Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), producers of the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC), has revealed the winners of its 2023 Entrepreneur 20X (E20X) pitch competition. Sponsored by PROVision Partners, this year’s edition of E20X took place at HITEC Toronto, and featured timed presentations from seven hospitality technology startups.
Following the presentations, PassiveBolt was selected as the recipient of the Judges’ Choice Award and presented with the grand prize of $5,000, while PricingService.ai was recognized as the People’s Choice Award winner, as voted on by their peers in real time during the presentation and deliberation periods. All the presenting startups received exposure to potential investors, customers and partners in the hospitality technology industry through their participation in the competition.
PassiveBolt’s KeyShare platform offers automated guest interaction workflows such as identity verification, remote check-in, key issuance, service requests and more. Unlike existing disparate systems that are expensive, vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks and subject to stringent new privacy laws, KeyShare is based on decentralized identity which removes the risk of cyber breaches and legal jeopardy while saving costs through operational efficiency, according to the company.
PricingService.ai is an AI-based hotel room pricing service with two service offerings, including a fully autonomous pricing service that connects to a hotel property’s PMS every four hours and updates pricing for all room types for the next 365 days—with no human intervention required. A second option connects to the PMS in the middle of the night and emails a detailed report, highlighting opportunities to increase or decrease room pricing for the coming 90 days in order to maximize revenue potential.
Established in 2015, HFTP’s E20X provides hospitality technology startups with a career-boosting opportunity, exposing them to top industry mentors, investors, leaders and executives. The startups compete for two separate awards: the Judges’ Choice Award with a $5,000 cash prize and the People’s Choice Award, a popular vote selected by HITEC attendees.
In addition to the main competition, participants are showcased in the E20X Pavilion located within the HITEC exhibit hall. To help prepare the competitors for their pitch, the companies are paired with experienced industry mentors for an advisory session.
“Entrepreneur 20X is the only nonprofit competition that allows bootstrap startups an opportunity to pitch in front of the hospitality technology segment,” said Frank Wolfe, CEO, HFTP. “This would not be possible without the sponsorship of the industry. We are grateful to PROVision Partners for their assistance to move the industry forward and develop a foundation for the future.”
