FreeHour named best app in 2021 TechMT awards

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FreeHour named best app in 2021 TechMT awards

FreeHour Malta is the country’s largest student platform, which consists of a mobile app used by more than 90% of Malta’s students. It also has an online following of more than 40,000 students and youths, aged between 13 and 27 years old. What’s more, it’s been named as winner of TechMT’s best app, at the Malta eBusiness awards!

The company was founded as a start-up in 2017, by then 18-year-old Zach Ciappara. Today, FreeHour is experiencing accelerated growth as it employs 17 people, whilst simultaneously operating large campaigns and partnerships, hand in hand with the local youth community.

Since its launch, the app itself is actively used by thousands of students, hailing from all educational institutions on the island. This includes all major sixth forms, such as Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary, G. F. Abela Junior College, De La Salle college and St Aloysius College, as well as the University of Malta and all three MCAST campuses, totally a student base of over 25,000 active users.

What is FreeHour all about?

In a nutshell, the app offers an easy-to-use timetable system, allowing students to share their schedule with their friends. This facilitates the process of meeting up with classmates on campus during common free hours and slots, scheduling study groups and promoting carpooling to and from school. FreeHour also offers other features, including the ability to keep track of assignments and lectures, browsing available job opportunities, tracking stipend, redeeming discounts and more, making it Malta’s number one go-to student app.

FreeHour have also created a large volume of content, which was curated directly for local youths and students and by means of this, their Instagram community is large, relevant and engaged, boasting almost 40,000 followers. They are now the go-to source for information, media and content for the vast majority of the 13-27 year-old demographic in Malta.

What are the eBusiness Awards?

The eBusiness Awards are organised by Tech.mt, a company in conjunction with the Malta Chamber of Commerce and the Maltese government focused on supporting and improving the technology industry in Malta. The Awards are intended to promote and reward Malta’s best tech companies and solutions.

It is an annual event, which aims to acknowledge unique and innovative ideas and initiatives in the use of web-based technologies and eBusiness for businesses and society at large. Established in 2011, this year marks the 10th edition, which named Fyorin as the best tech start-up, FreeHour as the best app and Lava.mt as the best B2C e-commerce website.