Startup Weekend NEXT, the pre-accelerator training and coaching programme for early startups, currently being held at SmartCity Malta, is progressing very well as the participants move closer to concretising their startup ideas. The seven teams from across the island participating in NEXT, are being guided and getting valuable feedback from five mentors throughout the six sessions of the programme. 

During the last session, the programme covered several areas, including techniques for effective communication of ideas, the importance of making a good first impression and possible ways of winning the attention of the audience. The session also included a discussion on the proper ratio between words being used during a presentation, especially when delivered together with additional visuals, tone of the voice and body language. Individual stories and examples of effective and ineffective pitches were also shared. The session then concluded with individual presentations and discussions with mentors, within the divided groups.

Following another training and coaching session on 9th November, the NEXT programme at SmartCity Malta will conclude on 16th November with a Final Presentations Day and Tech Open Coffee networking.  This will be a Saturday morning event (starting at 8:45), already confirmed to be attended by prominent players from the local and international startup scene, including Alex Kölpin - WestTech Ventures Partner and Hasan Haider – CEO of Bahrain´s first Business Angels company, as well as representatives of The Edward de Bono Institute at the University of Malta - the official National Host for the Global Entrepreneurship Week in Malta.

Alexander Kölpin is a passionate networker and venture capitalist who has collected over ten years of experience in the internet and IT sector. He is a co-founder of the Berlin Web Week, as well as co-founded and was the COO of the SeedVC German Startups Group Berlin AG, where his responsibilities included, amongst others, establishing new startups in the Berlin area. Prior to this he was a management consultant at Inubit AG and Arthur Andersen.

The other foreign guest at the event - Hasan Haider - started his entrepreneurial activities by launching FILM2GO, an innovative start-up venture that provides an online DVD rentals, with free delivery and pickup. Hasan also has several years of investment experience, most recently as a Portfolio Manager at SICO Investment Bank.

Part of the official Maltese activities within the Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Final Presentation Day and Tech Open Coffee will be an excellent opportunity for startup teams and individuals to meet and network with these well-versed equity funding providers, other local entrepreneurs and startup supporters, and build prospects for future collaborations. Participation in the event is free, however, due to limited places, individuals interested in attending are advised to sign-up their participation on http://www.swnext.co/events/malta-next.

Following this event, on 22nd November, the best performing team of Malta NEXT will be invited to participate in the highly anticipated Pitch Marathon, one of the largest pitching events in Europe. On one side, 42 top startups from across Europe will be pitching, and on the other side, a room full of great investors will be listening. The goal of the Pitch Marathon is to help European-based startups to get in touch, build relationships and raise money from global investors. The event includes 4 one-hour pitching sessions, each with at least 10 startups presenting for 4 minutes in a quick succession. In order to maximize the interaction between investors and founders, investors will have a chance to meet with startup founders between the sessions and reward their favourite startups with “Pitch Marathon Euro”. At the beginning of every break each investor will receive 2 million “Pitch Marathon Euro”. The startup endowed with the most “cash” at the end of the event becomes the Grand Prize winner.