DayBreak, an American hi-tech company that started operating from Malta earlier this month and which plans to create 1,000 jobs by 2014, will probably be based at SmartCity, owner Doug Monahan told The Times Business.
SCM01, the first block of the Ricasoli knowledge and IT village was officially inaugurated on October 10, but no official announcement about tenants has been made since.
Mr Monahan, an Austin, Texas based entrepreneur who will be moving to Malta soon said: “The SmartCity project seems to be making the most sense. We are speaking with Jin Choi, executive director of strategy and business development about leasing 1,600 square metres, with an option for an additional 1,600 square metres within the first 24 months. As you know, we need the room to expand, and it seems SmartCity is really the only option for a tech firm expecting to house 1,000 employees.”
Mr Monahan said he was surprised more hi-tech firms haven’t already embraced Malta as the new “high tech Mecca.”
“Your country is close enough to travel by air to Dubai, Israel, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Greece. It is really a perfect location for any firm that is exporting information,” he said.
He said the company’s strategy is currently working as planned.
“I’ve got a team of 10 vice presidents of business development in the United States and we are expanding the team to around 65 before I move to Malta. I’ve also hired a director of data integrity who is based in Sliema. We have received quite a large number of candidates for the Maltese positions and the CVs are currently being reviewed and categorised into development, IT staffing, data entry and sales.”
Mr Monahan told The Times Business that he did get some emails from people who were sceptical about the company being able to employ 1,000 people in Malta. However, this was a gradual process, he said.
“It’s not 1,000 overnight, but 100 the first year, 250 the next, 500 the next and 1,000 the next. I think some who read the article (in The Times Business, December 2) forgot to read the four year plan and almost expected me to show up with a small army. The great majority of those who have written are quite positive.
“We aren’t going to Malta to get cheap labour, in fact, it is quite the opposite. We are looking for those with college degrees who understand the internet and wish to be able to expand their knowledge, work in technology, but don’t want to leave ‘home’,” he said.
Mr Monahan said that while the company hasn’t yet signed or concluded an agreement with SmartCity “we have listed it on our website as where we plan on housing our team”.
DayBreak describes itself as offering “the largest and most comprehensive contact list databases available today.”
Mr Monahan reiterated what he had told The Times Business three weeks ago, namely that anybody from Malta who wishes to gain access to the company’s contact list database for personal reasons such as searching for a job can have access to it right away at no cost whatsoever.
He said the company was funding the Malta project entirely out of cash flow “so we aren’t looking for banks other than to hold our monies”.
He also told The Times Business: “Our first sale happened yesterday – so it is pretty exciting.”
DayBreak has roughly 12.5 million contacts in its database.