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Foundation for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Initiatives
Founded by the Malta Business Bureau and the University of Malta, the Foundation for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Initiatives has continued helping Malta’s entrepreneurs not only to survive the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to thrive, both locally and internationally.
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Established through a collaboration between the Malta Business Bureau and the University of Malta, the Foundation for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Initiatives (FPEI) serves to promote and support all forms of entrepreneurship, from high tech or high growth ventures to social enterprises. By working with local and international partners, the FPEI establishes new initiatives and provides the tools and resources needed to sustain local entrepreneurs in their business journey.
ZAAR
As the Foundation’s first offering, Malta’s reward-based crowdfunding platform ZAAR has once again exceeded all expectations throughout the past months. Beyond offering a vital means of financial support to local start-ups and SMEs as they tackled the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, ZAAR implemented various measures to support their campaigns throughout the difficult time. By making alternative finance more accessible to the local community, ZAAR’s growing popularity culminated in 2020 with 26 projects being published onto the platform from over 140 project leads, raising a total figure of more than €80,000.
Compared to an average success rate of around 53 per cent by similar reward-based crowdfunding platforms abroad, ZAAR registered an 82 per cent funding success rate in 2020 – an achievement made more impressive by being recorded in a year synonymous with the hardships of the pandemic.
While increasing promotion of its campaigns through boosting marketing initiatives, social media and newsletters, ZAAR also organised various crowdfunding workshops and ZAAR Clinics whereby individuals could learn more about crowdfunding and share ideas. Also in 2020, the ZAAR team shared their insights at the Women Mean Business conference as part of the Malta SME Week, and mentored young entrepreneurs as part of the Company Programme at JAYE Malta Foundation. ZAAR also represented Malta as Country Patron at the EU Commission’s Fintech and Alternative Finance workshop, and formed part of a European Crowdfunding Network (ECN) working group on crowdfunding and blockchain. Meanwhile, ZAAR was approved to participate in two projects following a successful application process. The first, a local project with Arts Council Malta, entails ZAAR implementing various activities to instil a more entrepreneurial mindset in participants from the creative and cultural sectors. As a longstanding gold member of the European Crowdfunding Network, ZAAR will also contribute to a second, ECN-led project by raising awareness and offering training regarding crowdfunding among disadvantaged groups in the community.
In 2020, ZAAR also continued work begun the year before to set up the ZAAR Investor Club. Following a survey carried out by the FPEI in 2019 to garner the local investor appetite for other types of crowdfunding, preparations to establish a club that seeks to educate and raise awareness about investing in start-ups began.
While ZAAR was established to address the financial barriers to entrepreneurship through offering an alternative means of finding finance, the FPEI continues to offer holistic support to local entrepreneurs via other initiatives.
2020 saw the conclusion of a second initiative by the FPEI as part of a project funded by the Erasmus+ programme together with five European partners, named The Three Questions Model of Developing Social Entrepreneurs (T3QM).
Launched in 2019 with new or would-be entrepreneurs in mind, this online tool aims to help them transform an idea into a sustainable and profitable business enterprise by asking them three key questions: what they are selling, who is in their target consumer base, and what is the proposed price of their product.
While developing both soft and hard social entrepreneurial skills, this innovative methodology has also been proven to create jobs. The T3QM project additionally offers useful materials for adult educators or mentors, to enable them to offer high-quality business coaching to start-up founders.
Creating Opportunities for Adult Learners
Another EU project named Creating Opportunities for Adult Learners (CORAL), likewise continued for FPEI and ZAAR throughout 2020.
Launched in 2019 and funded by the EU together with another eight European partners from the adult education arena, this project aims to develop various training tools based on the key skills and competencies of self-employed entrepreneurs, to assist adults considering self-employment or embarking on entrepreneurship.
2020 marked the successful completion of the research phase by ZAAR and the FPEI, which jointly deal with five of the 15 training materials for the EU Commission’s Entrecomp Entrepreneurial Competency framework. Meanwhile, work started on the implementation of the self-assessment tool for young or new entrepreneurs to test their existing skills and knowledge.
Through the tireless efforts of the FPEI and ZAAR in Malta, local entrepreneurs of all levels and experience can access the guidance, training or funding required to help them launch an impactful business enterprise, sustaining Malta’s economy both today and for many years to come.
More information about the FPEI can be found online at www.fpei.mt
