10 startup finalists of Dubai Tourism's Futurism Programme 2019
10 startups have been finalised for the 2019 cohort of the Futurism Programme — the six-week zero-equity accelerator programme of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), run in collaboration with Accenture.
The third edition is focused on innovative technologies that will boost the hospitality sector, through a variety of Futurism themes, including hyper personalisation, connected travel, digitising operations, first choice destination, conscious travel, as well as ‘phygital’ experience.
Following are the startups that have been selected for the 2019 edition of the Futurism Programme, that has already started operations:
Stayhopper: UAE’s first microstay that allows people to pay for their rooms only for the hours they use it. Founded by Sujilesh Kakkanangottathil in 2018.
Ads-Flight: Digital marketing agency targeting ads to travellers at airports, customisable to gates and travel destinations.
Stayology: Founded by Arjun Baljee, Girish Raj Nair and Rakesh Ravuri, Stayology is an “intuitive global tourism platform” that allows people to book hotels, flights, and experiences through one mobile application.
Further Network: A blockchain-based TravelTech startup that aims to “inject trust, simplify and reduce costs of transactions in travel.” It was founded by Cem Ersözlü, Erdem Üney, Eser Sevim, Gökhan Koç, and Kadir Özgür Oğuz in the UK.
Ariadne Maps: Hailing from Germany, Ariadne Maps is a tech company that offers detailed customer spatial analytics relating to the route they take to travel, how much time they spent at a particular area and much more.
Airlines Technology: An IT solutions company that is developing the latest Passenger Reservation System called New Distribution Capability (NDC), with the aim to revolutionise the aviation industry. The new system is being developed to transform the way air products are retailed to corporations and travellers, to address the industry’s current limitations: product differentiation, time-to-market, access to rich air content, and transparent shopping experience.
Omniflow, S.A.: An integrated smart and sustainable energy platform supporting IoT devices to use sustainable energy resources produced from omnidirectional wind turbine and high-efficiency solar cells.
Chatdesk: They create software solutions that allow companies to deliver better customer service through their preferred messaging channels, along with providing detailed analytics.
Cerebri AI: The SaaS platform allows companies to measure individual brand commitment, and then take personalised actions at scale and in real time to increase revenue and reduce costs across all channels.
Xandar Kardian: The registered USA C-CORP technology start-up provides “innovative solutions for smart buildings, security and healthcare utilising digital radar signal processing algorithm technology.”
During the six weeks of the programme startup founders will get to attend bootcamp sessions, get one-on-one mentorship, as well as network with key industry partners of the Programme.
In addition to Accenture, strategic partners of the Programme including the Seera Group, industry partners include Atlantis The Palm, Emaar Hospitality Group, the Emirates Group and Accor Hotels. The partnership network also includes Dubai SME, Shorooq Investments, Wamda, Middle East Venture Partners, Microsoft, Amazon, Dentons, Alteryx and Careem.
The Programme will conclude with the 10 finalists pitching their business model to a jury of business owners, investors and venture capitalists at the Dubai Tourism stand at GITEX Future Stars, set to be hosted in October. The winning start-up and runner-up stand to win a prize totalling AED 100,000, as well as licensing, relevant visas in Dubai, office space and the opportunity to secure potential future funding.
