Grant Nomad x MedTech Malta 2025
A Pre-Summit Note from Arnold Grabocka - Founder & CEO
I founded Grant Nomad in 2022 with a laptop, zero savings, zero clients, and the kind of confidence you usually get from either not knowing what you are getting into or from the Dunning-Kruger effect. There were no investors or grand “save the planet” mission statements, just me and a dangerous level of optimism.
Three short years later, that small beginning has turned into one of the fastest-growing boutique grant writing companies, and we help startups and organizations worldwide find and win grants. To date, we have helped secure over $30 million in grant funding, a financial mechanism (traditionally focused on nonprofits) that can be of massive help to founders as they grow without giving up equity. About 71% of that has gone to for-profits in fields like (but not limited to) MedTech, AI, and sustainability.
This November, I’ll be speaking at MedTech World Malta 2025, one of the largest and fastest-growing MedTech summits in the world. The event brings together more than 2,000 global attendees, including founders, investors, policymakers, and healthcare innovators from North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East, to share ideas, build partnerships, and shape the future of healthcare innovation.
At MedTech World Malta, I will join a panel to discuss grants and non-dilutive capital, emphasizing how these funding mechanisms can maximize MedTech growth while allowing founders to retain full ownership. I will also examine ways ecosystem participants can streamline the funding process to make it faster, smarter, and more transparent.
For founders, I will concentrate on the earliest development stages when ideas are being tested, validated, and refined into fundable models. Grants at this stage provide time, credibility, and breathing room. Additionally, we strongly support startups in bridging the gap known as the “Death Valley,” a tough phase between R&D and commercialization where funding often runs dry and promising science risks fading away. At Grant Nomad, we assist these teams in identifying suitable programs, writing competitive proposals, managing complex submissions, and building effective compliance systems.
Regarding foundations, I will explore how modern philanthropy can responsibly and safely fund for-profits. Many early-stage MedTech startups function similarly to social enterprises, with a clear charitable mission that undoubtedly benefits the public, but are often excluded from traditional eligibility criteria brought forth by many private foundations, due to the outdated mindset, rather than legal framework, that “companies – bad; non-profits – good”. Reforms in expenditure responsibility and shifts in the broader social enterprise philosophy post-pandemic have now made it easier for foundations to transparently fund startups, turning unused philanthropic capital into innovations that can save lives.
For VCs, I will discuss how non-dilutive funding improves portfolio performance while de-risking investment. Founders who secure grants before raising equity generate more data, validation, and time. That leads to healthier cap tables, stronger valuations, and startups that move through regulatory and market milestones faster. In MedTech, where timelines are long and margins thin, that advantage can decide who scales and who stalls.
At Grant Nomad, we bring all these pieces together. We write and manage grants, research global funding opportunities, support compliance across the US, EU, and Asia, and advise foundations and governments on how to fund for-profits responsibly. Every project we work on connects innovation to the capital it needs to thrive.
Innovation in healthcare shouldn’t rely on luck, and grants should not be seen as just good old charity. They are the infrastructure that sustains good science long enough to reach those who need it most.
