Malta Enterprise to host Startup festival in October

The third edition of Malta Enterprise’s Startup Festival will be held between 5 and 6 October 2023.

Minister for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise Miriam Dalli announced the festival dates while addressing more than 200 startups and investors during the Spring Meetup, which was held this week as part of the preparations for this same event.

Following the success of the first two editions, the Startup Festival has established itself as one of the most popular events for entrepreneurs and innovators, as they come together to share knowledge and experiences with different startups. The festival attracts hundreds of local and foreign startups, varying from FinTech (including KYC/AML solutions), digital games, VR/AR, Metaverse, medical cannabis, BioTech, MedTech, and the blue economy.

This year’s event will be held at a larger venue, and the MFCC Ta’ Qali was selected. Malta Enterprise will be setting up a bigger Deal Room area, giving startups more space to have meetings and connect with investors. For this year’s Festival, Malta Enterprise will be launching a new podcast, entitled Business Matters, and featuring interviews with local personalities, business updates, startup advice, as well as collaborations with other entities.

For the first time ever, the Startup Festival will feature Pitch Black, a new pitching competition. Startups can pitch their proposals before investors and compete for a prize package to turn their ideas into a successful venture.

Minister Dalli said that year after year, the Startup Festival gets bigger and better. She outlined that Malta is always open for business, and is always on the lookout for innovative and forward-looking startups. Through different initiatives, startups are being attracted, while existing businesses are being assisted so they can grow and become more efficient and sustainable.

“We want entrepreneurs to make Malta their home and when they succeed, we invite them to help us encourage others to follow in their footsteps. Let’s consolidate this promising startup ecosystem,” said Miriam Dalli.

“The players within the startup ecosystem are crucial to driving sustainable economic development. Our focus is on attracting innovative businesses that may be relatively small in employment but generate above-average jobs in Malta. The average wage generated by the start-ups we support exceeds €40,000, exemplifying our strategy driven by quality over quantity. This approach aligns with our long-term vision to drive economic development rather than simply economic growth,” highlighted Malta Enterprise CEO Kurt Farrugia.