TRAVEL STARTUP PITCH COMPETITION IS A HIT AT CHIEF

At the Travel Pitch Session at CHIEF, five innovative startups at the forefront of travel, tourism and hospitality disruption had the opportunity to pitch to a panel of industry leaders – including the Karen Whitt with the Hartling Group, LAB Miami Ventures and serial travel founder Brian Dass.

The audience and panelists alike voted in real-time for the winning startup according to business model, presentation, product-market fit, fund-ability, and its implications as a game changer for the hospitality and tourism sectors. In addition to the winning company – Explorest, a photo location-sharing app for professional and aspiring travel photographers – other presenting startups included touchless sunscreen application system Snappyscreen, guest interaction and insights platform Squire Central,  marketplace for hotels to sell amenity spaces Daycation, and sustainable tourism ecosystem Local Guest. Audience participation was encouraged by enabling attendees to vote for their favorite startup on their smart phones or mobile devices. The winning company, Explorest, is based out of Miami, Fl and took home a prize package consisting of over $50,000 in credits from partners and sponsors, including acceptance into the Branson Center of Entrepreneurship’s Caribbean startup program.

The Travel Pitch Session was made possible with the support from CHIEF platinum sponsor, VoyagerHQ, an organization that provides startup founders with meaningful connections and the unique resources they need to thrive.