Maldivian Patissier: A bakery funded by BML’s Startup Grant opens

The soft opening of ‘Maldivian Patissier’, a bakery that was funded by Bank of Maldives (BML)’s ‘Startup Grant’, was held on Monday.

The Startup Grant is aimed at providing emerging entrepreneurs with funding to start or grow a business in the Maldives.

“Maldivian Patissier” had been a small business run by local patissier Aminath Hameed (Ainth) via Instagram. The pastries and desserts sold via the page became an instant hit among the public.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ainth sold her pastries and desserts at her island, Addu City. At the request of many, she also conducted classes on how to bake pastries and desserts in Addu.

Her creations had recently garnered attention through various pop-up events Ainth took part in.

Ainth has previously worked as a pastry chef in Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi and Conrad Maldives Rangali Island. She has completed a culinary diploma course at Sri Lanka’s Win-Stone and several other courses from Australia.

BML introduced the Startup Grant in January 2022 as part of the series of 12 high-impact monthly community initiatives to celebrate the bank’s 40^th anniversary in November 2022.

Each year, two businesses will be awarded MVR 500,000 each in grant assistance – to start or grow a business, whether it is to bring a viable business idea to life, to cover start-up costs such as investing in equipment, or expanding to a new market.