Minister Cardona launches the ‘Start-Up Malta Foundation’

Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses Chris Cardona launched the “Start-Up Malta Foundation” (SUM) during a press conference, to establish a better and more efficient support system for young and maturing startups, according to a press release by the government’s Department of Information (DOI).

The SUM foundation is a public organisation and is to be run by a board of administrators, where the Maltese government will be represented by Malta Investment Management Company Limited (MIMCOL) as a creator of the foundation.

In order to position Malta as an ideal location for the creation of startups, entrepreneurship and innovative ideas, the SUM foundation will be a major policy driver in the implementation of the national start-up strategy, the government expects.

“Malta’s economy has changed and will continue to change thanks to our hard-working entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs create jobs, contribute significantly to economic growth and boost innovation. Fostering entrepreneurship must become a visible part of the government’s economic policy,” said Mr Cardona.

The main objectives of the foundation will be to promote, research and analyse startups, and invest in the creation of an entrepreneurial culture. The foundation will advise the government through feedback and information gathered from the general public and from stakeholders, in order to improve and promote Malta’s entrepreneurial journey through various stages. Starting from awareness, all the way to ideation, enterprise initiation and development, international networking and growth.

“We are confident that this will allow for sounder policy-making and improve Malta’s standing as an attractive place to set-up and grow a business,” Mr Cardona said.

Although the startup ecosystem in Malta is in its infancy, the foundation will propel its development putting strategic efforts in areas which can effectively yield to the creation of more start-ups, and tackle known challenges such as the lack of venture-capital culture and access to finance, as the DOI press statement says.

“Fundamentally, the SUM Foundation will be a learning organisation that supports innovative entrepreneurship and the community behind it. We believe that enormous potential still lies locked and undeveloped in our economy,” added Mr Cardona. “We know that entrepreneurs must lead the start-up community.”