On the 11th of May, JA Malta celebrated the 35th edition of its annual Finals and Awards Night at Sir Temi Zammit Hall, at the University of Malta. This event brought together some of the most innovative and entrepreneurial minds from across 11 schools and education institutions, highlighting the hard work and creativity of our participants.
The evening was filled with excitement and anticipation as the 11 judges faced the challenging task of selecting the winners from a pool of exceptional talent. These participants vied for the titles of Company of the Year and StartUp of the Year.
The winning teams were ReMind from Verdala International School as Company of the Year and Little Root from St Martin’s Institute of Higher Education as StartUp of the Year. These teams will now represent Malta at #Gen_E – the largest entrepreneurship festival in Europe – against another 42 countries. Furthermore, ReMind and Little Root will now receive a 1-year membership with the Malta Chamber.
The finalists for the Company of the Year award were: A Spoonful of Gozo from Sir M.A. Refalo Sixth Form, KUUL from Ġ.F. Abela Junior College, MaltiCards from De La Salle College Sixth Form, MyTote from St Aloysius College Sixth Form, ReMind and Rocky Socks, from Verdala International School. MaltiCards placed third, and MyTote finished in 2nd place.
JA Malta is thrilled to have a strong network of partners who, with their support, present their own awards. ReMind won the Deloitte Best Business Plan Award, the Farsons Ready for Work Award, the EFQ Management Consultants Quality Excellence Award, the Atlas Insurance Digital Marketing Innovation Award, and the Mizzi Organisation Best Sales Technique Award.
Yplan, from Verdala International School, won the eSkills Malta Foundation Best Use of Tech Award, while MyTote won the FinanceMalta Best Financial Statements Award and the HSBC Malta Foundation Green Entrepreneurship Award. Rocky Socks from Verdala International School won the Hili Ventures Marketplace Award. KUUL won the Bolt Internationalisation Award.
On the StartUp Programme side, Little Root won the HSBC Malta Foundation ESG Sustainability Award. This award comes with a €10,000 grant to help the team set up their company. Little Root were also the recipients of the EY Market Appraisal Award, the Camilleri Preziosi Advocates Customer Focus Award, and the Bolt Disruptive Excellence Award. GOATSBY from the University of Malta won the Tech.mt Digital Innovation Award.
Crème de la crème from the Institute of Tourism Studies placed 3rd, while GOATSBY placed 2nd overall in the StartUp of the Year Competition.
A new award, the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, was introduced during the event. Supported by the Malta Business Registry, this award recognises students who demonstrated exceptional entrepreneurial spirit, and a proactive approach throughout the programme. The winners of this year’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award were: Josef Mario Xiberras, Ena Marie Mifsud, Miguel Aquilina, David Grech, Daniel Foeldi and Alina Maria Weibel.
Two other important awards under the patronage of the Chairperson are also presented each year. JA Malta Chairperson Fabianne Ruggier presented Malta Enterprise with the John Harper Award, and Ana Bajada with the Philip Bonnet Award for Perseverance.
In a call to action, JA Malta CEO Matthew Caruana said:
“Every student should experience at least one of JA Malta’s experiential learning programmes. These programmes provide invaluable real-world skills, and inspire the entrepreneurial spirit necessary for success in today’s dynamic economy.”
We wish to thank all our partners, especially Jobsplus, HSBC Malta Foundation, Deloitte Malta, EY Malta, Camilleri Preziosi Advocates, Atlas Insurance, The Malta Chamber, Salesforce, Microsoft, Mizzi Organisation, eSkills Malta Foundation, Bolt, FinanceMalta, Farsons Group, Hili Ventures, EFQ Management Consultants, and Tech.Mt, for making the running of our programmes possible. Thank you also to Malta Enterprise, the Malta Business Registry, Virtu Ferries, BUSINESSLABS, S.Rausi Trading Ltd and The AV Warehouse for supporting our events.