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Saul Marquez:
Hey, everybody! It’s Saul Marquez with the Outcomes Rocket, and I want to welcome you back to another episode. Today, I am privileged to have Dr. Dylan Attard on the podcast. He is a dynamic and accomplished physician with a background in surgery. He currently holds a prominent position leading the Med-Tech World Summit out of Malta. Driven by an unwavering passion for startups and entrepreneurship, he firmly believes that these ventures hold the potential to address the world’s most pressing issues. And I completely agree with him. It’s the small companies, the ones that are innovating for our future and making the biggest difference. So, Dylan, thanks for joining me today. I’m excited to share more with our community about you and the work that you’re up to.
Dr. Dylan Attard:
Likewise, and thanks for having me. I’m genuinely looking forward to the conversation.
Saul Marquez:
Thank you. So, Dylan, look, one of the things that I really, and I’ll pause here for a second and say, kind of cool, right? You’re in Malta, I’m in Puerto Rico, sort of two islands. We were having a chat about living on islands, and super cool. I’ve never had a chance to go to Malta, and I look forward to one day, maybe to the conference. But tell us about you and Malta and why you guys are so engaged in the future of health.
Dr. Dylan Attard:
Yeah, sure. So, I mean, when it comes to myself, I graduated as a doctor in 2017, worked a couple of years as a foundation trainee in Malta’s local hospital, then went on to specialize in surgery. But when it comes to Med-Tech and digital health, they have always been my kind of passion, hobbies of mine, and they always wanted to do something outside clinical work because I always felt a little bit restricted working in a clinical world, tending to one patient at a time, even though I loved it and I still miss working in surgery, but as I wanted to do something on a bigger scale and I’ve always been into events, I’ve always recognized the power of events and connecting people. So I tried to do a one plus one, events plus healthcare, digital health, Med-Tech, and obviously the island; I’m from Malta, which is a magnificent island in the Middle of the Mediterranean, very much open to accommodating any types of technologies, be it AI, blockchain, and eventually, now we’re starting to recognize the potential of digital health and Med-Tech, and that’s where the Malta Med-Tech Summit, that’s how it came about, basically.
Saul Marquez:
Love that, yeah. Thank you for sharing that, Dylan. And you know, it’s that idea of, like, man, I love adding value at the bedside, but there’s so much more that I could do. And I think there’s a lot of very talented physicians and clinical folks out there that want to do the same. But it’s hard to do, right? It’s hard to make that jump from what you know and what you’ve studied so long to sort of making an impact at the level that you’ve been able to. So congratulations on being able to make that jump. As you think about and sort of share with everyone what Med-Tech World is all about, talk to us about the focus areas and maybe even key verticals that you guys are most interested in exploring.
Dr. Dylan Attard:
Sure, so I mean, the conference’s main aim is ultimately to promote Malta as an emerging tech hub island. So Malta is trying to nurture an ecosystem, a thriving ecosystem of companies working both in Med-Tech, so purely medical devices, as well as digital health technologies. And through the conference, especially throughout the several roadshow events we’re doing throughout the year, be it from Dubai to Toronto, Belgrade, the Hague, London, and Istanbul, throughout these satellite events, we’re getting to promote the Malta Med-Tech World Summit and, in parallel, getting to promote Malta as a potential hub for these companies to set up an office here, an R&D hub, or anything they need. When it comes to the advantages of companies seeking to do this in Malta, I mean there’s plenty. The fact that it’s an island like we’re discussing, everyone is connected to each other. There’s one big main hospital catering for at least 600,000 patients. We speak English, and it’s actually our first language, our, one of our official languages together with Maltese. There’s euros, our currency, because we’re still, as in we’re a European Union country. So, all these benefits help us attract companies working in both Med-Tech and digital health to set up here and to venture, not just about trying to get them here to say that we that ten companies opened, but we’re trying to give them access to the local hospitals, to the local clinics, get them to test based their solutions, be it medical devices, digital health solutions, before eventually, they can open in bigger cities. So Malta is, one of Malta’s main benefits is it acts as a perfect island to test based solutions, and that’s what we’re that’s what we’re promoting.
Saul Marquez:
That’s fantastic. As far as infrastructure and resources and things that particular companies in Med-Tech would be interested in, you know, I mean, think about Puerto Rico, right? I mean, we have a ton of pharma and Med-Tech here. There’s manufacturing across the entire island. Is it similar for you guys, the infrastructure and the capability over there?
Dr. Dylan Attard:
It is, and be it from the manufacturing perspective, especially when it comes to the R&D as well as when it comes to the local government authorities and entities setting up different offices and different entities to be able to test-base their solutions. For example, recently, one of Malta’s main entities, the Malta Digital Innovation Authority, MDIA, launched a sandbox program in which companies who are developing some kind of solutions can apply, get their solutions tested and regulated by this sandbox program of MDIA, get them European approved, approved, and eventually be able to launch it anywhere. So that’s another benefit, for example.
Saul Marquez:
That’s fantastic. Thank you. And as you think about the ways that you’ve been able to add value to the ecosystem, can you share with us some examples?
Dr. Dylan Attard:
I think when I first set out to do the conference and to organize the Med-Tech World Summit in Malta or anywhere else where we were planning to continue launching and doing a roadshow events, I had one one premise in mind: that every company, every startup deserves to be funded. And they can come across loads of startups and companies, especially those who are being funded by healthcare, healthcare practitioners, people who are not into business, but they’ve worked, and they’ve worked in, at a hospital, in a clinic, for a number of years. They’ve recognized that there’s a particular need and a particular department at their hospital, they went out to come up with a startup to come up with an idea to solve a problem, Aad they have a prototype, or they have a solution which is actually ready to go to the market. From there, especially if they’re not coming from a business background, they wouldn’t know who to speak to or what to do with the idea to actually take it off. And I mean, we all know the competitive industry we are, especially given the current, um, backgrounds when it comes to investments and money. So I think one of the, what I’d want to promote, especially through the Med-Tech World Summit or any other event, is that these companies can come to us. We’re trying to get to know each and every one of especially when it comes to our guests. I think this is one of our benefits, actually, that I’m not looking to be organizing any massive trade shows at this stage. We’re looking to organize an event, events on a smaller scale with a greater calibre of people. So that will get to know each and everyone on a 1-to-1 kind of basis and then be able to loop them in and connect them, be it with VCs, accelerators, hospitals, whoever they want to be connected with in order to further propel their startup.
Saul Marquez:
That’s really great. Thank you, Dylan. And so, are you thinking, and just to kind of fine-tune this a little bit more for our listeners, is it, are the investors that are engaged with you on this conference and the project, are they mainly focused on companies in Europe, or are they also interested in US companies?
Dr. Dylan Attard:
The majority would be interested in both. I mean, obviously, you’ll find some VCs who are mostly focused either in North America, possibly, or in Europe. But when it comes to healthcare, we’re trying to push beyond boundaries. When it comes to startups who have been founded in Europe, they all have their eyes set on eventually launching in the US because that’s obviously a much bigger market, and they’ll be able to reach higher numbers. But we’re trying to work across the globe, especially when it comes to investments and startups. Now, for the Malta Med-Tech World Summit, it in no way revolves around solely the Maltese ecosystem because, essentially, we already know Malta’s a small island, there’s obviously very limited market opportunities. And when I initially set out to do the conference and organize a conference, a massive conference in Malta, everyone was telling me, but there’s barely any industry there, why would people want to go there? But we’re actually trying to maximize on Malta’s very good location in the middle of the Mediterranean, is connected with mainland Europe, with the UK, with North Africa, with the Middle East, to get people from across the globe come to this event, come to Malta, seek new connections, and eventually take it on from there.
Saul Marquez:
Love it. Thank you for that. So, folks, if you’re a Med-Tech company looking to get some interested investors into the work that you’re doing, it’s the conference, but also it’s bigger than that, right? There’s an opportunity to engage with Dylan and his team and the partner investors that are engaged to consider the work that you and your company are doing. So definitely check them out. We’ll leave ways to connect with Dylan and his team in the show notes of today’s podcast. Dylan, look, man, I really appreciate you jumping on our podcast today. If there is one call to action that you would leave our listeners with, what would it be? And then, what’s the best place to get in touch with you and your team?
Dr. Dylan Attard:
So I think I’d encourage everyone to seek beyond their comfort zone. I mean, for me to take a step, to pause my clinical training, to pause surgery, it took months of thinking about this idea, thinking about this decision that I’m going to leave behind. I was the first generation doctor within my family, so it was even more pressure on me to continue down that route. But finally, I mean, eventually, I took the decision, and I’m here. I’ve been touring the world over the past couple of months. I’ve made hundreds of connections from across the globe. I usually joke with my friends that wherever I go on a holiday, I’m able to meet people for a coffee, lunch, or whatever. So it’s like I’m living in one big international city, and this is all done because I’ve had the courage enough to seek beyond my comfort zone and take a decision. And if, at the end of the day, it doesn’t work out, be it in one way or another, I’m sure everyone will find their own path in one way or another. To reach me, I’m, I try to respond to every LinkedIn message so, and I actually list down everyone I speak to on LinkedIn and in my own database on an Excel sheet, which I have. So I don’t, I keep track. I don’t lose track of anyone I connect with. So I’d encourage people to just add me on LinkedIn, and we’ll take it on from there.
Saul Marquez:
Love it. Well, Dylan, thank you. And folks, we’ll leave a link to Dylan’s LinkedIn as well as the website so you guys can engage with him and the group that he’s in charge of there. Dylan, thank you so much for your time today, and great to connect and learn about what you’re up to, what Malta is up to, and the opportunities for health Med-Tech startups with you and the work that you’re doing. Thank you, man.
Dr. Dylan Attard:
Thank you. It’s been a pleasure, and hope to be able to welcome you to Malta after, at the end of the day, later on this year.
Saul Marquez:
I Look forward to it. I Look forward to it. Thanks, Dylan.
Dr. Dylan Attard:
Bye, take care.
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