The Global Startup Pitch People’s Choice Awards were announced today at WiT Singapore: 21, A New Beginning, celebrating the most innovative Seedup and Scaleup startups from around the world, as voted by the audience. The awards spotlighted two rising stars of travel and technology – Lobby in the Seedup category, and Crewfare in the Scaleup category.
The Global Startup Pitch competition brings together some of the most promising early and growth-stage startups in travel and travel technology. Following the Grand Finals held at Phocuswright Europe in June, the Seedup and Scaleup finalists presented their pitches to industry experts and investors, before audience members cast their votes for the People’s Choice winners.
Lobby, represented by CEO & Co-founder Romy Abbrederis, captured the Seedup People’s Choice Award. Crewfare, founded and led by Jason van Esso, secured the Scaleup People’s Choice Award.
SPUN, the recipient of the AirAsia MOVE award, will receive a return flight from anywhere in Asia to the event. Meanwhile, Conxi and Talk To Magpie were named Honorary Wild Card participants this year.
The People’s Choice winners will showcase their innovations at The Phocuswright Conference, Nov. 17–19 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they will join a community of influential leaders shaping the future of travel.
Jason van Erso, Founder and CEO, Crewfare, said: “When you start a business to solve a problem you’ve experienced firsthand, you pour years of hard work into something you believe in. Having that work recognized is incredibly rewarding. Winning is a proud moment for our entire Crewfare team and everyone who has supported us along the way, and we’re excited for what’s next!”
“What an honour!” said Romy Abbredis, CEO and Co-founder of Lobby. She added, “Being part of the WiT Global Startup Pitch alongside inspiring founders and leaders pushing the frontiers of travel was a privilege in itself. Winning the audience vote made it even more special. It means a lot the Lobby team to see what we are building resonate with the industry and gives us even more reason to keep pushing forward.”
From left: Yeoh Siew Hoon (Founder, WiT), Christa Sabathaly (Co-founder & CEO, SPUN Global), Jason van Esso (Founder & CEO, Crewfare), Romy Abbrederis (CEO & Co-founder, Lobby), Astha Kalbag (Founder, Talk to Magpie AI), Mo Mbarek (Co-founder, Conxi), Pete Comeau (Managing Director, Phocuswright)
“This is a compelling group of founders who are building pragmatic solutions to real, “today” problems in our industry. Their enthusiasm is inspiring!”, said Cara Whitehill, Co-founder, Travel Tech Insider.
Roger Sharp, Chair, North Ridge Partners, WebBeds, Technology Queenstown, said, “Increasingly, founders are moving beyond ‘we’re an AI company’ to ‘we’ve identified a real problem, and AI is a key tool we’re using to solve it’. That’s an important shift: the problem comes first, not the technology. Sometimes, looking at the industry from outside its established players allows founders to see longstanding challenges and potential solutions with remarkable clarity. That fresh perspective is what makes this competition so valuable.”
Whitehill and Sharp were on the panel of ‘dragons’ for this year’s Global Startup Pitch Showcase at WiT Singapore.
Yeoh Siew Hoon, Founder of WiT, said, “Congratulations to the People’s Choice winners, and to every finalist who took the stage at WIT Singapore. Hosting them here was a reminder of why we built the Global Startup Pitch; to give travel tech founders a direct line to investors, partners and customers across Europe, Asia Pacific and North America. Innovation in travel rarely stays within one region, and neither should the platforms that support it.”
Pete Comeau, Managing Director of Phocuswright, added, “The solutions we see at the Global Startup Pitch aren’t just adapting to today’s landscape – they’re helping shape what comes next in travel. Because the People’s Choice Awards are driven entirely by audience vote, they offer a powerful signal of the ideas resonating with the industry. Congratulations to this year’s winners – we can’t wait to see them take the main stage in Florida in November.”
The Global Startup Pitch is a collaboration between WiT and Phocuswright, designed to surface the brightest ideas and entrepreneurs in travel technology. This year’s Seedup winnerd included SPUN, BookAfrica and Lobby, while Scaleup winners featured 1-CP, Crewfare, OneJourney and Vibe Adventures. Honorary Wild Cards were Talk to Magpie AI and Conxi.
