A student team from the Master in Entrepreneurship course, run by the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation, represented the University of Malta at STup 2021, an international meet for university student start-ups.
Thirty-three teams from sixteen universities and ten countries made it to the event which was held in a hybrid mode with both live and ZOOM pitches taking place in front of different panels of expert judges.
The Malta team consisted of Ing. Marisa Micallef and Marie Mifsud who were in Split, together with Joseph Meli and Kenneth Gatt from Malta. They were supported by Ing. Joseph A. Bartolo, TAKEOFF manager (the University of Malta鈥檚 Business Incubator).
The team had partnered up with Marina Fabic and her start-up enterprise Phileae, a former TOSFA 2019 winner currently being incubated at TAKEOFF. The entry was made under the quality of life thematic and revolved around the creation and digitalisation of bespoke artisanal perfume design and manufacture. The event was held between 18 and 19June 2021 at the University of Split as part of the project in which the University of Malta is participating.
The collaboration with Phileae resulted from an outreach programme, launched at the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020, where MEnt students in the current academic year were partnered with selected TAKEOFF incubator members to assist them in enhancing their enterprise.
The team presentation did the University proud with the team members live on stage fielding questions which probed the raison d鈥檈tre for the enterprise. The team have found that the MEnt training provided them with a very important skill set by virtue of which they are capable of discerning viable from non-viable enterprises.
The MEnt programme runs on one-year full time over four intensive weeks of study. Selected students can augment their skills through the add-on MEntORS programme which runs for six months after graduation. The students found the event a useful one where they could witness different schools of enterprise thinking being placed at par.
The event also opened up network channels with other groups working in the areas of health, education, port administration and agriculture, the business incubator at the University of Split and an outreach with the Startup Executive Academy in Salzburg.
