Be the first to comment!Another €100,000 in seed funding allocated for start-ups
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The Ministry for The Economy, Investment and Small Business (MEIB), and the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation (CEBI) of the University of Malta TAKEOFF, have launched the 2015 TAKEOFF Seed Fund Award (TOSFA) at the TAKEOFF Business Incubator.
Through the award, the sum of €100,000 in seed funding will be allocated to groups of innovators and entrepreneurs. This will help them move their promising ideas forward toward commercialisation and creation of high-growth businesses in Malta.
The announcement was made at a ceremony on Thursday attended by Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, Christian Cardona, the University of Malta Rector, Professor Juanito Camilleri, and Director of CEBI, Dr Ing. Saviour Zammit.
The 2015 edition of TOSFA follows the successful launch of the award last year, during which thirty applications were received and twelve shortlisted teams pitched their ideas to the TOSFA Adjudication Committee.
Nine teams received funding ranging from €5,000 to €18,000. Previous winners, InboundMuse, went on to raise another €20,000 through the MCA TAKEOFF Award and will be launching their first product in the coming months.
DiscountIf, who also received funds through last year’s round, have raised almost €300,000 in investment and have reached revenue stage, offering their product in the UK. Mighty Box Ltd, another TOSFA recipient, has raised over $350,000 in crowdfunding to date.
The TAKEOFF Seed Fund Award 2015 will fund two types of initiatives. University of Malta academic staff may apply for ‘proof of concept’ funds which will enable a step-change in taking an innovation developed through research at the University closer to being commercialised, whereas entrepreneurs may apply for ‘seed funding’ which will enable a step-change in taking their independent technology or knowledge-based start-up closer to the first customer or investment.
Award winners will work closely with the University Knowledge Transfer Office and the TAKEOFF team to advance their technology commercialisation and start-up business development plans.
The deadline for Written Applications Submission is Thursday, May 28 at 12:00 noon, while further details of the timeline for this year’s award and more information on TAKEOFF may be found at www.takeoff.org.mt.
