Hotel Chamber of Greece: The 4th cycle of the CapsuleT accelerator has been completed

With the emergence of the three (3) big winners, but also the favorite team of the public, the 4th cycle of the 5-month Acceleration Program of CapsuleT was completed, in the Closing & Award Ceremony, which took place on Tuesday, February 8 via live streaming.

As part of the online event, the accelerator welcomed digitally prominent state and tourism personalities, strategic partners, judges and circle mentors and of course the 11 startups that successfully completed the program.

The startups that won the Jury & Audience

The 3 start-ups of the 4th cycle, which stood out and managed to win a place on the podium of CapsuleT were VIVESTIA, KLEESTO and UNLIMITED ADRENALINE.

In particular, the 1st place and the cash prize of 10,000 euros was won by VIVESTIA, in 2nd place was KLEESTO, receiving the amount of 5,000 euros and finally, the 3rd place of 3,000 euros was taken by the team of UNLIMITED ADRENALINE.

However, the prizes of the three dominant teams, a kind sponsorship of The People’s Trust, are not limited to cash.

Specifically:

PwC Greece offers free legal and tax support services to the 3 winning startups

Programize offers consulting guidance on product development, while the 3 winners will have access to development services at preferential prices.

Nelios offers free digital marketing services to the first winner.

The startups were evaluated after their final presentation with the score being submitted by the CapsuleT Evaluation and Guidance Review. Key parameters for the evaluation of the start-ups that competed were the idea in terms of its innovation, the business maturity and the perspective offered by each service / product, the fulfillment of the specific criteria regarding the development of each team during the Program. Acceleration and, finally, its typical features.

During the night, the audience that watched the event via live streaming had the opportunity to choose their favorite team based on the presentation that took place live, awarding the “Audience Award”. The winning team was KLEESTO, which won a three-day overnight stay for 3 people at the Tharroe of Mykonos Hotel in Mykonos.

The 11 teams that successfully completed the 5-month program of the 4th cycle are in alphabetical order: Culture App, Hotilities, Kleesto, Simplybook, The Local Favorite, Ticketseller, Travel2Fit, Tripinwise, Unlimited Adrenaline, Upiria, Vivestia

Alexandros Vasilikos: “CapsuleT is as I envisioned it”

The first greeting of the evening was addressed by the President of the Hotel Chamber of Greece, Mr. Alexandros Vasilikos. Mr. Vasilikos, thanking in particular the state and the sponsors, the strategic partners and the judges / mentors of the Program for their valuable support and time, stressed that “in the difficulties of the time it is an important fact that the project of CapsuleT finds the synergies needed to present – both at home and abroad – the new, different, face of the country through the specialized products of the accelerator teams and the synergy that exists in Greek tourism between know-how and technology. ”

Referring to the two-year work of the accelerator, the President of X.E.E. Mr. Alexandros Vasilikos stated: “CapsuleT works exactly as I had envisioned it from day one. It is a platform that activates hoteliers in the direction of technology and at the same time gives young people the opportunity to express their creativity and be able to speak Greek. frameworks to find ground and make sustainable startups in the field of tourism. ”

Ξ.Ε.Ε. and CapsuleT, Official Supporters of Elevate Greece

The Deputy Minister of Research & Technology, Mr. Christos Dimas, who initially congratulated organizers, sponsors, mentors and teams. An important part of his speech was the upcoming collaboration of X.E.E. and CapsuleT as Official Supporters of Elevate Greece, but also the expansion of the cooperation of the Ministry of Research & Technology with the accelerator, since the start-ups of Elevate Greece that are active in tourism are the 2nd category in number, after the life sciences.

The Undersecretary had already announced in recent days that the “CapsuleT Travel & Hospitality Accelerator seeks to become the main” vehicle “for the development and evolution of new, innovative business ideas, partnerships and business opportunities that will help the innovation ecosystem to evolve. with a positive impact on Greek tourism and the country in general “.

At this point, Mr. Alexandros Vasilikos confirmed the official support that Elevate Greece will receive from X.E.E. and CapsuleT, as he stated “it is very important to get out of the purely tourism product and go to both agricultural and energy, since there are start-ups there with applications in the hotel and tourism industry”.

Sofia Zacharaki: “We need your suggestions”

For her part, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Sofia Zacharaki, taking the baton, thanked both Mr. Alexandros Vasilikos for the opportunity to discuss Greek innovation and its integration in tourism education, as well as the Director of CapsuleT, Mrs. Katerina Saridaki for the events of the accelerator and the joy given to her to come in direct contact with the fledgling tourism companies. Still, Mrs. Zacharaki endorsed what Mr. Vasilikos mentioned above regarding the coupling of the primary & secondary sector with the part of the creative services of start-ups.

Finally, referring to the essential work of the accelerator, which connects the state with current and future developments in innovation, but also in the opportunities that innovation can give to hospitality, the Deputy Minister of Tourism said “ready together with the Minister of Tourism Mr. Vassilis Kikilia, to receive new proposals and strengthen their work, conveying their message abroad, as happened at the WTM 2021 exhibition in London. ”

Ms. Cynthia Harvey, Director of Public Affairs at the US Embassy, ​​also gave a short greeting. in Athens, which stated, among other things: “We are happy for our cooperation with such an important initiative. We believe in the promotion and development of the tourism sector and we know very well that it is an important part of the Greek economy. It is an opportunity to empower young people industry leaders with the professional skills they need to succeed in the future. ”

The audience was also greeted by Dr. Angeliki Kosmopoulou, member of the Board, The People’s Trust who in a few words congratulated the 11 teams for their effort and thanked the team of the accelerator for the new cooperation, expressing the desire for this cooperation to continue in the future.

The 4th cycle in numbers

In closing, the Director of CapsuleT, Mrs. Katerina Saridaki congratulated all 11 teams for their 5-month trip to the 4th Cycle Acceleration Program, while she briefly mentioned that during the program, a total of 14 workshops were held, a number of meetings for the purpose of mentoring guidance, while through all actions and goals set by the teams, managed to secure over 520 new partnerships, completed 78 pilot projects with potential customers, closed 168 new b2b sales and created 45 jobs.

The big – practical – supporters of the 4th cycle, our sponsors and strategic partners

The completion of the 4th cycle of the Acceleration Program took place once again with the valuable contribution and sponsorship of Google as a major sponsor, as well as the non-profit organization The People’s Trust, which supported the further development of technology startups in the tourism industry and supported the competitive part of the program by offering cash prizes for the 3 winners.

A great honor for CapsuleT was his new collaboration with the US Embassy. in Athens, which actively supported the initiative of the Hotel Chamber of Greece and the work of the accelerator universally.

Important supporters of the program activities were the new cooperation with Aegean Air, as an official supporter for the teams’ air transport as well as the strategic collaborations of the accelerator with: NBG Business Seeds of the National Bank, Nelios, Programize, PwC Greece and TÜV Austria Hellas.

At the same time, the CapsuleT team joined forces with Clio Muse Tours, Ferryhopper, Triparound, Welcome Pickups, Workathlon and Zoottle, recognized startups in the tourism market, which joined the program as community partners. Finally, a supporter for the supply of coffee products was Douwe Egberts / Foodrinco.

On-site visits / meetups in Crete and Athens

An integral part of the program was for another cycle the visits (on-site visits) and the meetings (meetups) of the startups with hotels and successful companies of the tourist market, giving them the opportunity to meet, talk with representatives of the state and the tourist businesses and present their technological products.

“Brown Hotels”, “Key Tours”, but also “The Alex, Monte Kastella” opened their doors for the teams of the 4th cycle in Athens, where the startups met with the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Sofia Zacharaki in a separate meetup for Thematic Tourism.

Special mention should be made of the – for the first time – visit of CapsuleT and its teams to the Civitel Akali Hotel, Santa Marina Beach Hotel, Creta Palm and Oscar Suites & Village, Agia Marina in Chania and the Cactus Royal Spa & Resort Hotel in Heraklion. There, the start-ups of the circle had the opportunity to present their services / products for life, among others, with the General Secretary of EOT, Mr. Dimitris Fraggakis, representatives of the Hoteliers Association of Chania and Heraklion and other entrepreneurs in the sector.

The unique meetups of this year’s cycle could not but include the special meeting at the New Hotel in Athens, between the CapsuleT teams and the US Embassy. in Athens, during which the start-ups presented their innovations on-stage in the presence of the US Ambassador. in Athens, Mr. Geoffrey R. Pyatt, officials of the US Embassy in Athens and other guests.

Dynamic presence in International Tourism Exhibitions

Dynamic and active was the presence of the teams of the 4th cycle of CapsuleT at the International Tourism Exhibitions in November 2021, taking part in two (2) trade shows through the CapsuleT stand, the “Philoxenia 2021” in Thessaloniki and the “Xenia 2021 ” in Athens. The startups had the opportunity to introduce to the visitors of each the tourist tech startup ecosystem of our country and to offer to the professionals of the industry the technological solutions and advanced services.