Feasibility Studies (innovation feasibility studies, Malta)

What it funds

The cost of an outsourced feasibility study on an innovative idea: market, costs and revenue, economic impact, technical risks and the final decision. The study must fall within one of the six areas of Malta's smart specialization strategy, including Future Digital Technologies, so a software, data or AI project can qualify. The aid intensity decreases with company size. The rules are in the Guidance Notes V2.4.

Requirements and what is left out

• Be an SME or a small mid-cap with an economic activity and a project in Malta or Gozo.
• The study's subject must fall within the 2021-2027 smart specialization strategy.
• The process starts with a concept note stating the starting and target technology readiness levels; only an accepted concept note opens the full application.
• All services must be bought from outside, and the study must be completed within six months of the Grant Agreement, unless a justified extension is granted.
• The grant ceiling applies to the sum of all approved applications of the company.
• Proof of the means to cover the private share is required, and work cannot start before the award.
• No other public funding on the same activities; VAT, training and in-kind contributions are left out.
• Excluded: companies in difficulty, tobacco, gambling, public bodies, and those that offer or can produce these studies in-house.

How to apply

1. Read the Guidance Notes and check that the project falls within one of the strategy's areas.
2. Write the concept note with problem, solution, technology readiness, market, risks, team and budget, and email it to the address on the scheme's fondi.eu page.
3. If the concept note is accepted, submit the full application with the decision received, the tax certificates and audited accounts.
4. Sign the Grant Agreement and only then start the study.

What this budget builds

For an idea built on data or AI, the study is worth as much as its technical part: whether the data it needs exists and at what quality, which architecture can carry the product, what it takes to go from a prototype to an MVP and at what cost. I work on that part, with the technical risks written so that the study's final decision can be defended in front of whoever funds it.

This entry is informational and is not advice: I do not handle grant applications, and before committing to a purchase it is worth reading the official source above or talking to whoever files the application.