The Takeoff Seed Fund Award (TOSFA) competition recently distributed €100,000 worth of government funds – 40 per cent for proof of concept applications and 60 per cent for seed fund applications.

Among the recipients, Simone Cutajar, a student on the Master’s in Knowledge Based Entrepreneurship (MEnt), was awarded €22,000 for her business proposal which is based upon the work of David Mifsud and Mark Scerri. After extensive research and development, Mifsud developed production processes for cheese-making using a range of microbial ‘cocktails’ designed to create a variety of cheeses from goat and sheep milk. “The TOSFA is instrumental for us to take ‘Fromagg’ to the next level and start commercialising the intellectual property and know-how that we have accumulated over the last few years,” said Cutajar.

The award is instrumental for us to take ‘Fromagg’ to the next level and start commercialising the intellectual property and know-how we have accumulated- Simone Cutajar

She explained how the MEnt programme at the University of Malta’s Centre for Entrepreneurship & Business Incubation (CEBI) helped her to secure the funding in a very competitive environment. The course is designed to impart knowledge to science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (STEAM) graduates, to guide them into becoming successful entrepreneurs and to help launch their own business ventures.

She said: “I had actually applied for the TOSFA grant a year prior to starting the MEnt. I didn’t even make the first cut of the selection.” She then spoke to Take Off Incubation manager Joseph Bartolo about her application and realised that although her idea was good, her business strategy left a lot to be desired.

She said the MEnt programme went beyond teaching her how to refine her pitching skills and into the sustainable budget management of the funding received. “The MEnt teaches people how to make the best of every opportunity, and the comradeship of the alumni, the academics and the members and manager at Take Off is priceless,” Cutajar said.

CEBI director Russell Smith: The Master’s in Knowledge Based Entrepreneurship equips students to plan, fund and launch a new business venture.

Russell Smith, director of the University of Malta’s Centre for Entrepreneurship & Business Incubation (CEBI), said: “The Master in Knowledge-Based Entrepreneurship is unique at the university in that it equips students with the know-how and tools to plan, fund and launch a new business venture. Raising start-up funding is an important part of that process and CEBI is proud of the achievements of Simone and wishes her venture continued success for the future.”