The Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business has awarded €100,000 in seed funding to groups of innovators and entrepreneurs to help them move their ideas toward commercialisation.

The Takeoff Seed Fund Award is the first programme in Malta to focus on early-stage technology and startup development.

The 2014 pilot of this programme aims to help move promising ideas forward toward commercialisation and ultimately, create business with high growth potential in Malta.

Award funding helps to bridge the initial gap between lab/ patent/idea and market development, and provides support to innovators and entrepreneurs when they need it most to increase the likelihood of success.

The programme received 30 applications and shortlisted 12 teams to ‘pitch’ their ideas to the selection committee.

Nine teams received funding ranging from €5,000 and €18,000.

The Takeoff Seed Fund Award is a joint initiative between the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation at the University of Malta and the ministry, with support from Takeoff, the business incubator of the University of Malta.

The teams receiving awards and funding are:

• DiscountIF (€18,000 Discount­­­IF’s e-commerce platform will disrupt the traditional online retail market by combining the thrill of winning a bet with the value of a discounts site, offering a unique buying promise.

• Inbound Muse (€18,000 Inbound Muse will produce artificial intelligence-based software that helps businesses gain in-depth understanding and insights about their markets.

• MightyBox Games (€10,000 Digital games studio MightyBox is focused on developing games for the music industry, producing titles closely attached to songs and musical artists.

• Sanctuary (€6,000 Sanctuary is developing a mobile, audio-visual tool designed to provide meditative aid to terminally ill hospital patients.

• eSports Unlimited (€5,000 eSports Unlimited is a new web-based platform offering fantasy sports leagues, betting, and results analysis services for professional video games competitions (esports).

• Rib Bridge (€16,000 A University of Malta team has invented a novel ‘rib bridge’ that helps surgeons safely and effectively reconstruct the chest wall after operations to remove cancers and address traumas.

• Ultrawideband Antenna (€14,500 A University of Malta team has developed an ultra-wideband, ultra-low-cost an­tenna with large market opportunities in astronomy, mobile, radar, broadcasting, aviation and earth observations.

• Walnut (€7,500 A University of Malta team is developing brain-controlled music player app for mobile devices.

• HydroStorageSystem (€5,000 A University of Malta team has invented a system that combines offshore wind energy and deep sea water to produce low-cost onshore cooling for large buildings.

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