Upcycled towels and hearing tech win top student entrepreneurship prize

A mini-company upcycling beach towels and a start-up producing batteries for hearing implants are this year’s winners of the JA Malta Entrepreneurship  Finals.

The two student teams will now travel to Riga in Latvia to represent Malta at Gen-E, Europe’s largest entrepreneurship festival for young people.

Xuga, from Verdala International School, took top honours in the Company Programme Category, for their range of upcycled beach towels which were transformed into clothing and accessories.

KinetiHear claimed the Start-Up Programme title for producing self-sustaining battery systems for hearing implant users.

The start-up KinetiHear claimed the top prize in their category for producing self-sustaining batteries for hearing implants. Photo: JA Malta

Both teams were evaluated by an independent panel of industry professionals and business leaders.

At Gen-E, they will compete alongside student teams from across Europe and showcase Maltese entrepreneurial talent on an international stage.

The final event brought together students, educators, business leaders, and partners to recognise the achievements of young people who developed and presented innovative business concepts throughout the academic year. Teams addressed real-world challenges through sustainable, technology-driven, and socially conscious ideas.

JA Malta CEO Matthew Caruana praised the “remarkable depth of thinking and resilience” of the participants.

“Seeing students take an idea from concept to a fully pitched business – with a real product, a real team, and real judges – is exactly what JA Malta exists to create,” Caruana said.

JA Malta has been delivering experiential learning programmes to Maltese youth since 1989, covering entrepreneurship, financial literacy, work readiness, and employability for students aged 7 to 30. The organisation is part of JA Worldwide, ranked among the four most impactful NGOs globally.