Startup Weekend has teamed up with SmartCity Malta and several other organisations to offer an array of exciting prizes to all participants at this week’s Startup Weekend. These prizes will facilitate the winners with all the support they need to ensure their Startup idea is launched and succeeds.

This not-for-profit event will be held at SmartCity Malta between 7th and 9th June and is specifically designed to help active and empowered entrepreneurs launch their ventures. The prizes being offered, among which is free “Plug and Play” office space at the most premium business address on the island, SmartCity Malta, will  provide the winners the support system they need to see the materialization of their startup ideas, as well as to provide the new entrepreneurs with superb post-launch support. Startup Weekend Malta entrepreneurs will also get superb support and useful information for their businesses at the event from the tier one sponsors at the event: Malta Enterprise, BOV, Ascent Software and SmartCity Malta.

To date, over 1,000 Startup Weekends have seen over 8,000 startups created!All Startup Weekends, follow the same format: on Friday, participants get the opportunity to pitch their startup idea. Teams form organically around the topline ideas and then it’s a 54-hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. On Sunday, the weekend culminates in presentations in front of entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for the participants to receive critical feedback and the winning teams to be awarded.

However, Sunday, 9th June won’t mean the end of the support and guidance offered to these startup ventures.

The prizes then serve as a holistic continuation of Startup Weekend, whereby a multitude of organisations will offer their constructive support to different startups throughout their different startup stages, mainly: conceptualizing the product, developing it, building a team, marketing and selling the product while generating brand loyalty, and finally monetizing and optimizing daily operations.

To help with the first stage, one of the leading web design and web development companies in Malta, ICON, is offering the lucky winning team half a day of workshops on ‘go to market strategy’. Similarly,  Ascent Software, a leading software development company in Malta, will be offering its guidance and coaching based on three one-hour sessions with their CEO, CTO and Marketing Manager to the winning company. This will give the winning startup some real value from veteran entrepreneurs.  

The winner will also receive a full development programme, including one-on-one mentorship via Skype conference calls, courtesy of Potential. Potential, a business consultancy firm that has helped dozens of entrepreneurs to start up, will provide the winners with a full development programme, including one-on-one mentorships.

Some of the other Startup Weekend prizes are geared towards the development of the product or service itself, such as, three years’ worth of free access to Microsoft’s BizSpark programme. This programme allows software startups to be connected with key industry players, including investors, and will be provided with marketing visibility through Microsoft’s software development tools. All Startup Weekend participants will also get a year-long $100 Amazon Web Services credit voucher, which can be applied to existing accounts. In addition, .CO and DOMAIN.COM, both of which offer web solutions, are giving away a free 12-month .CO domain registration and free web hosting for 3 months, respectively.

RecruitCoders, an online platform connecting coders and companies from all over the world, is one of the organizations to then help the winners build the solid team they require by giving them a 6-month premium account subscription and allowing them to use their services to hire a team of programmers and coders. Furthermore, the winners will receive five free jobs through 8AM, a community for job seekers and recruiters in Malta that will help them find great developers and designers and, most importantly, great co-founders to bring their startup dreams to reality.

There are also prizes that will help the winners manage and grow their business. UK-based company, FREEth will be giving away a 2-month free membership to the winning startup to set up and run a loyalty programme for its customers. Other operational support includes free marketing through Quad Consultancy’s newsletter, which reaches over 30,000 people across Europe. Systemato will give away an extensive consultancy session with the aim of assisting the winner in developing an ironclad and comprehensive content and social media plan, whilst Clever Solutions Ltd. will provide them with a whole year mini subscription to their flagship online accounting software.

Furthermore, Trackerbird will be providing a free subscription to their analytics solution. Winners can use this resource to obtain insights about their business and use it to improve and optimize their offerings.

The winning teams even get free “Plug and Play” office space at SmartCity Malta. These connected and equipped “Plug and Play” spaces are the ideal launch pad for companies without requiring them to make heavy initial investments. The winning startup will be immediately connected and will be free to conveniently set up and begin its operations, without wasting any time.

And this is not all! There are many more prizes to be given away to the teams and all participants at Startup Weekend, to ensure Startup success.

 Startup Weekend’s global sponsors are Google, Microsoft BizSpark and Amazon Web Services.

The Startup Weekend registration process is still open, though tickets are selling fast so it is worth booking your place as soon as possible!

More information and registration for the Malta Startup Weekend can be found at http://malta.startupweekend.org or else by following the event on Twitter: https://twitter.com/swmalta.