Newly-launched Maltese crowdfunding platform asks for up-front participation fee

ZAAR aims to empower local entrepreneurs and creatives by offering a locally-based crowdfunding platform to help them shore up more funding. But the question remains: does this initiative have a real edge over readily-available international alternatives?

Zaar Manager Karl Grech launching the crowdfunding platform at St James Cavalier today • Photo by Ray Attard
Zaar Manager Karl Grech launching the crowdfunding platform at St James Cavalier today • Photo by Ray Attard

Apart from having access to international platforms such as Indiegogo, Maltese entrepreneurs and creatives will now have yet another platform through which to pool in funds for their projects.

Like other international crowdfunding platforms – such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo and GoFundMe – ZAAR will offer users the possibility to ask the public for funds towards their personal project – be it of an entrepreneurial or artistic nature.

But unlike these platforms, ZAAR will ask for a €250 participation fee from those opting to use its services – barring the first 10 projects that will be selected following today’s launch, as well as all arts-related projects.

ZAAR also seeks to address the fact that 30% of local enterprises find it difficult to access the finance they need to develop their products, according to a 2013 study by the Malta Business Bureau.

“ZAAR is the perfect platform for people with good ideas. Besides giving you the money you need to start your business, successful crowdfunding also gives you the confidence you need to preserve and see things through, safe in the knowledge that your idea has the necessary support,” ZAAR manager Karl Grech said during the launch today.

However, asked to elaborate exactly what kind of edge ZAAR would have over other – readily available – crowdfunding platforms, Grech veered away from the hard, statistics-based business discourse that characterized most of the conference up to that point, and took a more anecdotal tack.

“We think that people will like having a more local equivalent with which to deal with,” Grech told MaltaToday.

“We’re initiating this project with the collaboration of Grant Thornton” – a corporate accounting and financial services company whose collaboration with ZAAR was described as being of a “hand-holding” capacity – “and I think local participants would appreciate having access to us directly in order to ask questions and deal with any problems they may have,” Grech said, pointing out that some of the international crowdfunding platforms come with their own barriers – among them the fact that Kickstarter, for instance, requires the applicant to have a US or UK-based account.

“But even when it comes to platforms that don’t have this restriction… like Indiegogo… there’s a risk that Maltese projects may get lost in the mix. We want to highlight the local aspect to ensure these projects have the best visibility.”

Asked about the €250 participation fee, Grech justified this imposition by claiming that it would help ZAAR to weed out the serious candidates from those less ready to get fully behind their project.

“We want people who are entirely committed to what they’re presenting, and we think placing this kind of clause will help us determine that…”

But surely, previous crowdfunding ventures have shown that lackluster projects get ‘naturally’ flushed out through the democratic nature of the whole initiative?

“Possibly… guess we’ll have to see how it all goes!” Grech said.

ZAAR is spearheaded by the Foundation for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Initiatives (FPEI), which was set up jointly by the Malta Business Bureau (MBB) and the University of Malta. This initiative is also supported by the Ministry for Economy, Investment and Small Business and the Arts Council Malta.

ZAAR will also be running workshops to help entrepreneurs make use of the platform. More information will be made available on the website – www.zaar.com.mt – and the initiative’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/zaar.com.mt