On Monday (today), Malta Enterprise announced that it will be “advancing its efforts” to promote the local startup and scaleup ecosystem through a collaboration with Startup Genome.

Startup Genome, which publishes the yearly ‘Global Startup Ecosystem Report’ (GSER), and the Global Entrepreneurship Network, launched the report today at London Tech Week.

Malta will start featuring in the report as from next year after talks between Malta Enterprise and Startup Genome.

The GSER, powered by “the world’s most quality-controlled dataset on startup ecosystems” analyses data from over 4.5 million companies across more than 300 entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems.

The report is driven by a consortium of representatives from more than 40 countries.

It looks at the current state of startup activity and related investment, providing insights and guidance to public and private leaders on how to foster thriving startup communities.

Contributions from expert thought leaders and local key players add to the report’s evidence-based findings, which are a product of over a decade of Startup Genome’s independent research and policy work.

In a preview of the Malta startup ecosystem, the 2024 report focuses on the work done by Malta Enterprise alongside other public and private partners through Start in Malta – an initiative with the aim of harnessing the local ecosystem and attracting startups to co-locate.

The GSER reported how Malta’s ecosystem value, meaning the total economic impact of startup exits and valuations spanning the last 30 months, “increased by 39 per cent compared to last year.”

It mentioned initiatives like the Startup Festival, the launch of a national venture capital fund and non-dilutive financial aid packages available to innovative business ventures.

This, Malta Enterprise commented, “demonstrates Malta’s dedication to spurring innovation.”

Furthermore, the article explained Malta’s goal to minimise bureaucracy and enhance its proposition through its Startup Framework. In addition, it referred to Malta’s focus on cutting-edge sectors such as life sciences, fintech, and digital technology.

Commenting on the announcement of GSER’s coverage of Malta, Malta Enterprise CEO, Kurt Farrugia noted that the partnership between Malta and Start Up Genome will see the Maltese Islands “being benchmarked against some of the best countries on the global startup stage.”

“Malta will continue to be a natural home for startups who want to build their prototypes with a backdrop of the good quality life that Malta can provide and then venture to expand globally,” Mr Farrugia continued.

Moreover, Managing Partner at Startup Genome Stephan Kuester noted that while Malta is small in size, “it has positioned itself as an incredibly dynamic ecosystem.”