Malta is an ideal sandbox to test tech start-ups but scaling internationally is where the real challenge begins, eCabs Technologies CEO Matthew Bezzina told a United Nations event.
Speaking at the Global Innovation Forum last month, Bezzina highlighted the challenges of scaling a business that begins in a small market, but said that given its seasonality, small size, and dynamic market, Malta is ideally placed to test new technology solutions.
“For context, eCabs launched 15 years ago, the same year Uber started in the US and five years before Bolt. Sandboxing in Malta was perfect for us as we were able to test out ride-hailing technology in urban, suburban, and rural settings all at the same time and able to tweak our product in real-time,” Bezzina explained.
The same, he said, could be true for other emerging technology in different contexts.
Bezzina said that while Malta’s size allowed eCabs to rapidly test and implement new technologies, expanding beyond national borders demanded an entirely different strategy.
“The process involves not only adapting to diverse regulatory requirements but also understanding the cultural and operational nuances of new regions,” he noted.
“Building trust in a market as compact as Malta gave us the core advantage we needed when approaching larger, more complex markets,” Bezzina remarked.
He credited the lessons learned from navigating Malta’s regulations and customer expectations as instrumental in preparing eCabs for international expansion.
eCabs, a Maltese ride-hailing platform, has expanded its operations to Athens, Greece and Bucharest, Romania, and says it plans to launch in other markets in 2025.
With more than 450 employees and a quarter of a million rides completed monthly, the company has undergone considerable growth.
The Global Innovation Forum, hosted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Malta, gathered global tech leaders to discuss the future of digital transformation and entrepreneurship.
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the ITU is the UN’s oldest specialised agency and has been connecting the world since 1865.
Bezzina was joined at the summit by Abi Gooch, the Global Corporate Responsibility Strategy Leader at Ernst & Young, Adma Rahman, Head of Entrepreneurship Innovation Centre, Ministry for Education, Brunei, Rosario Huaranaca Quispe, Generation Connect Youth Envoy, Bolivia, Prof Russel Smith, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation, University of Malta, and Zhuoyong Shi, Generation Connect Youth Envoy, China.