Startup Programme

The JA Start Up Programme (19 – 30 years) is the youngest programme in the JA Malta series of entrepreneurship education programmes offered. Launched in 2014, it sets up tertiary education students for their own foray into the world of start-ups, by preparing them to pitch their own business concept to potential investors.

This is offered as a week-long bootcamp, with a networking event and pitching masterclass leading up to the Finals Competition. At JA, the core principle of each programme is Learning by Doing, and the StartUp programme is no different. It takes participants through the various stages required to build a sound business concept, based on market research, prototyping and business pitching. During this boot camp, teams will come together and build their potential to acquire essential experience in creating their own future by setting out a strategy for a company that could be scaled up into a commercially viable business.

It is the ‘last’ step in the JA progression model that targets youth at their closest to the world of work and delves right into the attributes required by the world of work to succeed and become a contributor – not a mere observer – to the local start up ecosystem.

The JA Start Up Programme is also dependent on the contributions and guidance of experienced business mentors and a judging panel who carefully assess and provide essential feedback for the improvement of their concept in order to make it ‘investor ready’.