HITEC Dubai 2018 Announces Entrepreneur 20X Competition for Startups

HITEC Dubai 2018, the Middle East's largest hospitality technology exhibition and conference, has opened a unique opportunity for startups to present their breakthrough business concepts at the show by participating in HFTP's expanding Entrepreneur20X (E20X) competition. The E20X start-up competition at HITEC Dubai will be held on Wednesday, December 5 from 11:50 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. and is open to all attendees.

Competitors will receive fabulous exposure and validation from top companies by presenting their ideas to a room full of HITEC attendees, as well as a panel of expert judges including hospitality CIOs, angel investors, serial entrepreneurs and industry insiders. The winner, determined by the judges' panel, will be rewarded the opportunity to pitch at either the HITEC Europe or HITEC Minneapolis E20X competitions in 2019. This includes an exhibition kiosk in the E20X Innovation Lab,  two full conference registrations at the corresponding conference, and extensive media coverage via HFTP's BYTES and Pineapplesearch hospitality industry news distribution networks.

Frank Wolfe CAE, CEO of HFTP, said, "The E20X competition has been designed to celebrate innovation and entrepreneurship while giving businesses the opportunity to become part of a global network at HITEC Dubai. We are eager to encourage and incentivize such experiments even if it is a work in progress and can be improved by others in the know. We believe it is critical to value innovation and disruption as we move towards the future driven by technology. And startups are at the forefront of this transformation."

To qualify for E20X competition, the startup must be less than three years old, have at least a demo version of the product / service, should not have raised more than $100K of investments and have a hospitality solution.

HITEC Dubai Advisory Council chairperson Laurent A. Voivenel, senior vice president of Operations and Development for the Middle East, Africa and India for Swiss-Belhotel International, said, "HITEC Dubai is a great platform and vehicle for startups to get the much-needed exposure and recognition by leading players in the industry. Large companies have the resources and the brand reputation, but it is the startups that are fostering major disruptions in our industry due to their innovative ideas and thinking. We are very excited to see those ideas emerge at HITEC Dubai which could possibly become the next big thing."

HITEC Dubai will be inaugurated by Dubai Tourism and will give Middle East buyers, currently worth over USD 75 billion, access to the worlds leading technology solution providers and experts in the hospitality sector. Co-produced by Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) and Naseba, the two-day trade show will be held at the Madinat Jumeirah Dubai.

About HFTP

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), established in 1952, is a hospitality nonprofit association headquartered in Austin, Texas USA with offices in the EU and Middle East. HFTP is recognized as the spokes group for the finance and technology segments of the hospitality industry with an international network of members and stakeholders. HFTP uniquely understands the industry's pressing issues, and assists its stakeholders in finding solutions to their challenges more efficiently than any organization. HFTP offers expert networks, educational resources, career development programs, research, leadership opportunities and conferences and events. HFTP produces international events throughout the year, including the world's largest hospitality technology tradeshow and conference brand: HITEC. In addition, it oversees the hospitality-specific Pineapplesearch.com® and the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI). For more information about HFTP, visit www.hftp.org. For the latest news, visit the HFTP News page at news.hftp.org and the HFTP Connect blog at blog.hftp.org.