The second round of the popular INCrowd project is set to take a select number of young people on a fully funded trip to an international crowdfunding academy in Padua, Italy, this November.

Applications for the Erasmus+ EU project officially opened on July 18, giving young people across Malta and Gozo a valuable opportunity to make their ideas and projects a reality. Launched by the Foundation for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Initiatives (FPEI) and Zaar Crowdfunding Malta, INCrowd is eligible for those aged between 18 and 30 years old, who are Maltese nationals or hold Maltese citizenship or a residence permit.

Selected participants will receive full-day training sessions in Malta, with lunch and coffee breaks included, on 2, 3, 5 and 6 September. Meanwhile, they will benefit from expert support and external promotional resources to help them launch their project’s campaign on Malta’s only reward-based crowdfunding platform, Zaar.

A select number of participants will also have the chance to grow their idea further at the Padua-based crowdfunding academy in November, among other promising young entrepreneurs from Europe.

“We are delighted to once again offer this incredible opportunity to young people in Malta and Gozo who have an idea or a project in mind and need help to get it off the ground,” says Zaar Manager Giselle Borg Olivier. “The first INCrowd project was hugely successful, whereby a group of young entrepreneurs learnt from, and networked with, like-minded individuals at a Brussels crowdfunding academy. We can’t wait to repeat that success and put Malta on the international business map for a second time.”

The INCrowd project continues FPEI’s mission, which was set up by the Malta Business Bureau (MBB) and the University of Malta, to promote entrepreneurship on the island through providing the tools and creating exciting local and international initiatives. FPEI introduced crowdfunding to Malta through its launch of Zaar, so that local entrepreneurs can easily access start-up or scale-up funds, as well as enjoy the marketing and networking benefits of a wide-reaching platform.

Interested applicants for the INCrowd project are invited to complete an online application form at https://forms.gle/5F7BKVeJCSfDgfkv5