Deadline Date: December 18, 2025
The Arts Council Malta’s strategy for the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) recognises the need to help create an environment where cultural and creative enterprises can find targeted support to help them grow sustainably.
The focus areas of this opportunity are a healthy ecosystem for CCS operators through research and development initiatives, seed funding, capacity building, three-year funding, research and develop ideas, preliminary business planning, SWOT analysis or internal capacity analysis, value chain analysis, pre-incubation research, innovation demonstration, product research, market and competition analysis, capacity building and incubation programme, support of industry experts to improve plans, three years of activities including qualifying operating costs, empower cultural entrepreneurs to generate cultural, economic and social capital, support artists to establish sustainable economic practices, create an environment.
The session budget is structured across three phases, each with corresponding maximum eligible amounts for individual projects. Phase 1 has a total budget of EUR 50,000, with a maximum eligible amount of EUR 2,000 per project. Phase 2 also has a budget of EUR 50,000, allowing up to EUR 5,000 per beneficiary. Phase 3 maintains the same overall budget of EUR 50,000, with a significantly higher maximum eligible amount of EUR 150,000 per project.
That supports new opportunities for the cultural and creative sectors, incentivise innovative projects leading to commercial operations and improved creative services and products, alleviate costs and risks associated with research and development, incentivise technical capabilities for competitiveness and sustainability, increase opportunities for professionalisation and stronger entrepreneurial culture, create an environment for CCI clusters to grow, support the arts through a sustainable and accountable approach, principles contained in the KMA Resource Pack, Right to Culture, inclusivity, implementation of cultural rights, foster artistic development, experimentation and innovation, engage and develop audiences, attract new audiences, create new experiences based on excellence, community-based projects, and undertakings carrying out an economic activity within the meaning of Article 107 TFEU.
The CIP fund supports the cultural and creative sectors by encouraging operators to integrate research and development into their long-term strategy. This initiative forms part of KMA’s wider commitment to strengthening the CCS ecosystem by promoting innovation and sustainability within creative businesses.
The fund is implemented through three phases, beginning with seed funding that enables operators to explore research-based ideas and develop early-stage concepts. In this phase, the first 25 eligible applicants receive financial support to conduct activities such as business planning, market research and innovation exploration, after which they must submit a detailed report outlining their work.
Eligible applicants include creative professionals, entities registered with the Malta Business Registry, groups and collectives, cooperatives and voluntary organisations involved in economic activities as defined under Article 107 TFEU.
For more information, visit Arts Council Malta.
