Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), producers of Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®), is now accepting applications to participate in the successful Entrepreneur 20X (E20X) event at its premier HITEC Amsterdam. Hospitality technology startups who would like to apply for the exciting opportunity can do so by visiting the event website. The competition will take place as part of HITEC Amsterdam's pre-conference events on the afternoon of 28 March 2017 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre. HoReCa.digital will serve as the exclusive Entrepreneur 20X sponsor at HFTP's inaugural HITEC Amsterdam.
HITEC Amsterdam E20X participants will compete for a grand prize of €2,500 EUR. As in the previous E20X competition, there will be two E20X awards given – the Judge's Award and the People's Startup Award. The Judge's Award recipient will be determined by the expert panel of judges and also receives the grand prize. The People's Startup Award recipient will be determined by HITEC Amsterdam attendees and serve as the popular, or crowd favorite, vote. HITEC Amsterdam attendees will be able to watch the companies compete, visit with company representatives and vote for their favorite competitor via the upcoming HITEC app. Immediately following the competition, HITEC Amsterdam attendees are encouraged to visit the E20X participants in room E108 in the convention centre to learn more about each company.
"This will be the third Entrepreneur 20X HFTP has hosted since the program's creation two years ago at HITEC Austin," said HFTP CEO Frank Wolfe, CAE. "With the overwhelming, positive feedback on E20X from competitors and spectators, we are thrilled to debut the program in Europe at our inaugural HITEC Amsterdam. The technology presented demonstrates what kind of technology is on the cusp for our industry — from the outlandish to the practical — and is another reason HITEC is an essential event. "
HFTP's expanding E20X program features ambitious and innovative entrepreneurs presenting breakthrough business concepts to a panel of expert judges including hospitality CIOs, angel investors, serial entrepreneurs and industry insiders. The competition will be open to all HITEC Amsterdam registrants.
"We loved the HITEC E20X competition," said David Temple, from Hello Scout Inc., the winner of the Judge's Award at the HITEC New Orleans E20X competition on June 20, 2016. "It provided us with great exposure and let us get our story in front of lots of people that we wouldn't have otherwise been able to reach. That the judge's chose us as the winner was the icing on the cake."
Videos from last year's E20X competition at HITEC New Orleans are available on the HFTP/HITEC YouTube channel.
In addition to accepting participant applications for the HITEC Amsterdam E20X competition, HFTP is also accepting participant applications for the second E20X competition in 2017 at HITEC Toronto on 26 June in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Applications must be submitted separately via each event's respective website, accessed directly from www.hitec.org.
HFTP's inaugural HITEC Amsterdam is the first of three HITEC events planned for 2017, and will take place 28–30 March at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The pre-conference events will take place on 28 March, followed by the full HITEC Amsterdam event featuring two full days of education, an expo and networking party. HITEC Amsterdam registration is now available on the HITEC Amsterdam website.
In addition to HITEC Amsterdam, in 2017 HFTP is producing the larger HITEC Toronto on 26–29 June and HITEC Dubai in Fall in partnership with Naseba. For more information about HITEC and HFTP's other global activities, contact the HFTP Meetings & Special Events Department at education@hftp.org or visit www.hftp.org and www.hftp.org/hitec.
Stay tuned to HFTP's main webpages: HFTP/HITEC; the world's first hospitality-specific search engine: PineappleSearch® – mobile app available via iTunes App Store and Google Play; HFTP's official blog: HFTP Connect; HFTP's industry-specific, informational news sites: HITEC Bytes (technology), HFTP Club Bytes (club), HFTP Finance Bytes (finance) and HFTP News (association).
