Smartcity Malta to host Startup Weekend Next Programme
Further to the success of the Startup Weekend at its premises earlier this year, SmartCity Malta will now be hosting a follow-up training and coaching programme over the period 12 October – 16 November.
The not-for-profit Startup Weekend event held last June entailed a weekend-long, hands-on, fun experience where current and aspiring entrepreneurs had the opportunity to find out if their business ideas were viable, while getting the full startup experience themselves. A jury assessed a number of pitched business ideas, with the top 3 being Crwd Gift, Dash Thru and Sahha.
Next is now intended to help these teams and other budding entrepreneurs become better prepared to build successful startups by providing experiential and action-oriented entrepreneurial education. One of the specific objectives of the Next programme is to get the teams ready to pitch for seed capital.
To this end, a Berlin Roadshow for the teams proving ready to meet the equity providers will follow the programme. This is planned to take place during the week of 18-24 November when the Global Entrepreneurship Week will be celebrated and Berlin would be packed with startup related events, meet-ups and hackatons.
Next is a five-week “pre-accelerator” programme designed for early startups, rooted in Steve Blank’s Customer Development methodology and driven by mentors and unique video content from successful startup founders.
The programme will teach local entrepreneurs how to challenge their business assumptions, understand customers, and validate products. Attending a Next programme can therefore help founders raise their Entrepreneur- ial Quotient and increase their opportunity for success with their startup.
Speaking about Next, the CEO of SmartCity Malta, Anthony Tabone said: “Our vision at SmartCity Malta is to provide as much support as possible to startup ideas and see them flourish. This is why we are happy to have hosted Startup Weekend last June and why we are honoured to be partnering up once again with the Startup Weekend community to help organise Next. The programme will no doubt be another successful event where startup teams will learn how exactly to develop their business ideas thanks to excellent entrepreneurial education.”
The Maltese edition of Next is open to all interested startup teams, both those who formed during the June Startup Weekend and new ones. Next is designed for companies in the first phase of conducting customer discovery, which is testing a problem and assessing its importance. Through the collaboration with SmartCity Malta, this programme will be one of 21 worldwide editions this autumn, among the ones like Silicon Valley, Melbourne or London.
If you are looking for an opportunity to come out more prepared to speak about your company, to deal with critical feedback and to answer the tough questions from potential employees, partners and investors, give Next a try.
All in all, you’ll be more prepared to succeed and that’s what Next is about: “Getting you ready for whatever’s Next.” Are you up for the challenge? Learn more at http://www.swnext.co/events/ malta-next and join Dash Thru and Sahha who already enrolled!
Dash Thru is a solution, which provides automated locker systems in strategic places for fast and convenient drop-offs of your items. It is an integrated, locker rental system, which provides rental management, a versatile payment system, security and convenience.
Sahha is an up-and-coming multinational startup with the main focus of reimagining healthcare and taking it into the new age of mobile technology. Its mobile app, Tabib, aims to connect healthcare professionals working in different environments and on multiple devices by using push-notification technology and other smart technologies to help healthcare professionals to work effectively and with less interruptions.