After a successful run at the WIT Japan & North Asia 2017 conference held in Tokyo this June, the WIT Startup Pitch, powered by Travelport, is now on the road to WIT Singapore (Oct 23-25).
This October, another round of hopeful startups will pitch for the grand prize at the WIT Startup Pitch to be held during WIT Singapore 2017.
Travelport Labs, which also supported the Singapore competition last year, will reward the winner seed funding of up to US$30,000 as well as a guaranteed spot in the Travelport Labs Startup Accelerator.
“We are pleased to be supporting WIT and the Startup Pitch competition again this year. Travelport Labs is a travel-focused startup accelerator programme launched two years ago by Travelport, a global travel commerce platform. The accelerator programme supports innovative entrepreneurs who may have identified new ways to deliver content or connect travelers. The programme aims to help companies learn and adopt best practices to achieve product-market fit.
“This competition provides a great platform for Travelport to help these companies on their journey by providing them with deep travel and technology domain expertise from across Travelport’s enterprise. Last year, Cape, the winner of the Startup Pitch competition, had a chance to participate in the 15-weeks Labs Accelerator Programme. Since then, Cape has gained traction among major international airline customers
“Starting-up a new business is difficult and inherently risky, but the people who choose this path have a particular energy that is great to bring into a large established enterprise like Travelport,” said Scott Barber, director commercial strategy APAC, Travelport.
The annual WIT Startup Pitch, an event that has been catalyst for a number of successful businesses, is now receiving submissions.
The competition gives participants an opportunity to be coached by industry veterans and to present themselves and their ideas at a WIT Conference.
“We saw another round of startups pitch at our Japan event earlier this year and are even more encouraged by the state of entrepreneurship in Asia. There were many good ideas all around, helmed by some very clever, enterprising minds that will surely push the boundaries in travel technology.
“It’s really good to see startups in Asia step up to the plate and set their own pace in ideas and models that are decidedly different from those in the West,” said Yeoh Siew Hoon, founder of WIT.
Softinn Solutions, a travel technology company offering a cloud-based hotel reservation system for small to medium hotels, was the victor at the 2017 WIT Japan & North Asia Start-up Pitch.
The Malaysia-based startup won a ticket to the WIT 2017 Conference in Singapore, a ticket to the Phocuswright Conference in Florida this November.
To qualify for the WIT Startup Pitch at WIT Singapore 2017, your startup has to be from 0 – 5 years old and be related to travel and tourism. WIT is looking for groundbreaking new ideas and clever, entrepreneurial minds that are pushing the boundaries in travel technology.
Up to 8 semi-finalists will be chosen and coached to present at the WIT 2017 Bootcamp on October 23. No more than 4 finalists will be selected for the Grand Final Pitch, taking place on the Main Stage of the WIT 2017 Conference on October 24 & 25.
To book your “5 Minutes of Fame”, email your submissions to Vera by August 11 and tell us (in up to 300 words) why you deserve this slot.
The winner, to be announced on October 25, will win tickets to the Phocuswright Conference (Hollywood, Florida) on Nov 7-9, 2017 and the WIT 2018 Conference (Singapore), in October 2018.
For more information and details on submissions, please visit https://www.wit2017conference.com/startuppitch/
For more information, please contact Vera Lye at [email protected]
