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HBX Group, a leading B2B ecosystem in the Traveltech space, and Wayra, Telefónica's Corporate Venture Capital arm, today announced the winners of the second TravelTech Lab by HBX Group challenge, after analyzing 120 companies from 25 countries, including Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Korea. Only six startups had the opportunity to present their projects to a professional jury of experts from both companies at the pitching hub during 4FYN, part of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. After reviewing these proposals, they are now announcing the four winners who will join the TravelTech Lab. The goal is to find startups specializing in virtual reality, metaverse, and AI that help B2B travel companies improve operational efficiency, create more engaging experiences, and reshape distribution within the TravelTech industry. Ultimately, the solutions to this challenge seek to change the way travelers move, connect, and explore.
The winning startups are:
·Didit (Gamium): an intuitive application that combines NFC, blockchain, and artificial intelligence technologies to ensure secure identity verification and smart digital payments.
· Firstview: provides hotels with virtual reality and immersive digital content with 3D virtual tours, 360° aerial views, a virtual sales platform, and Reports.
· Hotelverse: offers travelers the opportunity to virtually fly over the hotel, explore its facilities, hyper-customize a specific room, and book it.
· Unblock: is an application that serves as a point of contact with citizens and offers comprehensive access to city services in an easy and attractive way.
These startups will not only receive advice and guidance from industry experts, but will also join Wayra's innovative ecosystem and work directly with HBX Group teams to develop joint business opportunities. In addition, HBX Group will provide one of the startups with up to 40,000 euros to carry out a pilot project and bring their proposal to life. Furthermore, all selected startups will be able to work with other like-minded entrepreneurs in Wayra's seven spaces across Europe and Latin America, as well as in HBX Group's hubs in Mallorca and Madrid. “Our alliance with HBX Group is proving to be an exciting adventure. We want to create innovative solutions through the most disruptive technologies, redefining the hotel and tourism sector, and what better way to do so than by leveraging the entrepreneurial ecosystem we've been supporting for over 15 years. Wayra also congratulates all the winners, as together we will strive to create a real impact on their businesses and help them climb the ladder to successfully face new market challenges,” says Andrés Saborido, COO of Wayra. José María Pestaña, Chief Innovation & Public Affairs Officer of HBX Group, stated: “Innovation is the cornerstone of our TravelTech Lab at HBX Group, and the collaboration with Wayra is key to connecting with startups that offer a differentiated value proposition. We are very pleased with the outcome of the second challenge and want to congratulate all the selected startups. We firmly believe that the winning proposals can contribute to improving the efficiency of our partners. We are confident that together we can continue to facilitate the real transformation of the TravelTech space and improve the traveler experience.” HBX Group is a leading B2B ecosystem in the TravelTech space, connecting and empowering companies in the ever-evolving world of travel. We drive the growth of our clients and partners while eliminating friction from the end-to-end travel experience. Our cloud-based technology platforms offer fast and reliable access to a unique portfolio of travel products and services, while rich data and intelligence seamlessly connect supply and demand worldwide. We have over 3,000 experts worldwide, including on-the-ground specialists who provide insights and support to further drive trade, even in the hardest-to-reach segments. This unique combination of technology, data, and passionate people serves as a catalyst for all companies aspiring to reach their full potential in the travel sector.
More information at www.hbxgroup.com
About Wayra
Wayra is Telefónica's Corporate Venture Capital arm, through which it invests in startups with the capacity to bring innovation to Telefónica and provides innovation services to third parties, helping them take their Open Innovation initiatives to the next level.
With a global presence, it has seven hubs in Europe (Spain - Madrid and Barcelona, the United Kingdom, and Germany) and Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia), and teams operating in nine countries. Through its funds, it also has a presence in Silicon Valley and Israel. Since its creation more than 15 years ago, Wayra has invested €233 million in over 1,100 startups and currently has over 530 startups in its portfolio, of which over 190 work with Telefónica. We also have a network of more than 140 partners and clients, and two innovation platforms (Alaian and Open Future) open to third parties. More information is available at www.wayra.es