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About Us

Greatness isn’t born, it’s grown, 
and we provide the right ingredients.

We’re a team of professionals with different backgrounds, but we’re united behind a belief that where there’s nourishment, talent follows.

Our mission is straightforward: to give budding entrepreneurs in Malta and Gozo the ingredients they need to
 GROW.

Helping Start-Ups Reach New Heights


Heartened by the fantastic outcomes of previous editions, our team has been working hard to prepare for Pitchora’s third edition. The number of sponsors has increased, the prizes are bigger, but Pitchora’s goal remains unchanged: To bring forward-thinking entrepreneurs in Malta and Gozo one step closer to spreading their ideas far and wide.

With a prize fund worth over €50,000 that includes an equity-free cash tip of €10000, free mentorship, access to premium educational courses, free consultancy from Malta’s leading brands, and best-in-class workspaces, Pitchora’s winners are able to benefit from a broad spectrum of resources that cover all the bases required to make sure their story is a success.

The freedom to fail is key to success, and that’s why we’re serious about making sure that Pitchora is worth the effort for everyone who participates.

Even if an applicant does not make it to the top three and earn a cash prize, Pitchora is still a fantastic opportunity to obtain valuable feedback from business leaders, make valuable connections in the local start-up ecosystem, and join a community of budding inventors and risk-takers.

Community is essential to healthy competition, and Pitchora’s underlying goal is to bring start-ups in Malta together and enable the exchange of knowledge, experiences and point of views.

 

Our Mission


We want to support founders who have drive and determination, but are limited by lack of funds.

I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops. 

– Stephen Jay Gould.

Malta doesn’t have sweatshops or cotton fields, but it has a multitude of talented individuals who lack the financial stability required to take the next step in their journey as innovators. If we can just help just one person develop a start-up idea they would have otherwise given up on due to lack of funds, then we’re happy.

Our Values


To safeguard the ideas of the innovators  who choose to participate at Pitchora and the integrity of the competition, confidentiality takes centre stage at Pitchora. From submission to panel review, only a selected handful of persons get access to the business plans of our applicants. 

The Selection Committee members, the audience present within the hall and the panel of Judges all sign tight NDAs before any data is shared. Our commitment to confidentiality extends to everyone at Pitchora – including the founder! 

The confluence of two philosophies guide many of our decisions at Pitchora: First, the key to success is the freedom to fail and second, community is essential to healthy competition. We try to keep in mind these two tenets at all times. 

 

Our Journey

 
Having achieved a multitude of admirable milestones as managing director at  multifaceted professional services provider FirstBridge, Dean Micallef created Pitchora to pay it forward. 

From working as a financial auditor with Big Four audit firm Deloitte, to then taking up the role as Group CFO of the Attard & Co Industrial Group, which comprises of 14 entities spanning various industries, Dean Micallef has become renowned for his hard-work, focus and great sense of integrity.  

Under Dean’s direction, Firstbridge actively assisted start-ups in raising finance, developing their business model and offering a range of tailor-made services according to their requirements. Now, Dean and fellow colleague Jessica Camilleri are working side by side to make Pitchora a first-class incubator for Maltese talent. 

Pitchora’s annual event kicked off for the very first time in 2021 and turned out to be a great success. 10 promising start-ups pitched their projects to the Panel of Judges and the top 3 finalists emerged as the winners of the competition, earning the Start-up Booster Prize Fund.

The Top 3 Pitchora 2021 Winners were:

The Top 3 Pitchora 2022 Winners were:

Meanwhile, MyMama has won several awards, including:

  • Best SAAS start-up award by GO
  • Best female start-up award by Fe/male Switch
  • Best customer oriented award by Vibe

Success stories is what we’re about, and we couldn’t be prouder of our growing list of winners. Pitchora’s first winner, grocery shopping and delivery app Grocerly, is steadily reinventing how people in Malta and Gozo shop. Meanwhile, last year’s Pitchora Winner, Malta-based maritime emissions monitoring start-up Marine Hound, went on to secure €100,000 in funding and partner up with international organisations such as DigiCirc and ClimAccelerator.