David Sciberras knows a thing or two about scaling a bootstrapped business.

Back in 2018, when he and his wife, Alexandra, first set up their makeshift production line in their kitchen, the machines sat on the dining table and countertops, whirring away as they experimented with printing small objects for clients who found them through Etsy and Facebook. “The start was typical, homegrown,” he says. “We bought machines, and we started 3D printing objects.” What began as a hobbyist operation run alongside their full-time jobs as an engineer and pharmacist has since grown into Invent 3D, Malta’s leading additive-manufacturing company.

Today, Invent 3D runs more than 200 printers in its own factory building, employs a team of 14 and is on track for seven-figure turnover. The company’s story is not just about scale but David Sciberras knows a thing or two about scaling a bootstrapped business. about redefining what 3D-printing can mean in a small island nation. “Most print farms in Europe never really see these numbers,” David says. “They remain hobbyist operations. But we figured out a way of marketing and selling the product, not just the service. We took it out of startup land and into company land.”

For David, entrepreneurship is a continuation of how he’s always lived. As a teenager, he built guitars to sell, taught lessons and designed robots. Invent 3D, however, forced him to professionalize. He and his wife launched the company just before having their second child, and a third child followed soon after. Bootstrapping was their only path forward. “When we tried getting a business loan, we had nothing to put as collateral,” he says. “All I could offer was a thirty-year-old BMW that sometimes started in the morning.”

The lack of capital meant they grew on profit alone. “We thought that’s how everyone did it,” he says. “Apparently not. But looking back, I’m glad we didn’t rely on funding. When times were tough, we already knew how to pull out of it.” Bootstrapping also shaped the company’s culture in subtle ways. It meant David and his wife had to be hands-on with every step of the business. “I used to do everything,” he says. He not only did the marketing, sales and emails, he also physically assembled and delivered orders himself. This end-to-end involvement gave him a practical understanding of what each project required and where the bottlenecks emerged, and later, when operations and sales were delegated to a growing team, it gave him the confidence to know exactly what was feasible and what wasn’t.

This early experience also helped him develop a deep resilience that became a defining trait. During COVID, when sales collapsed to zero for three months, Invent 3D pivoted to produce visors for hospitals, donating 10,000 units to frontline staff. This lean approach shaped Invent 3D’s finances and defined its entire mindset. Every project had to justify itself from the outset, with a clear customer need and a direct path to revenue. There was no buffer for speculative R&D or trial-and-error experiments that might pay off years later. “Everything we put out there was created with the vision of being successful,” David says. “We didn’t have any money to burn.” That meant prioritizing efficiency, reusing resources whenever possible and treating each client order as both a test case and a proof of concept. Over time, Invent 3D built a culture where ideas were evaluated for creativity as well as for sustainability and profitability – a filter that kept the company alive in its most fragile years.

As Invent 3D matured, the company’s ambitions grew beyond client projects. David co-created ELM Fabrication with another engineer, Ing Nicholas Borg Calleja, developing a large-format 3D printer capable of producing furniture, construction materials and even sections of housing. Measuring two by two by six meters, the machine can print objects as large as a one-bedroom flat in a single piece. It also runs on recycled plastics, grinding down bottles and production waste to create a closed loop.

The company has also spun out new ventures from academic collaborations. One project, born from a Research Project at the University of Malta, is developing highperformance 3D printers for aerospace and defense. “We’re thinking about machines completely developed in Malta, patented from start to finish,” David says. “Using our expertise to take them to market faster.”

This diversification reflects Invent 3D’s ability to spot unmet needs. Whether it’s scale models, film props or event installations, the company specializes in producing what others can’t. “Right now we’re working on two fists of King Kong for an expo,” David says. “They’re a meter tall and a meter and a half wide. You can’t really make that by hand.”

Despite these successes, the early years were full of missteps. “We were naïve about funding, about hiring, about trusting the wrong people,” David says. Lacking business experience, he relied on instinct. It wasn’t until he entered an accelerator program with ELM Fabrication that he realized the value of structured planning. “We figured out how to make a proper business plan, a lean model canvas, all those things that now seem obvious.”

“We know now the product isn’t as important as the delivery. The product you can fix; the delivery you can’t.” Mentorship reinforced this mindset: the focus on execution was sharpened by a six-month program with a seasoned Maltese business leader, where David learned to speed up decision-making. “We created a two-year plan for Invent 3D,” David recalls. “Then my mentor said, let’s do it in six months. It recalibrated the speed at which things should be done.” That early education reshaped how he advises other entrepreneurs now, in his role as chairperson of the Malta Chamber’s Young Chamber Network, which supports entrepreneurs under 40. His motivation stems from his own struggles navigating Malta’s limited ecosystem in the company’s early years. “Back then, there wasn’t much help,” he says. “We didn’t know who to speak to. I want to make the path easier for others.” Through the Chamber’s network, he connects startups with experienced leaders, some of whom even become investors.

When it comes to advice to young founders, he recommends keeping a healthy mindset: young founders, he says, often think they know everything. “What you see on YouTube isn’t always applicable to a small market like Malta,” he says. Above all, he encourages entrepreneurs to develop a thick skin. “We’re culturally quite afraid of new ideas here, of what people might say. As an entrepreneur, you have to forget about that part of your life. You need to put yourself out there.” In his own case, education was key: teaching clients what 3D printing could achieve, fighting the perception that it was just a toy. “Now we’re at the point where we’re more accurate than CNC [computer numerical control] machining – and it’s cheaper and faster.”

For David, Malta’s small size is both an advantage and a challenge. “Anyone you want to speak to is usually a couple of phone calls away,” he says. “And the concentration of industries means you can test ideas locally before going international.” At the same time, staying small isn’t an option. “You can’t create a successful business here if your vision is to stay local. You always have to look abroad.”

That global outlook is shaping Invent 3D’s next chapter: franchising. David envisions a network of agile factories that can replicate the Maltese model abroad. “We’re calling it factory-as-a-service,” he says. “It fixes supply chain issues, it fixes creativity issues. We want a global network of rapid, flexible production.” But those international ambitions don’t mean that the Sciberras family is leaving Malta: family is the anchor. “We’re raising three children, aged four, six and nine. We can’t just move off and ignore their livelihood,” he says. “They have their friends, their lives here.” The franchise model allows him to expand without leaving.

Daily life reflects the blend of work and family, and living in Malta makes this rhythm possible. David values how the island’s size creates a sense of accessibility: industries are close enough to test ideas quickly, and the business community is tightly interlinked. The proximity means collaborations can emerge faster than in larger ecosystems, and opportunities feel within reach. Combined with the climate and quality of life, this compactness allows him to balance running multiple ventures with raising three young children – a balance he doubts would be as manageable elsewhere.

From a living-room experiment to a company with global ambitions, Invent 3D has grown through grit, creativity and a refusal to give up. Malta may be small, but David sees that as part of the story. “We always had the vision of going international,” he says. “Our target is to become a global brand. The way to do that is to keep building from here.”

Do you have a favourite podcast?
Alex Hormosi’s The Game.

What is your most used app?
TikTok

What do you do to start your working day well?
Taking the kids to school, then a morning team meeting at the factory.

When did you found your first business?
I was 24.

What’s your favorite place for deep work or creative thinking in the city?
The office, set up out of the way from the factory to avoid distractions.

Which restaurant would you recommend?
Anywhere along the Birgu waterfront, or Tal-Familja in Marsaskala

What should every newcomer get once they arrive in Malta?
A mentor who knows the place.

Is there a traditional Maltese food that newcomers should try?
Pastizzi and the local soft drink Kinnie.

Do you have a favorite weekend activity in Malta?
Gym time, family time, outings with the kids, home projects and maintenance.