Money goes where the good ideas are, but what makes a good idea is constantly shifting. Between AI, changing consumer behaviour, and new models for ownership, the old rules don’t hold up anymore.
At Music Summit Malta, the Investment & Capital track brings together the people placing the bets, from investors deciding where capital goes next, to the founders building the next big thing.
Day 1
01 / 03 / Day 1
Betting on Music’s Next Decade - Where will the next generation of value in music come from?
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Music has always been both art and business, but the ways we create, discover, experience and build businesses around it are changing.
Moderated by Turo Pekari, this session brings together investors, founders, and industry leaders to make the big bets: where the strongest opportunities lie over the next decade, where capital will move, and what may prove to be more hype than substance.
Pekari is joined by Rithik Kundu, Managing Partner at Joker Deck Ventures, which focuses on funding emerging music and audio technology ventures at the pre-seed stage.
John Acquaviva is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Plus Eight Equity Partners, offering advice through a strategic and operational lens to innovative music technology companies. With four decades of experience as a world-class DJ, he’s also played a massive part in bring ing Final Scratch (later TraktorScratch) to the market, as well as co-founded Beatport.
Maria Galea, President of the Malta Entertainment and Arts Association (MEIA) and founder of ARTZ ID, brings a cultural and policy viewpoint to helping creative enterprises become sustainable. As an advisor, curator and mentor to emerging creatives, Galea sits at the intersection of strategy and creativity.
As music enters a period of fundamental change with AI, shifting consumer behaviour, and new approaches to creativity and ownership, assumptions about where future value will be created are being challenged. This panel explores where the biggest opportunities will emerge over the next decade — from artists, songs and live experiences to new companies, audiences and markets.
Day 2
02 / 03 / Day 2
Why Music Companies Choose Places · startups who relocated
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Music businesses are increasingly choosing locations based on access to talent, funding, regulation, connectivity and quality of life.
Turo Pekari is joined by Jenny Björk, CEO of Nordic Music Tech, leading the ecosystem by bridging music innovation, technology, and capital across the Nordics and Europe, curating high-profile events in partnership with organisations like Google, Stockholm Business Region, and KTH — a direct look at what it takes to build a music-tech hub from the ground up.
Pierre Blaise Dionet, creative entrepreneur and digital artist, founded award-winning art and innovation studio CityShake and co-founded Synegram, technology described by the World Intellectual Property Organization as "a new universal language for music.” He has taken his work from France to stages like World Expo Osaka and SXSW.
Mark Dieler has spent over two decades working at the intersection of hospitality, events, and cultural development throughout Europe and East Africa. He now runs networking initiatives with organisations like In Place of War and Tallinn Music Week. He's currently building an artist residency in Sicily and co-founded AMARI, a network of rural Mediterranean artist residencies exploring circular-economy models for island and Mediterranean music scenes.
Nikki Camilleri, a Forbes 30 Under 30 music executive and founder of consultancy mana, has worked across Warner Music, Believe, and Glastonbury Festival at the intersection of marketing, tech, and IP, and now manages repertoire and campaigns for major artists at BMG. Originally from Malta but London-based for over 12 years, she brings the perspective of someone who left Malta, but still actively works to strengthen its music ecosystem.
This discussion draws on international examples to explore what makes ecosystems globally competitive and how emerging markets can attract founders, investors, and creative companies.
03 / 03 / Day 2
Cool Product, Bad Business? - What separates an exciting music-tech idea from an investable company?
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Music tech has no shortage of clever products, but turning innovation into a sustainable and scalable business is much harder than it seems.
Moderated by Rithik Kundu, this session brings founders and investors together to look beyond the pitch deck, and what founders need to prove before someone writes the cheque.
Ken Lythgoe brings over twenty years of business development across AI music and fintech, including corporate development roles at DAACI and MXX and multiple exits by acquisition. He's currently a Fellow at TMC2 Global, a UK-based venture studio, and Corporate Development Officer at Emotional Perception AI Ltd.
Jonathan Shaw built his career on post-merger business transformation, most notably as Executive Chair and later CEO of Retail Marketing Limited, where he led the merger and rebrand into Welbee's supermarkets and oversaw a transformation that grew market share and expanded its store footprint. He stepped down in late 2024 to launch Hatten M&A Advisory, bringing global M&A experience spanning Malta, Sydney, and New York.
Taj Khan, of Amplitude Ventures, manages portfolio strategy and identifies promising startups for investment, working closely with founders and investors on positioning, growth, and investment readiness. Deeply embedded in the European music-tech scene, he speaks and mentors across platforms like Slush, BIME, and Sónar+D, and hosts Sound of Startups, a podcast on founders and the realities of building companies.
What makes investors believe a company can grow? Where do music startups struggle with market size, business models, rights, sales cycles and monetisation? This panel aims to target these questions, exploring what truly makes a music tech company investable.
Head over to Music Summit Malta on the 8th and 9th of October, and hear straight from the people closing the deals.
