From a Maltese bar to a room with sharks: we arrived at Shark Tank Malta.
Who would have thought that one day, two friends and fellow students in Malta, who conceived an innovative business idea over drinks in a local bar on the island, would be standing in the room of a big-name show like Shark Tank, presenting their idea in the big leagues of business in Malta.
Boom Studies was born at the end of 2019 as Boom Malta. Joaquín Pinto Ferrand (CEO) and Juan Manuel Ruíz (COO), our founders, met in Malta as international MBA students. Both Latin Americans, young entrepreneurs, matured a business idea that was born between drinks, fun and a deep discussion about the experiences that they and other friends of the group had lived on the island in their process of preparation, arrival, installation and adaptation.
The list of problems was extensive, all with one thing in common: lack of information and support. All agreed that their frustrations, uncertainty and sometimes fear, had limited their experience as international students in Malta. From this analysis the question arises, why not develop a service that alleviates these problems, minimises the risks and can give peace of mind to the thousands of students who come to Malta every year?
1. Clear market opportunities and a well-defined mission, all that Shark Tank needs.
Shark Tank is a programme that looks for entrepreneurs and promising projects in which its protagonists (the sharks) can invest, not just any idea or business makes it to this programme. Boom Studies is a platform that connects, which aims to provide support to people who want to study abroad and the opportunity to find, compare and choose in the most successful way possible, language studies and/or higher education, as well as all the complementary services they require in their project: accommodation, insurance, visa, entertainment, etc.
In 2020, Boom was just a small start-up made up of no more than 4 people, all Latin Americans facing the difficulties that any non-European foreigner who wants to start a business on that side of the world faces. But with a well-defined mission and a great spirit of innovation. At the beginning, they were in charge of everything: advising students, preparing trips, accompanying them in their migratory processes, even picking them up from the airport. To have created a company that seeks to change lives through education and contribute to more people having a successful international experience requires a great commitment.
Today, when we see our founders answering the questions of the business sharks with solvency, we feel proud. It is true that the financial investment, one of the objectives of participating in Shark Tank, was not obtained, however, Boom Studies has always been characterised as a company that perseveres and rescues the positive from circumstances that, for others, could be discouraging.
2. Swimming in such dangerous waters, Shark Tank waters.
To participate in this programme, in addition to having a good business idea and knowing it very well, you need to have the ability to face challenging scenarios and in this field, Boom Studies was more than prepared.
Of course, this was not the first major challenge. Boom Studies was born just 6 months before the pandemic. In March 2020, global borders were closed, travel was limited, and many new and old ventures met their demise in the midst of this chaos. We, a start-up company, which also depended on people venturing into an educational experience abroad, were not exempt from taking risks - what would we do in the midst of this situation? Just put more energy into it!
It was almost 4 months of uncertainty, during which Malta remained closed. Then the country started to receive international students under strict security measures, and in this context we reinvented ourselves, were flexible, creative and continued to operate.
Anyone who has travelled to study in the pandemic can speak of the great importance, and the difference it made to their project, to have effective support, and we were there to provide it. Along the way, new problems arose for the students due to the health situation, and our commitment was to be that beacon of accurate and honest information for them, with our free immigration advice, we were that support that proposed and sought solutions with which they could travel with peace of mind and confidence that their educational adventure would be a success. We also learned and grew a lot in this process.
Part of our growth has been the development of a programme of free mentoring (our first social responsibility programme in line with our institutional purpose), through which we select and accompany the personal and professional goals of more than 10 young Latin Americans, supporting them to create a networking network relevant to their professional profile, launch successful ventures or position themselves in the international arena, taking advantage of the experience of mentors to make strategic decisions and empower themselves as professionals.
Part of the funds raised for the growth of this dream were achieved in the midst of this global tragedy, new investment partners bet on this project and trusted in its potential. On the other hand, we were able to license our work to the MTA, tourism authority in MaltaIt is the only agency targeting the Latin American market with this certification.
3. Profound changes, for profound results.
We were born as Boom Malta, why did we change our name? By the end of 2021, we had grown significantly, we had agreements with the most important educational institutions in Malta, including exclusivity with the University of Malta for the entire Latin market. After the pandemic, we had secured new funding from Malta Enterprise, a Maltese governmental institution in charge of invigorating the entrepreneurial environment in the country. We had an office in Malta, a customer service team, on-site experience and a larger number of freelance consultants.
We are excited to say that many of those who joined the team were students who had come to Malta with our advice and who wanted to help other future students have the same successful experience as them. Moreover, we had innovated once again, offering solutions to one of the most recurring problems of our students: Accommodation.
We are never standing still, it was time to think about expanding. In 2022, we became Boom Studies, with the same essence and with our great purpose of contributing to a world where people can fulfil themselves through education and the experience of living abroad, it told us that we should expand our service to other destinations to continue impacting the lives of more people.
4. Beyond Shark Tank, more dreams of growth
Dubai, Ireland and Canada are the countries that we have added to Malta as alternative destinations for language studies and higher education. Today there are around 40 of us working at Boom Studies from different parts of the world. We have in Malta, in addition to the office, a Student Lounge to welcome our students and 10 flats available to international students from all over the world, and we have recently opened our office in Montreal, Canada.
Participating in Shark Tank has been an exciting and challenging experience that has taught us valuable lessons. It is undoubtedly an important milestone in our journey, which encourages us to consolidate our mission, which has already allowed us to accompany many students from all over Latin America in the development of their international education projects.
We are managing, with a lot of effort, to consolidate this great idea conceived by two young Latinos in a Maltese bar, which today also excites all of us who make up this great team, this desire to do our bit and be a fundamental part in the fulfilment of the dreams of many other people. Today we are proud that Shark Tank Malta presents us as "A great pitch", tomorrow, we are sure that we will go all out and the pitch will continue to become a reality. We are grateful for this experience, with which we will continue to multiply dreams. Let's go!
