The 3rd Idea Platform by CapsuleT has been completed!
Find more about the winners, the strategic partners, and the rich content of the program
The 3rd Idea Platform program has been completed with the Closing and Awards Ceremony which has been held on Thursday, 14th April. CapsuleT Travel & Hospitality Accelerator hosted online representatives of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, strategic partners, mentors & speakers, judges and the 10 teams that managed to complete the competition successfully.
The winners
workntour, Kalimera App and HotelTure managed to win the three first places of the 3rd Idea Platform. Moreover, Workntour won the 1st place and the cash prize of €3,000, Kalimera app took the 2nd place and €2,000 while HotelTure won €1,000 and the 3rd place.
The winners of the program will be benefited as well from the in-kind services and additional mentoring offered by strategic partners of Idea Platform such as Programize & Expedia Group, while – if they wish to – they will also have the right to join the Acceleration Program directly providing that they complete their product/service prototype first and actively participate in additional training hours to be prepared for their next Acceleration cycle.
Alexandros Vassilikos: “The level of participation is constantly higher”
“It is a conquest for startups that they are trying to be active in the tourism sector during these turbulent times due to Covid-19. After 3 years of running CapsuleT,a dynamic has been created which allows ideas to be expressed in a wider audience. The level of participation is constantly higher, through the efforts that have been made and this is the biggest victory for all of us “, Mr. Vassilikos, the President of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels said.
“The ecosystem is growing and being recognizable,” said Mr. Vasilikos noting that the closing and awards ceremony coincide with the announcement of CapsuleT’s 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 & 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫’s nomination to the finalists of the 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 / 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐮𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 category of South Europe Startup Awards.
Concluding, the President of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels noted:
“It’s impressive that this year in the Idea Platform there was unanimity as to the first place. It was hard to argue about which teams will take the two other places. We were impressed because this difficulty on deciding means that even someone who has not been in the top 3 has a product that is very good in terms of idea and should continue to invest in it. The wide range of ideas and companies with special concepts is proof of the success of the program”.
Katerina Saridaki: “This year we have different ideas than in the past”
“The program was quite intensive in a short time. This year we have many different ideas than in the past and this is the pleasant thing: To continually evolve!”, said initially the director of CapsuleT, Mrs. Katerina Saridaki and after that she added: “Although the competition run once again online, it showcased an impact and good results because in this way many more mentors and groups from different parts of Greece could participate”.
The teams that participated
The 10 teams that took part in both preparatory period and competition round were the following:
Citathlon
Citathlon helps travelers get to know their destination by combining sport and tourism. Provides routes for running or cycling combined with sightseeing tours in cooperation with hotel-tourism companies.
EasyDrive
EasyDrive App provides the possibility of short-term rental of vehicles between individuals without the intervention of a rental company. The aim is to meet the need to create a communication channel between Owner-Driver ensuring financial and legal solvency.
Greligious Guide
Greligious Guide is a religious tour guide website. Its focus is on religious culture such as churches, monasteries, and monuments. It provides information on travel, accommodation, guides, and functions as a diary.
HotelTure
HotelTure is a specialized solution for forecasting hotel unit demand combining multiple data sources.
Kalimera App
Kalimera app is a digital travel guide for the traveler. The promotion of the application is based on the reciprocal cooperation between the advertisers/companies.
Levart App
Levart is a social app to create the ideal bucket-list by discovering destinations and activities in collaboration for small groups such as friends or families but also to share experiences with other travelers.
Travel Dash
Travel Dash is a mobile application which is a complete solution that automates the process of planning and organizing a trip based on the user’s personality.
Tripalt
The main goal of Tripalt is to create an online alternative tourism booking platform that will provide a complete experience of activities-accommodation and travel for travelers.
When.Fashion.Guides
It is an online platform that helps travelers find the ideal fashion products to have the services of a stylist and simultaneously to function as a place where everyone can share their experiences, as well as evaluate fashion businesses and services.
Workntour
It is a platform that connects vacation with work. Travelers use their skills to work for their host in exchange for accommodation and food during their stay.
A program full of rich content
The 3rd Idea Platform was distinguished for the quality of the ideas / related tourism solutions presented. The teams worked on their ideas by participating in intensive thematic workshops such as “Design Thinking”, “Product Design”, “Funding Fundamentals”, “Branding”, “Digital Marketing Fundamentals” and “Pitching Skills”, speeches and online mentoring sessions under the guidance of the experienced CapsuleT partners.
The final pitching session took place during the Closing & Awards Ceremony in front of CapsuleT’s judging committee which is consisted of: Alexandros Vassilikos, President of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, Spyros Arsenis, Phd – Head of Innovative Entrepreneurship Development- NBG Business Seeds, Katerina Santikou, Founder & Managing Director – Workathlon, Alexandros Ziomas, Director, Information Technology & Telecommunications – Athens International Airport and Prodromos Tsiavos, Head of Digital & Innovation – Onassis Group.
The strategic partners of the 3rd Idea Platform
For the successful completion of the 3rd Idea Platform program CapsuleT team joined forces with leading companies in the tourism ecosystem that did not hesitate to contribute substantially to the program from the beginning. Google once again gave a resounding presence actively supporting this initiative of the accelerator, while as strategic partners also participated large organizations of the country such as Athens International Airport, Expedia Group, NBG Business Seeds of the National Bank of Greece, Onassis Foundation and Programize. The accelerator was also supported by representatives of recognized travel startups such as Clio Muse Tours, Ferryhopper, TravelMyth, Triparound, Woof Together, Workathlon and Zoottle.
The 4th Idea Platform will start in Spring 2023, while in May 2022 the application period for the 5th CapsuleT acceleration program will start addressing early-stage startup teams which have a prototype or launched already a new tech solution in the tourism industry.
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