When Lyle Jover, co-founder and CEO of MyCape submitted his entry for a shot at the grand prize offered by WIT Startup Pitch last year, MyCape was “barely an idea”. A year later, it is now a “full-blown product, enterprise grade and has a great product fit with airline”.
MyCape is a social travel app dealing in standby tickets for price-sensitive last minute travellers that are seeking “ultra affordable fares”. Cape allows travellers to continually monitor the likelihood of securing a ticket in real time, only paying when they are confirmed to fly. Cape also features a unique bidding system wherein users can up the price they are willing to pay on popular flights to increase their likelihood of travel.
Jover is proud of what his team has achieved and so he should be. As a reward for winning the WIT Startup Pitch last year on the grand stage, MyCape was transported to Denver to be part of Travelport Labs Startup Accelerator Programme.
Lyle Jover, Co-founder & CEO, MyCape
“When we got accepted at Travelport Labs. That event singlehandedly became pivotal for us. The rest was history. Travelport Labs led us to a lot of things. Meeting mentors, learning essential stuff how to run a startup and everything that’s necessary for us to be on our own right after,” said Jover.
After four months in the lab in Denver, Jover migrated to the U.S. and incorporated the company in New York.
Stories like MyCape’s and a buzzing travel startup scene across Asia with funding pouring in have encouraged more entries to the WIT Startup Pitch, this edition again powered by Travelport Labs.
“This year, we received the largest number of entries for the competition and from all over the world. There has lately been funding raised and invested into startups in our industry, and this has encouraged more interest,” said Yeoh Siew Hoon, founder of WIT-Web in Travel and the brainchild behind the startup pitch.
Twelve entries have been shortlisted and will present their businesses to a panel of judges at the WIT Bootcamp on October 23 in Singapore.
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 Programme in Denver.
To qualify for the WIT Startup Pitch, the businesses have to be from 0 – 5 years old and be related to travel and tourism. The judges are looking out for “groundbreaking new ideas and clever, entrepreneurial minds that are pushing the boundaries in travel technology”.
After the semi-finals at the WIT 2017 Bootcamp on October 23, no more than four finalists will be selected for the Grand Final Pitch, taking place on the Main Stage of the WIT 2017 Conference on October 24 & 25.
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.
The WIT Bootcamp, an annual one-day event held before the main WIT Conference, will this year revolve around the theme of “Better Startups”. Speakers and coaches supporting the event include investors, entrepreneurs, and established travel brands. These include Melissa Yang, co-founder of Tujia; William Bao Bean, managing director of Chinaaccelerator; Fritz Demopoulos, CEO, Queen’s Road Capital; Kuo-Yi Lim, managing partner of Monk’s Hill Ventures; Tammy Snow from Expedia; Matthew Hulen of Facebook among others.
“It has been a long journey, and nothing has gone on a straight line,” said Jover. But MyCape has more than overcome.
What advice does he have for the semifinalists who will soon be doing what he did a year ago?
“No matter the result, winning or losing doesn’t define you. As a fellow start up founder, I can tell you that you will never run out of paths to take. When you’re on stage, it will feel like there’s more people in the event. Lights are a bit blinding too. Those got me more nervous to be honest. Hopefully knowing that right now will help you bring out your best pitch ever!”
Register here for WIT Bootcamp and conference 2017.
