MALTA Law and Practice Contributed by: Dr Josef Cachia Fenech Gonzi and Cherise Abela Grech, GTG Legal
GTG Legal 66 Old Bakery Street Valletta VLT 1454 Malta Tel: +356 2124 2713 Email: info@gtg.com.mt Web: www.gtg.com.mt
1. Trends 1.1 VC Market
attracted over EUR13 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) from January-June 2024, resulting in Malta’s total stock of FDI totalling approximately EUR466 billion at the time. Local and foreign start-ups continue to invest in Malta due to several key government-promoted incen - tives or favourable legal frameworks. This makes Malta an ideal jurisdiction for VC growth, which has seen significant increases in recent years. Malta has not been particularly affected by the globally subdued VC market due to the small size of its economy, and while VC in Malta is still considered to be at its infancy, the jurisdic - tion has immense potential for VC investors to invest in Malta-based companies. Malta already provides significant assistance to start-ups, with the Malta Enterprise managing numerous pro - grammes and incentive schemes to encourage local investment. Such incentives have taken a significant drive forward in 2024, with the Maltese government issuing the Seed Invest - ment Scheme, which allows eligible compa - nies access to up to EUR250,000 in tax credits, and Start-Up Finance Schemes, which provide assistance to a maximum of EUR1.5 million. These schemes are coupled with wider financ - ing opportunities as the government has also announced the creation of a EUR10 million VC fund to assist innovative start-ups. There are
From the publicly disclosed transactions, the largest VC-related transaction pertains to Xen - sam, which is a technology provider of AI-driv - en cloud-based software asset management. It raised USD40m in growth funding from Expedi - tion Growth Capital. Additionally, AirX Charter which is a Malta-based luxury charter airline closed a Series A funding round and has suc - cessfully raised approximately USD35 million to acquire four additional aircrafts. The company is also preparing for a larger Series B funding round. As for exists, High Roller Technologies which is a US-based company with a strong Maltese pres - ence, filed with the Securities Exchange Com - mission in the United States to raise USD14 mil - lion in an initial public offering. 1.2 Key Trends Malta has always been a pivotal jurisdiction for start-ups and SMEs and has seen substan - tial growth in the past decade from a number of key industries. With Malta’s focus on spe - cific high-value sectors, Malta has managed to attract significant foreign investment. It is thus no surprise that in the first half of 2024, Malta
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