The Global Startup Pitch People's Choice Awards spotlighted two rising start of travel and technology at last week's WiT Singapore event.
Lobby, represented by co-founder and CEO Romy Abbrederis, won the Seedup category, while Crewfare, founded and led by Jason van Esso, took the audience-voted spot 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.
SPUN, the recipient of the AirAsia MOVE award, will receive a return flight from anywhere in Asia to The Phocuswright Conference, Nov. 17-19, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Meanwhile, Conxi and Talk To Magpie AI were named Honorary Wild Card participants this year.
The People’s Choice winners will showcase their innovations at event, where they will join a community of influential leaders shaping the future of travel.
“When you start a business to solve a problem you’ve experienced firsthand, you pour years of hard work into something you believe in," said van Esso. "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 honor!” said Abbrederis. "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.”
“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 of Travel Tech Insider.
Whitehill was on the panel of “dragons” for this year’s Global Startup Pitch Showcase at WiT Singapore alongside Roger Sharp, chair of North Ridge Partners, WebBeds and Technology Queenstown.
“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’" said Sharp. "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.”
“Congratulations to the People’s Choice winners, and to every finalist who took the stage at WIT Singapore," said Yeoh Siew Hoon, founder of WiT. "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.”
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 winners also included BookAfrica, while Scaleup winners also featured 1-CP, OneJourney and Vibe Adventures.
“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," said Pete Comeau, managing director of Phocuswright.
"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.”
This article originally appeared on WiT.