Alex Borg, co-Founder of start-up advisory company GBU Ventures, has taken up a new role as a Business Planning and Validation Expert with Malta ClimAccelerator.

Mr Borg is known for his key role in designing and implementing Malta's first fixed term, cohort-based startup accelerator, the Government-backed YouStartIT programme.

Running from 2016 to 2020, the accelerator assessed around 600 projects, with 32 chosen to participate across six cohorts. Alumni include some of the biggest success stories in the local start-up space, such as Weavr, Wirestock, and a few others like early dementia screening device producer BrainTrip, visually impaired AR solution provider Holoroad, and sustainable mobility despatcher SiWeGO. The hugely popular student app FreeHour was also a product of YouStartIT.

Mr Borg is also an outspoken advocate for the importance of nurturing start-ups, telling BusinessNow.mt last year: "We all want to have a Ronaldo or a Messi, but you don’t get these without nurseries. Similarly, companies need early stage incubators and accelerators, which are usually funded by governments or municipalities. They draw in talent, grow it, develop it, and move it from proof of concept to commercialisation."

In his new role, he will be one of the core mentors providing advice and support to the start-ups assisted by Malta ClimAccelerator.

Malta ClimAccelerator is an accelerator specialising on supporting climate technology start-ups to tackle real world problems affected by the ongoing climate emergency. The acceleration programme is run by MALTAccelerate, under license of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Climate-KIC, an EU agency that supports entrepreneurship and technology as key tools to tackle the issue of climate change.

It is also supported by the Malta College for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (MCAST). EIT provides the resources and its vast network of knowledge, while MCAST provides the operational and administrative support.

MALTAccelerate provides over 20 years expertise in supporting and bringing to success ventures across the UK, Europe and accession countries.

EIT Climate-KIC has an impressive decade-long track record in incubating over 2,000 climate technology start-ups. It has done this through investments worth over €2 Billion and involving as many as 450 partners.

Last October, Malta ClimAccelerator selected eight start-ups out of a total of roughly 250 applicants that are naturally keen to benefit from the prestigious EIT marqué and resources.

Mr Borg tells WhosWho.mt that “the quality of the start-ups selected is impressive – all are developing real breakthrough climate and sustainability solutions, have already received some pre-seed funding and have paying customers or early adopters of their solutions applying technologies such as Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and space data to help reduce the carbon impact in specific environments such as agriculture, shipping and office spaces.”

The programme is completely online to enable start-up founders to sustain as little disruption as possible to their ongoing operations and personal life. Mentors may eventually continue to be involved with the start-up as advisors, business angels or capacity-builders.

“Maltese private and public sector companies should not miss out on the opportunity offered by Malta ClimAccelerator to gain privileged access to the cutting-edge innovations being developed by these startups,” says Mr Borg.

“They can eventually even become their partner or investor at a demo day scheduled for early March,” he continues, pointing out that by sponsoring such a programme these companies can already align themselves with European Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting obligations that will start getting enforced two years from now.