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Jun 7 2013 Register

SmartCity Malta: map is here: http://bit.ly/KTHWDz

Ever wondered what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

The professional and personal challenges, the high and lows, the failures and the success?

Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs with over 400 past events in 100 countries around the world in 2011.

The non-profit organization is headquartered in Seattle, Washington but Startup Weekend organizers and facilitators can be found in over 200 cities around the world. From Mongolia to South Africa to London to Brazil, people around the globe are coming together for weekend long workshops to pitch ideas, form teams, and start companies.

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

Whether entrepreneurs found companies, find a cofounder, meet someone new, or learn a skill far outside their usual 9-to-5, everyone is guaranteed to leave the event better prepared to navigate the chaotic but fun world of startups. If you want to put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur, register now for the best weekend of your life!

THIS IS A *NOT FOR PROFIT* EVENT ✠ ALL FUNDS GO FOR THE BENEFIT OF PARTICIPANTS AT THE EVENT!
SUN SEA SAND SURF and STARTUPS – thats they way we roll with #swMalta
Startup Weekend is a 501c(3) Non-Profit Charity.

Startup Weekend comes to the island of Malta

Startup Weekend comes to the Mediterranean island of Malta

Now is your chance to get involved: we are connecting with sponsors here.
What is Startup Weekend?

A Not For Profit event. A Startup Weekend is a weekend-long, hands-on fun experience where entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs can find out if startup ideas are viable and get the full startup experience themselves. Around half of Startup Weekend’s attendees have technical backgrounds, the other half have business backgrounds. On Sunday evening they meet the judges and selected investors with their ideas.

What do I do?

Bring an idea, bring some skills, meet some new people, get support from great mentors, get free food and free drink for a whole weekend and then go on to build some cool new businesses.

What is Malta Startup Weekend?

Its an experience you’ll never forget. From Friday to Sunday techies, marketers & entrepreneurs Work in a newly formed team to convert an idea into an operating viable business.

Who should attend?

Anyone who ❤ the process of creating a new product or service and turning it into a business OR wants to learn how to do that. Attendees include business development, programmers, marketers, designers, lawyers, team builders, entrepreneurs and writers. We will offer a small number of special discount Early Bird tickets. But once they are gone, they are gone go good and the tickets are back up to FULL price so please please please… did we say please… get your tickets early.

Why should I attend?

Are you kidding? What is your idea, if you dont try it out. So the BIG reason to attend is to TRY out your ideas for real and stop wasting valuable time pondering them. Also another reason is to become inspired, to forge a whole series of lasting friendships, to seek out and find your co-founders & employees, to learn some new tools & methodologies, to practice some new skills and to experience that unique sense of accomplishment when you build a working team around your idea. Oh yes and to have some fun too. Why not?

What can I expect?
Attendees meet Friday at 6:30p and start the startup weekend format. After a dinner and some swift inspiring presentations, you’ll go through six steps to build a new business by Sunday at 5pm:
1.Propose Your Idea
2.Build Your Team
3.Create Your Business Model
4.Connect with Customers
5.Build Your Product
6.Present Your Startup

How do I sign up?

Register on our Eventbrite sign up page here NOW.
If you fit multiple categories, pick your strongest for now. You will not be restricted to this role during the weekend. If you don’t know which to pick, select Non-Technical for now.

How can I help?

You or your company can help to sponsor the event here
Also you can Help to promote Malta Startup Weekend to your friends and others.
Check out our Twitter page to help to promote the event.

Where can I find out more information?

If you have other questions, check out the Startup Weekend FAQ or check out the blog articles and information about our Startup Weekend.

Now the event can be enjoyed in Malta. Register here NOW.

The event will take place in SmartCity Malta. SmartCity Malta is a 360k square metre media city on the models of Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City.

Schedule

Friday

Jun 7

6:00pm Registration Starts
6:15pm Coffee Tea and Networking
6:30pm Welcome & Speakers
7:00pm Pitches Start
7:30pm Attendees vote for the top ideas
8:30pm 10 top ideas announced
8:45pm Teams start forming and discussing ideas
9:00pm Start to formalize teams and take an inventory of skills. Be honest, and direct about what resources and skills are needed for the weekend. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow

Saturday

Jun 8

9:00am Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
9:30am Teams formed and setting up workspace for the weekend
12:00pm Lunch
1:00pm Mentors start arriving (short presentation of the mentors may take place)
1:30pm Mentors help teams one-on-one. They are here to help!
3:00pm Afternoon coffee
6:00pm Dinner
7:30pm Mid weekend check-in, status reports, call for help
10:00pm Finished for the day. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow

Sunday

Jun 9

9:00am Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
11:00am Mentors start arriving
11:15am Call for help (this is self motivated, so don’t be shy)
12:00pm Lunch
3:00pm Gut check. Start prepping for presentations
4:30pm Dinner
5:30pm FINAL PRESENTATIONS
7:00pm Judging
7:30pm Awards
8:00pm Wrapup
9:00pm PARTY & Drinks....organised spontaneously!

Tier 1 Sponsors

Become one

Speakers

David Bizer

Chief Talent Geek, HackFwd | Twitter LinkedIn

David Bizer is a Partner with Talent Fountain and HackFwd’s Chief Talent Geek. He's creating a new business model for recruiting with Talent Fountain along with ensuring HackFwd invests in only the most talented technical founders in addition to growing the companies within the HackFwd portfolio.

David is a pioneer in global internet recruiting with a unique bi-continental background discovering talent from Silicon Valley to the technology hubs of Europe. Over the past 15 years, David has recruited and led recruitment efforts resulting in the hiring of more than 4000 top-caliber candidates across more than 25 countries.

David started his career in staffing at Netscape which was at the time, perhaps the most exciting internet company on the planet. Having learned with the best at Netscape, David then joined Trilogy to lead their European Recruitment efforts, sourcing high caliber Computer Science graduates from top universities in Western Europe.

In 2003, David was named the first European recruiter at Google. He hired over 300 candidates in his first 18 months. He then led Google’s staffing efforts across Europe for 20+ sales offices and all technical graduate recruitment.

David holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business from the University of Colorado, Boulder and has served as President of AIESEC United States.

Judges

Dr Ing. Saviour Zammit

Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation

Dr. Ing. Saviour Zammit graduated Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the University of Malta in 1986, Master of Science in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Aston in 1990 as a commonwealth scholar, and Doctor of Philosophy from the same University in 1996.

Dr. Zammit first joined the UoM in 1991 and has launched and lectured courses in Telecommunications, Signal Processing, Multimedia Processing, Computer Architecture, Real Time Systems, Computer Networks, Embedded Systems and Entrepreneurship.

In 1997 Dr. Ing. Zammit joined the Board of Directors of Telemalta Corporation and was then appointed Deputy Chairmain and Technical Director. Dr. Zammit was heavily involved in the privitization of 40% of Maltacom plc on the Malta and London Stock Exchanges. As technical director, Dr. Ing. Zammit championed the acquisition of Terranet Limited, giving Maltacom a strong presence in the ISP sector, and then was instrumental in the setting up of Datastream Limited, the first ADSL broadband infrastructure in Malta. Subsequently, Dr. Ing. Zammit was involved in the setting up of Mobisle Limited, Maltacom's wholly owned mobile services subsidiary.

In 2000, Dr. Ing. Zammit left Maltacom to cofound a number of technology companies in Broadband Internet Provision, Software Development, Portal Development and Hosting, and Internet and GSM services provision on ships, amongst others.

Whilst in industry, Dr. Zammit was an executive member of the Chamber of Professional Engineers, the Computing Society of Malta, the IEEE Malta Section, and the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, serving as ICT sector chairman with a seat on the central committee.

Dr. Ing. Zammit rejoined the UoM on a full time basis in 2008. He is the Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation and a senior lecturer within FICT. He chairs the IT Services Committee and the Distance and eLearning Committee and represents Malta on COST ICT domain, the eIRG and the eIPF.

He has participated in a number of funded research projects and conducts research in Wireless Multimedia Networks, mHealth systems, Digital Gaming Platforms and Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Ing. Zammit consults regularly for public and private sector organizations and enterprises.

Kevin Valenzia

Territory Senior Partner, PwC Malta | LinkedIn

Kevin Valenzia is the Territory Senior Partner, and has been a partner with, PricewaterhouseCoopers in Malta since 1987. He is a past Chairman of the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners in Malta and a former governor of Finance Malta. He is consulted regularly by the Government on matters relating to the financial services industry. His role at PricewaterhouseCoopers includes advising on structuring for a large number of international groups of companies and private clients

Dr. Ing. Alex Rizzo

Director: Institute of Applied Science, MCAST

Dr. Rizzo graduated in engineering in 1989 from the University of Malta, and has worked for over 20 years within heavy engineering in Malta. In 2011 he completed a doctorate of business administration at the Robert Gordon University of Scotland, in the field of business strategy. Alex’s research has focused on the strategic behaviour of small businesses, and how this relates to the entrepreneurial philosophy of the owner-manager. Dr. Rizzo has worked for many years as a small business consultant and strategist, and presently acts as the Director of MCAST’s Institute of Applied Science.

Marvin Cuschieri

Head of Business & Investment Consultancy Unit, Malta Enterprise | LinkedIn

Marvin Cuschieri heads the Business & Investment Consultancy Unit at Malta Enterprise which offers a range of business advisory services to Malta-based companies and individuals. With ten years of private and public consulting experience, Marvin knows what it takes to nurture and grow a business. Start-ups are his passion and he has organised a number of related competitions and activities in order to instil and promote a culture of entrepreneurship in Malta.

Jawad Khan

Mr Jawad Khan is the Chief Strategy Officer of TECOM Investments. Through his association with Dubai Holding in different senior leadership roles over the last 8 years, he has successfully developed several mixed use real estate, industrial and entertainment mega projects in Dubai. He is currently involved in the execution and growth of SmartCity.

He has a Master in International Finance and Business from COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Mentors

Rasha Y. Tantawy

Accelerator Unit Manager, Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, Cairo, Egypt | Twitter LinkedIn

Rasha is the Accelerator Unit Manager at the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center and has extensive teaching experience at Nile University’s Management of Technology department, Pharos University and University of Senghore. Rasha is also a researcher at the Center of Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Nile University where her fields of interest include open innovation, strategic management, entrepreneurship and social media marketing. She worked at HartMann Egypt as a regional manager in the construction field before cofounding her own business in the packaging of agriculture exports where she sits on its board of advisors. Rasha is a serial entrepreneur who enjoys mentoring and guiding young entrepreneurs with special focus on empowering women entrepreneurs.

Rasha holds a Masters in Civil Engineering from Alexandria University, a Masters in Management of Technology from Nile University. She is also finalizing her PhD in the area of Entrepreneurship in LDCs.

David Bizer

Chief Talent Geek, HackFwd | Twitter LinkedIn

Benjamin McClure

Manager, University of Malta Business Incubator | LinkedIn

Manager of the University of Malta Business Incubator, Ben is a seasoned technology commercialisation advisor with more than ten years experience helping technology entrepreneurs and researchers around the world prepare for the marketplace and successfully raise public funding and private investment. Ben was a highly-rated technology equities analyst at London-based investment bank, and led spinoff company development at TEC Edmonton, the technology transfer group at the University of Alberta, Canada. He also ran his own technology startup consulting business. Ben holds an MBA (Technology Commercialisation)from the University of Alberta's School of Business.

Ben is excited about the launch of the University Business Incubator, to be located later this year in the soon-to-be-vacated Computer Sciences Building in the heart of the university campus.

The incubator will be home to a technology spinout and accelerator program designed to enable technology entrepreneurs create high potential, sustainable businesses – taking them from idea to investment and launch. By providing access to business advisers and mentors, training, shared space, professional assistance and capital and other resources, the incubator will close the knowledge and resources gap experienced by early-stage technology entrepreneurs as they embark on their startup (ad)ventures.

Keith Fenech

Co-founder and CEO, Trackerbird | Twitter LinkedIn

A Malta based company specialising in analytics for Software Applications. Trackerbird provides a cloud service that helps global software companies track installations, feature usage, user engagement and conversion trends in order to learn more about their audience. Trackerbird also provides a framework that engages end-users through in-app Marketing and collect user feedback through in-app Surveys in order to increase conversions and user loyalty.

Keith is also a freelance IT consultant with 10+ years experience in the IT industry. Before starting Trackerbird, he occupied the role of Product Manager with GFI Software.

Keith holds a Masters Degree in high performance computing with the University of Malta and also published his research in a book about distributed multi-threading for cluster computing.

An overall entrepreneur with a passion for technology and startups. Self-motivated, business oriented, pragmatic, hands-on and fueled by an enthusiasm for Extreme Sports and adventure.

David Vella

CEO, Altaro Software | Twitter LinkedIn

David has led Altaro Software since the company was founded in 2009. Before Altaro, David spent 11 years at GFI Software with the last position being Director of Product Management. At GFI Software he was responsible for the product management of GFI's product lines. Other responsibilities while at GFI Software included market/sales analysis, acquisitions and building OEM relationships with GFI's OEM partners. David joined GFI when it had less than 15 employees and left when GFI Software had over 200 employees worldwide.

Angad Ahluwalia

Senior Marketing Manager, SmartCity Malta & India | LinkedIn

Angad leads the marketing function at SmartCity across the Maltese and Indian Markets. SmartCity’s vision is to create a global network of live-work-play business townships where knowledge-based companies, education institutions, professionals and entrepreneurs operate in, connect and benefit from the network.

Angad envisions SmartCity Malta as a centre of entrepreneurial excellence, where new businesses and ideas take flight. SmartCity Malta, together with Startup Weekend Malta, aims to create this platform in Malta.

His area of expertise is in consumer marketing where he worked on, and led, some the world’s leading brands, such as Heineken, Corona, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker and Haagen-Dazs.

A serial traveller, he has lived in India, Singapore, Mexico, Spain and the now the United Arab Emirates.

Brian Azzopardi CEO

CEO and Founder, Rawstream | Twitter LinkedIn

Rawstream is a cloud-based web filtering solution that solves exciting problems around network security, web-scale scalability, text classification, data mining and big data using patent-pending innovative technology.

Rawstream is a winner of Seedcamp, the Number 1 accelerator in the EU.

Stefan Debattista

Co-founder of www.8am.com.mt and www.showshappening.com

Stefan graduated in 2005 with a Distinction from ICT at MCAST and then in 2009 with a First in BSc (Hons) Computer Communications from Leeds Metropolitan University.

Straight out of University Stefan co-founded www.8am.com.mt and more recently www.showshappening.com. His strengths within his startups are design and business development. "On the one hand I love sitting down and immersing myself in CSS and JS, using tools like Bootstrap and JQuery, and on the other I love meeting people to get customer feedback in order to improve and develop the product & the business.

Stefan sails and windsurfs in his free time.

Tomas Janovsky

CTO and co-founder of 8am.com.mt

Tomas Janovsky is a co-founder and technical director of 8am.com.mt, an innovative maltese social network for jobs.

He has over 13 years of experience in engineering and architect roles in different industries including online services, human resources and utility industry.

His passions are everything around .NET, Python, relational and document databases and cool messaging servers.

Tomas is also very passionate startup enthusiast and keen follower of the lean startup movement.

Ing. Edward Portelli

Business Development Manager, Microsoft Innovation Centre - Malta

Edward joined Microsoft Malta in 2012 as Business Development Manager for the Microsoft Innovation Centre in Malta. He is responsible for the general management of the Centre and for building programs to support the local IT community. The Microsoft Innovation Centre in Malta forms part of over 100 such centers by Microsoft focusing on the needs of the local software economy.
Before joining Microsoft, Edward held various positions with the global news organization Thomson Reuters. He was instrumental in designing and executing the regional business development strategy which included multi-million dollar projects to develop and enhance the company’s products to better serve the regional clients. In this role he worked with clients in various countries across Middle East and Africa.
Edward holds a Bachelor Degree in Computer and Communication Engineering from the University of Malta and a Masters in Business Administration from Grenoble Business School.

Bonavent Gauci

Senior Manager, PwC Malta - Advisory Services | LinkedIn

Bonavent joined PwC in 2000 after obtaining a first class degree in Bachelor of Accountancy at the University or Malta. In 2009, he graduated from Warwick Business School with distinction obtaining a Master in Business Administration. His dissertation entitled Malta’s competitiveness in the Travel and Tourism industry compared with that of other Mediterranean destinations was awarded best dissertation in that year’s MBA course.

Bonavent specialises in corporate finance and strategic business advisory. He assists clients in business planning, valuations, feasibility studies, mergers and business recovery. His portfolio includes companies in a wide range of industries including telecommunications, construction, manufacturing, energy and financial services.

Bonavent is an accredited PwC trainer and has delivered various training sessions to PwC staff both in Malta and overseas. Bonavent has a special interest in the valuation of complex financial instruments and hard to value assets and over the past two years has carried out a number of engagements and delivered various training sessions in relation to this subject.

Angelo Dalli

Entrepreneur and Search Engine Expert | Twitter LinkedIn

Angelo Dalli has been working on Search Technology since 2000 and is currently managing a variety of projects related to search engines, intelligent transport systems and high performance transaction processing. Angelo has obtained funding in the UK for R&D in excess of €600K and over €20 million on various EU projects. Angelo is also currently involved in a multi-million dollar project related to advanced transaction processing and statistical pattern recognition.

Contributing Sponsors