Over 20 startups pitched live at The Phocuswright Conference Summit, spanning travel categories that included hotel technology, corporate travel, chat and voice, SaaS/PaaS, luggage storage, air, in-destination services, and booking, vying for a range of prizes.
Of them included the Phocuswright Startup category and Emerging Startup category, OAG Award for Innovation, and the General Catalyst Award for Travel Innovation.
Stealing the prize for the Startup Category at Summit was Airalo (presented by Mea Thompson, Director of Partnerships) – an SaaS provider that aims to change telecommunication by selling travellers eSIMs, so that they can access data and local call and messaging rates worldwide. Based out of Singapore, Airalo aims to tackle the familiar customer pain point of surprise roaming charges, lost SIM cards and the need to stay connected when abroad.
Troop Travel won the Emerging Startup category with its plan to use big data to help travel and event managers make informed decisions when booking corporate group travel, meetings and events. By identifying optimal destinations, Troop Travel wants to help corporate planners save time and reduce costs, plus reduce business travel’s overall carbon footprint ‘one meeting at a time.’
The OAG Award for AI Innovation went to Exosonic (presented by Norris Tie, CEO) for its plans to manufacture and develop supersonic aircrafts (with a muted sonic boom) to cut long-haul flight times significantly. Despite still being in concept-design phase, Exosonic impressed the audience with its ambition of launching the first muted supersonic commercial flight (over land or sea) by 2030.
And finally, the General Catalyst Award for Travel Innovation was awarded to 30SecondsToFly for its AI chatbot “Claire” that provides a cross-channel chat system to enable more efficient communication with customers of large TMCs. The award came with a USD $100,000 prize too.
Setoo and Beachy were also recognised as runners up for the Startup and Emerging Category respectively. Setoo is an insurtech startup that creates tailor-made insurance plans and protection products specific for each customer. And Beachy is an in-destination software solution that integrates beach, pool and F&B operations to boost revenue and guest experience.
