Kevin Valenzia

PwC has decided to renew its €1million fund for start-ups for another year, after 52 companies benefited from the offer of pro-bono services since the original fund was launched in Spring 2013.

Approved applicants received up to €20,000 of services from the professional services firm over the year.

Territory senior partner Kevin Valenzia said that the response had been better than anticipated and that there was clearly a thirst for assistance at the early stages of a company’s lifecycle.

“The fund came at a very important time in the Maltese economy as it was not just PwC but also other stakeholders who were reaching out to entrepreneurs to give them a helping hand, including MITA, Microsoft and the University. There are now a number of incubation centres and support services,” he said.

“We recently all met up to ensure that we do not duplicate our efforts, and we will continue to liaise with one another.”

There was clearly a thirst for assistance at the early stagesof a company’s lifecycle

Mr Valenzia has taken a hands-on interest with the applicants and, coupled with his long experience with PwC, is well aware of the pressure entrepreneurs face when they come up with ideas.

“Especially if they are young, they face a tremendous amount of pressure to go into traditional careers and to be employed with a steady salary that can pay a mortgage and help them start a family. But they have a dream and – with the right mentoring – it could very often translate into a good business. All they need is help with the first few years until it becomes profitable.

“This is not to say that all ideas are viable. The fund selection committee turned down some of the applications because the ideas had not been properly thought through. It is important that the selection committee is honest with them and tells them the truth early on, as painful as it may be for them to hear it,” he said.

One thing that emerged clearly from the meeting with other stakeholders helping start-ups was the need for changes to the tax law to encourage angel investors – since traditional financing is often not available.

“These are often young people who are putting their own savings into their ideas, sometimes with help from family and friends. We believe that there are a number of prominent and successful businessmen who would be ready to invest in start-ups. But business angels take big risks and there need to be incentives in place to make it worth their while. Another problem with start-ups is how to value the equity,” he explained.

PwC has now been receiving feedback from its managers on the applicants benefiting from the fund, along with a review of whether sufficient progress has been made.

“What all the entrepreneurs want to know is whether their dream will fly or not. We look forward to the first Maltese millionaire coming out of this fund. Perhaps they would have got there on their own – but we believe that we are getting them there sooner.”

The PwC €1m fund is supported by Allied Newspapers and the University of Malta.