable.

What are your future plans?Our plan is to embark on an ac-

celerator programme that will fundup to 45 start-ups in the comingfive years. That’s nearly €1 millionas we will make available a pre-seed investment of €22,000 to eachstart-up with the best idea. We planto organise two yearly intakes ofstart-ups that will go through a fasttrack accelerator programme.

This will start with ideation anddesign thinking sessions, and thencontinue beyond selection andpitching with an intensive design-and-build phase during which thestart-ups will have to deploy their

prototype and test it in the Maltesemarket, before attempting the nextbig leap globally.

What will you focus on?As we have done quite experi-

mentally in the past year, the callsor requests for start-ups will prob-ably be thematic identifying a par-ticular challenge as we did with thesatellite data. We might also try todirect interest to particular areaswhich could be relevant to Malta.These could be verticals such asfintech or health, as well as morehorizontal areas such as aug-mented reality, big data and inter-net-of-things. But it’s probably tooearly to determine at this stage. Inour next call, we will once again beasking for ideas to develop interac-tive digital learning tools. There willalways be a place for themes tosupport national ICT policy.

We also plan to widen our men-tor network and create linkageswith world renowned accelerators,and hopefully explore better fund-ing opportunities. Currently we area zero-equity accelerator, buteventually things may change.

Encouraging entrepreneurship It is our duty to support public policy and encourage studentsand aspiring entrepreneurs to give digital entrepreneurship a try,Alex Borg, manager of the Mita Innovation Hub, says.

AlexBorg


What elements have contributed tothe increasing popularity ofEdTech?EdTech is playing a crucial role inthe technology-driven future ofeducation. In 21st century educa-tion, technology enhances learn-ing, pedagogy and instruction andcan be leveraged to promotegreater cross-cultural engagementand understanding not just in atypical educational setting butalso in an enterprise’s learning en-vironment.

Educational entities and enter-prises are ready to make the digi-tal shift happen and we’re proudto be the EdTech players drivingthis change.

When was TheStudentCampuslaunched and with what aims?

TheStudentCampus was officiallylaunched in 2013 at Collide Confer-ence in Las Vegas. Following thesuccess of our first two companies,TheStudentCampus co-foundersbrought together our passion for ed-ucation, our combined decade ofbusiness experience and our team’stechnical abilities to design and de-velop a powerful combination oflearning management and virtuallearning tools rolled up in one ver-satile, intuitive and dynamic learn-ing solution.

What niche in the market isTheStudentCampus designed toaddress?

TheStudentCampus is the per-fect learning solution for both ac-ademic and corporate clients.While in the academic modelthere is a particular focus on pri-mary, secondary and tertiaryyears, the corporate model vastlyincorporates enterprises in a vari-ety of industries and businesseslooking to engage and invest intheir employees.

TheStudentCampus is for anyschool or business which is look-ing to take full advantage of tech-nology to enhance learningexperiences. It is renowned for itsoutstanding UI/UX and its stellarsupport which includes featurewalkthroughs, in-app intelligenthelp backed by a content-richhelp centre, and a world-classsupport team.

In what ways did you attractfunding?

We were proud to confirm €1.25million series A funding in lessthan three months. We wereaware that due to the high risk inemerging ventures, venture capi-talists can be very picky so wemade sure that we pitched onlywhen the solution was ready toimpress. Our venture capitalistswere looking for deep domain ex-pertise, that is, a team made up oftalented industry professionalswho have in-depth knowledge ofa key industry and managementwho have insight, drive and cantake the brand to incredible newheights.

Businesses are increasingly ac-knowledging the importance ofcontinuous learning. How doesTheStudentCampus help busi-nesses invest in the growth of theiremployees?

In order to stay competitive,companies need to be learning or-ganisations, develop a culture oflearning and invest in their futureby empowering their employees.

Employee engagement is cru-cial. TheStudentCampus inspiresbusiness leaders to continue todevelop their employees’ skills,show the importance of collabo-rative learning spaces, discuss thepotential of empowering employ-ees through learning, and assist in

the development of effectivelearning strategies.

Thanks to our all-in-one hybridlearning solution, employees getto continue their learning journey,anywhere, anytime on any devicethey like, while management getsto keep a bird’s eye view of all thatis happening regarding trainingand development within their or-ganisation.

Particularly, TheStudentCam-pus’ reporting product is ex-tremely popular with enterprisesof all sizes as it gives assignedmanagers the opportunity to eval-uate, monitor, track and under-stand the strengths, weaknessesand potential merits of each andevery individual within their de-partment or company. Anyone inthe corporate world will find thatTheStudentCampus is an out-standing technology which pres-ents an endless list of tools andproducts which they can pick andchoose from according to theirobjectives.

Can schools also benefit fromyour learning environment?

TheStudentCampus is takinglearning to a new level and is in-spiring enriching learning experi-ences all over the world.

Millennials expect technologyin the classroom so schools needto be future ready and rethinklearning spaces, optimise learningenvironments and prepare stu-dents for the real world.

Thanks to TheStudentCampus,educators can now design cus-tomised lesson courseware, planand implement online tests andinstil in students a joy for learningthrough gamified content whileselected administration membersmay complete tasks such as themanagement of users, classes,schedules, events and communi-cation through an intuitive userinterface. The school manage-ment team can track studentprogress, evaluate learning expe-riences, foresee any future prob-lems and reward students fortheir effort.

The list of opportunities is infi-nite. Above all, TheStudentCam-pus inspires and brings togethereducators, schools, policymakersand guardians, encouragingthem to collaborate, motivateand mentor tomorrow’s leaders,today’s students.

What are your short- to mid-term plans?

Our 2016 world tour has takenus to all corners of the globe.We’ve been invited to participatein a number of prestigious inter-national conferences and exposto present how technology hasthe power to enhance learningexperiences. We’re in the finalstages of finalising our first inter-national resellers and while asanticipated, the internationalexposure and momentum forTheStudentCampus continues

to increase rapidly, we’ve alsocarved out time to present oursolution to the local academicand corporate arena and havesecured a number of prestigiousentities to the ever-growing listof brands.

The demand for innovationand rapid delivery means enter-prises want agility, are looking tobecome more efficient and cutcosts – this is what TheStudent-Campus confidently delivers. E-learning is definitely the risingstar and when integrated withthe rest of our learning solution,will offer exciting new opportu-nities to content creators whowill have the opportunity to taketheir entrepreneurial spirit to thenext level and share knowledge-based on their own personal vi-sion of what learning should belike, be it gamified content,recorded or live sessions. Thanksto our incredible team, e-learn-ing is sure to turn heads in a bigway and TheStudentCampus willcontinue to dominate theEdTech arena.

We do need this educationTechnology helps you on yourlearning journey, anywhere,anytime, TheStudentCampus co-founders say.

From left: James Abela, chief business development officer, Matthew Sammut, chief sales officer, Nikolai Sammut, chief product officer and Vince Ciantar, chief technical officer.

Educational entities and busi-nesses are invited to send an e-mailto [email protected] call TheStudentCampus SalesTeam on 2787 2872 to schedule apersonalised demo. For more in-formation visit www.thestudent-campus.com and TheStudentCampus social media channels.

During the period 2014-2020, Malta willbe benefitting from just over €1 billion ofEU funding. This will be one of the mostimportant injections of investment inMalta since Independence and is ex-pected to leave a significant positive im-pact on the country. Major investment isexpected to take place in key areas suchas the environment, transport infrastruc-ture, education and the competitivenessof the private sector.

Through its Malta office, GrantThornton Malta provides a wide rangeof EU advisory services. Our expertisedates back to Malta’s accession periodto the EU and broadened post acces-sion. Along the years we have providedspecialist tailored services to a varietyof private and public clients on EU re-

lated assignments ranging from thedrafting of EU funding programmes,evaluation, EU project applications andproject management.

Our services have also catered for keyEuropean institutions, such as the Euro-pean Commission and the European Par-liament. More specifically, GrantThornton experts have contributed di-rectly towards the drafting of the EU pro-grammes for the Structural andInvestment Funds (2014-2020). Further-more, Grant Thornton Malta is activelyengaged with Grant Thornton Interna-tional to develop EU services Europe wide.

The recently launched 2014-2020 Op-erational Programme foresees invest-ment support towards businesses withspecial focus directed towards SMEs, in-

cluding the setting up of new busi-nesses, whereby financial incentivespromoting entrepreneurship as well asfinancial instruments and other finan-cial incentives to consolidate and pro-mote growth are envisaged.

Through our pro-active team of expertsusing insights, experience and instinct tounderstand complex issues we will pro-vide you with on-the-ground support tobenefit from EU funding opportunitiesarising from the various programmes. Wehave a very strong track record which ismainly attributed to the knowledge of theregulations and specific funding pro-grammes requirements.

Our strength lies in helping our clientsturn project ideas into eligible EU fundedproject proposals and in turn support

them in materialising the developed proj-ect ideas on the ground. Grant Thorntoncan also assist with putting in place thenecessary project management and mon-itoring systems that such projects entail.

This is a unique opportunity for ourSMEs to take advantage of one of themain benefits of EU Membership. Formore information, contact Grant Thorn-ton’s EU advisory team on 2132 0134 or e-mail [email protected].

A unique opportunity€50 million of EU grants are now available to Maltese businesses,Stefano Mallia, Grant Thornton partner, business and EU advisory, says.

Stefano Mallia


Whoever said getting to your destinationshouldn’t be as enjoyable as being there?There’s no reason the journey can’t be halfthe fun.

Guest experience is a priority for MaltaInternational Airport, which is partly why itconsistently ranks among the best airportsin Europe and the La Valette Club is a per-fect example of the focus MIA has placed onthe traveller’s journey.

This membership programme is particu-larly suited to frequent travellers who wantto enjoy the most comfortable airport expe-rience.

After the check-in process, members canspeed through the dedicated fast-lane at se-curity. La Valette Club members are givena warm welcome at the La Valette Loungeat Departures, which is equipped with allthe pre-flight necessities and luxuries: freelyflowing snacks and drinks, Wi-Fi access,newspapers, and the perfect seating to sinkin and relax. The lounge also has comput-ers and printers at the ready for that last-minute printout.

When flying into Malta InternationalAirport, members can enjoy another LaValette Lounge experience on the Ar-rivals side, enjoying some peacefulness

while waiting for baggage to be deliveredfrom the aircraft.

Club members also get access to freeparking, complimentary left luggage anddiscounts on outlets around the airport andcar hire.

Meanwhile, members can easily invitenon-member guests to use the La ValetteLounge at a reduced fee, for both one-timetravellers and long-term companions, evenwhen they are not traveling with a member.Bookings are available 24-7.

Special La Valette Club services also ex-tend to meet and greet, chauffeur drive, andporterage service.

VIP terminalFor the ultimate in travel luxury, guests canmake use of the VIP terminal, which offersa private luxury experience. Situated just offthe main aircraft parking area, the VIP terminal gives its clientele the quickest ac-cess to their flights. All standard travellingprocedures can be processed through thecomfort of the VIP terminal, without theneed to queue or wait, allowing passengersto relax and enjoy the privacy of their exclu-sive lounge.

Did you know?

Malta International Airport is alsoequipped with a conference room whichcan seat up to 80 guests, making it an excel-lent destination for events such as largemeetings or press conferences, especiallywhen delegates are flying in from overseas.

The flexible space allows it to be dividedinto smaller soundproofed rooms that canaccommodate 20 to 45 delegates. La ValetteClub members can also benefit from pref-erential rates to use these premises.

For more information visit www.lavalette-club.com.

Sophisticated travel Enjoy your journey withLa Valette Club

Fourteen years are not a lot. But in ITterms, 14 years is history. And Microsofthas a long history when it comes to start-ups. It was in fact in 2002, that Microsoftstarted opening its first Microsoft Innova-tion Centres to deliver world-class re-sources to students who wanted tobecome entrepreneurs and give life totheir start-ups.

Today, 100 Microsoft Innovation Cen-tres are present in over 33 countriesaround the world including Malta, serv-ing as local hubs that provide resourcesand support for students and entrepre-neurs, helping to accelerate the creationof new companies, jobs, and growth ofthe local ecosystem.

“We value the innovation and disrup-tive thinking start-ups bring to our sec-tor immensely because they enable usto monitor trends and technologies ona global scale,” Edward Portelli, whoheads Microsoft’s Innovation Centre inMalta, says. “In turn, all these effortsbring business to us, enabling us toserve our current customers and part-ners better as well as to acquire newcustomers and users for our platformand services.”

The MIC project was further augmentedin 2008 with the launch of the MicrosoftBizSpark programme to provide entrepre-neurs with free software, support, and vis-ibility to help start-ups succeed.

“As a Bizspark+ Partner, the MicrosoftInnovation Centre is greatly positioned toissue cloud grants to local start-ups.

“In Malta, in fact, Microsoft operates itsBizSpark project from the MIC where wework with Maltese software start-ups toassist them in the use of innovative tech-

nology solutions to develop their busi-ness,” Mr Portelli added.

Over 100,000 start-ups and 1,500 part-ners from more than 100 countries havebenefited from Microsoft’s YouthSparkand BizSpark programmes since 2008. InMalta the MIC has granted over €1.5 mil-lion worth of cloud services through theMicrosoft Innovation Centre.

“Malta’s Microsoft Innovation Centre hasbeen achieving very positive results. In justthree years, it has been an incubator forover 80 start-ups. More importantly, we arealso aware that local start-ups are exploitingcloud technology more than similar start-ups in other countries. In fact, over 10 percent of start-up cloud consumption acrossMicrosoft’s CEE Multicountry Region is byMaltese start-ups,” Mr Portelli adds.

“Entrepreneurship is an increasinglyglobal phenomenon. To date, Microsoftcalculates there could be around 400million entrepreneurs worldwide. Theseprovide groundbreaking research, newideas and trigger the emergence of newstart-ups. Increasing access to fundingand ubiquitous technology have low-ered the barriers of turning a great ideainto a business.”

This is the rationale behind Microsoft’slatest drive when in 2012, Microsoftopened its first Start-up Accelerator in Is-rael with the intention of empowering en-trepreneurs and supporting products suchas Azure and XBOX. Since then, the pro-gramme has grown to host seven MicrosoftAccelerators in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin,London, Paris, Seattle and Tel-Aviv.

Didem Un Ates, Global Partnerships Di-rector for Microsoft’s Accelerator Pro-gramme is currently visiting Malta as partof Microsoft’s participation in Zest, a two-day digital business event being organisedby the Malta Communications Authorityin collaboration with Takeoff.

“Malta’s MIC is linked to the LondonAccelerator Programme. Of course, thisdoes not mean that every start-up hostedat the MIC becomes eligible to participatein the Accelerator Programme but beinglinked to the London Programme meansthat we can get access to contacts and totheir bigger ecosystem. Didem’s presencein Malta to address the ZEST conferencestrengthens the relationship between theMalta MIC and Microsoft’s London accel-erator,” Mr Portelli says.

In what tangible ways does Microsoftsupport start-ups?

“We help start-ups grow their busi-nesses and see them mature into enter-prise-ready companies by scaling everyaspect of their business – from coaching,team culture development and recruitingtalent to creating distribution channelswith global Fortune 500s, learning how towork with big corporates and developingnew markets.

“We also provide support for marketing,finance and tech management and offer avariety of technologies and services likecloud computing, developer tools, soft-ware and open source technologies tosupport the start-up’s growth process. Forstart-ups that are members of select accel-erators and incubators around the world,Microsoft also offers up to $120,000 a yearof Azure cloud services through BizSparkPlus,” Mr Portelli concludes.

Malta’s Microsoft Innovation Centrelinked to London accelerator programme

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