Entrepreneurship has long been recognised as a key driver of economic growth, with startups bringing the best and brightest ideas to breathe life into national economies. 

With rising interest rates and global economic uncertainty, it’s become more important than ever for these startups to meet the right partners when it comes to financial backing.

SiGMA Europe will see the coming together of more than 30 leading investors in the startup field, providing a unique opportunity for these early-stage companies to get their ideas in front of those who hold the purse strings. 

Taking place in Malta from Nov. 14-18th, startups will get the opportunity to pitch their ideas and to network with investors with experience in all four of SiGMAs verticals – igaming, affiliates, fintech and med-tech. 

SiGMA Group’s own venture fund, Ikigai Ventures, will be front and centre in hosting and helping to nurture connections. A seed-stage venture fund, Ikigai is made up of industry insiders and focuses on both gaming and frontier technologies. 

Nurturing startup talent

Among its most recent initiatives is a partnership with Dubai-based 3air, a startup aiming to connect billions of users to Web3, by combining high-speed broadband internet with a blockchain-based platform. 

Other prominent blockchain investors attending the event include, Fidelity Ventures, Cypher Capital, Cointelligence, Sky9 Capital, Brotherhood Ventures and Scrum Ventures. 

These highly established funds have raised billions in financing for investments in disruptive technologies around the globe, nurturing successful start-ups such as San Francisco-based electric vehicle finder app Lime, which was one of the youngest companies to have hit the $1 billion valuation mark.

They will be present at the event to discuss opportunities and how they might partner with the more than 100 startups attending. 

The next unicorns?

Aside from Ikigai, other big name investors in the gaming space convening at the event include Yolo Investments, Happy Hour.io, Kyprock, Burlywood Capital and Valhalla Investments.

Yolo has backed familiar names in iGaming, such as BETEGY, one of the sports betting industry’s most innovative suppliers of automated marketing technology. 

Happyhour.io’s recent investments include Chilean online sportsbook Betsala.com and Livespins, an online firm aiming to socially charge the iGaming space. 

London-based Kyprock focuses on global investments in the regulated gaming and entertainment sector, while Valhalla now boasts more than 100 investments with a primary focus on gaming and support services. 

In the fast-growing world of medical technology, gaining financing for early-stage investments can be a challenge and requires specialists who understand the ups and downs of commercialising cutting-edge healthcare.

Adrian Attard Trevisan, managing director of Umana Medical Technologies and founder of 3 Capital Ventures will be attending and giving one of the keynote addresses at the Med-Tech World conference. 

Med-Tech startup challenges

Octopus Ventures, the U.K.’s most-active health investor and big backer of the biotech world, brings investors with extensive technical backgrounds who have the deep and patient capital needed for extensive R&D needed in a med-tech startup.

Similarly, The Global Health Impact Network and Fund also has a deep understanding of seed companies in the field. Its funds are physician-owned and therefore its investment choices are clinically led. 

The Interface Fund will also be present, combining expertise in investments ranging from gene reprogramming and editing to Metaverse technologies.

Malta-week will also provide a unique opportunity for high-level networking in an exclusive environment. Strictly by invite only, the Ikigai Retreat will be the opportunity for eight highly promising and pre-screened startups to share their vision with 30 qualified venture capitalists and angel investors. The highly exclusive lunch will be held at the Iniala Harbour House on Nov. 14th. 

For the full-list of the high-powered investors attending this event, and details on SiGMA Pitch, please click here. 

Join us: 14 – 18 November for Malta Week

One of the first European countries to regulate the gaming sector, Malta is a hub of global business. The island is an obvious choice for SiGMA’s presence in Europe and a strong foundation for the field’s future. With a plethora of prospects for both investors and entrepreneurs looking to shape the future of this multi-billion dollar business, Malta Week will bring together industry giants among the affiliates, operators, and suppliers of the gaming sector.