Set up to strengthen the growth of the local ICT ecosystem, the Microsoft Innovation Centre has already supported over 50 start-ups since its launch, says Edward Portelli.

What is your role at the Microsoft Innovation Centre?

I’m a business development manager responsible for the strategic objectives of the Microsoft Innovation Centre and aligning these with the needs of the local community. This involves engaging with local academic, industry and government institutions.

Another important aspect of my role is to identify partners that share the same vision as Microsoft to support the local IT industry. I must say that this part of my job is the most satisfying as the response from the market is overwhelming. All this is important in devising the curriculum and events organised by MIC Malta.

With what aims was MIC Malta set up?

MIC Malta was set up to act as a catalyst to bring Microsoft and Maltese specialists and business entrepreneurs into closer collaboration. MIC Malta serves to facilitate the collaboration between government, academics and industry participants to generate innovative research, technology and software solutions.

MIC Malta was set up to support innovation in Malta through skills development, assistance to entrepreneurs and by offering a place where people meet to share ideas and experience. MIC Malta offers facilities that provide professional resources and support for students, entrepreneurs and start-ups, thus accelerating the creation of new companies and jobs and the growth of the local software ecosystem. MIC Malta supports the country in its quest to further establish the IT sector as a main driving force for the economy.

A year and a half after its launch, how would you gauge MIC Malta’s success?

I believe success is gauged by the impact that MIC Malta is having on the local ICT ecosystem. When you consider that in the year and a half since launch, more than 5,000 people visited MIC Malta to be trained, consulted, meet potential customers or participate in one of our activities, then I believe this is quite an achievement. Furthermore, MIC Malta has already supported over 50 start-ups since its launch.

This year we embarked on the next phase of the project with the creation of the Malta Entrepreneurship Forum. This brings together MIC Malta partners and entities active in the start-up scene to coordinate activities and discuss ways to promote entrepreneurship in Malta.

Starting your own business can involve an element of risk. What skills and resources does a start-up need to be market ready?

Every start-up needs different skills and resources depending on the nature of the product or service that is being developed, the needs of the target market, and the size of the operation needed to maintain the production, delivery and support of the solution.

In knowledge-based start-ups, keeping updated with the latest technology and trends within the industry is very important to avoid having the idea already outdated by the time it’s ready to market. In this context, looking at the events happening at MIC Malta, we organise information sessions on the latest technologies such as cloud computing, application development and web technologies.

One of the challenges of a start-up developing a new solution is to remain focused on what the client values the most. It is so easy to get carried away with nice-to-have features and personal tastes which can easily shave off weeks or months of development with limited impact to the client. Good organisational skills and discipline come in handy when faced with such decisions.

MIC supports the country in its quest to further establish the IT sector as a main driving force for the economy

Moreover, social skills are important within the team to understand the market pains that the start-up is trying to resolve.

Software-based solutions require access to the latest development tools and to the latest platform apart from cloud services to deliver the solution. Also important is a team of people to both develop and market the solution.

Achieving scale is becoming a requirement in today’s start-up scene. To be in a position to scale quickly, access to finance is a critical resource. Together with its local and foreign Microsoft partners, MIC Malta assists start-ups in accessing sources of finance other than the more common sources such as families and friends.

What role do start-ups play in an economy?

Start-ups create jobs and encourage innovation by seeking to capitalise on disequilibrium in the economy. Since start-ups do not have to worry about servicing existing customers, they can offer more disruptive innovation andcreate intellectual property, thus adding more value to the economy.

In what way does MIC Malta help start-ups play this role?

MIC Malta is engaged with entrepreneurs at the early stage of their idea and supports them in choosing the right technology. We also assist entrepreneurs in solving the logistical challenges they may face.

Every start-up joins the Bizspark programme, granting access to all the Microsoft development and infrastructure tools needed to run the business. Further to this, advice is provided on the best use of these tools to cater for the specific needs of a start-up. Making the right technology choices at an early stage of the development helps start-ups avoid costly changes once the product or service has reached the market.

MIC Malta also caters for the logistical challenges that start-ups face such as the location from where to operate, access to finance and hardware to test the solution. Through our partners, start-ups can also receive advice on how to set up their organisation and access different sources of funding.

What programmes do you offer for budding entrepreneurs?

The start-up programme is a package of products and services that is offered to budding entrepreneurs. Joining the programme is completely free and there is no commitment to buy any products or services afterwards.

The BizSpark programme, which forms part of the start-up programme, provides access to the latest development and infrastructure tools from Microsoft. These include popular products like Visual Studio, Windows Server and Operating System, SharePoint, SQL Server and Office.

Further to this, cloud services worth in excess of €6,000 per year are provided for start-ups. We also offer technology consultancy, co-working space, meeting rooms and access to partner resources.

MIC Malta also supports start-ups in participating in one of the Microsoft Accelerator programmes. Accelerators are immersive programmes aimed at squeezing the countdown to launch. For anywhere from three to six months, start-ups get strong mentoring, technical guidance and connections to other start-ups. These accelerators run twice a year in London and Berlin.

Following the launch of a start-up, does MIC Malta also offer start-ups the support necessary to sustain themselves?

The start-up programme has a duration of three years, which is normally the time needed for a start-up to develop an idea, launch and start gathering the first clients. After three years, the company is still supported by MIC Malta through various training sessions and events. Also, through the Microsoft Partner Programme, the organisation can benefit from software and hosting.

How does MIC Malta help start-ups to connect with the rest of the world and explore opportunities abroad?

MIC start-ups have access to the Microsoft Bizspark programme which offers the possibility for local start-ups to feature in the Bizspark start-up database. This is a database of over 40,000 knowledge-based start-ups from around the world.

Furthermore, Microsoft Innovation Centres form part of the Microsoft Ventures resources. MIC Malta facilitates access to other Microsoft Ventures events and programmes that are held in the main start-up hubs across the world.

This provides an excellent opportunity for local start-ups to interact with potential investors overseas.