The very first Travel Startup Knockdown was concluded recently in association with OTM Mumbai, India’s largest travel trade show and the response was phenomenal. We received entries from some really interesting startups that hold great potential. The panel of judges, which featured Siddharth Dabhade, Head of travel business, Google India, Sanjiv Swarup, Venture Capitalist, Sanjiv Agarwal, Founder & CEO, Fairfest Media and Ashish Pai, Corporate Strategy, Cox & Kings, shared the opinion that platforms like Startup Knockdown are a great way to give the innovators an opportunity to reach more audience.

Fxkart, winner of Judges’ Choice Award at Startup Knockdown Mumbai

After comparing the startups that pitched at the event, the judges picked Fxkart as the winner of first Travel Startup Knockdown. The startup addresses one of the biggest hassles travellers face when they are planning to travel internationally i.e. forex. There are vendors that charge huge commissions on your currency and there are vendors that don’t give the impression of authenticity. Fxkart saves you from the trouble of filtering through such vendors and offers you the best exchange rates. On top of that, you can do all that from the comfort of your home and get the currency delivered to your doorstep.

Sharing his experience on the same, Abdul Hadi Shaikh, CEO, Fxkart said, “It gave us a new perspective and also validating our idea in terms of other products in the travel startup space. A lot of times startups assume a lot of things and think they are building something path breaking but unless there is validation from the industry it doesn’t make any sense. For us, winning the StartupKnockdown was a stepping stone and gives us the energy and zeal to keep doing the good work”

Tramily was the second startup that got highlighted. It won the people’s choice award at the event. Travel agents, while putting together the itineraries for their clients, need to get good hotel deals. Tramily allows them to find the best hotel deals to include in the itineraries. They can post their requirements for room nights and hotels can respond with the best deals if they fit the bill. Also the hotels can post their deals and the agents can choose while putting together a package. It is also available through a mobile app.

Tramily, winner of People’s Choice Award at Startup Knockdown Mumbai

There were many other promising startups that pitched at the event. Putting together the plans for a group trip is a tough job and MyTripKarma plans to simplify that by allowing multiple travellers to book together in one place. iManageMyHotel offers centralised property management solutions for hotels so that they don’t have to invest in developing their own such solutions. inTRANSIT is a social platform that enhances your travel experience by adding the option to communicate with fellow passengers at airports. EasyGroupBook simplifies lodging for large events and GoMowgli takes more control over activities and experiences to offer a consistent travel experience.

Here are some more images from the event:

We will be hosting the second edition of Travel Startup Knockdown next month and are inviting applications from early stage travel startups for the same. You can find more details about the event here.

The post Highlights of the first Travel Startup Knockdown appeared first on TravHQ.

Globally the phenomenon of travel startups has been on the rise and via our platform, we have been making an ardent effort to recognise the problem solvers across the travel & tourism industry. According to a research by Phocuswright, about 1000 travel startups were launched between the period of 2005 and 2014, attracting about $12.2 billion in investments. Many of these travel startups have become global success stories inspiring more entrepreneurs in the travel segment to think of newer ideas.

While bidding adieu to 2015, we announced #StartupKnockdown our flagship initiative to recognise Travel Startups across various clusters & cities in India. The first leg of #StartupKnockdown which is scheduled to take place in Mumbai on 19th February 2016  has witnessed an overwhelming response from many travel startups. After an intensive round of screening all entries, we are glad to announce the list of finalists for the Mumbai session.

These finalists will battle it out in front of our panel of judges to win the coveted award at TechForum @OTM, Mumbai.

Fxkart

Fxkart is the first platform of its kind that allows international travellers to exchange currency hassle free. Travellers can post their requirements, get quotes from multiple verified dealers and get the exchange at the doorstep.

MyTripKarma

MyTripKarma is a startup that tries to address the requirements of travellers at multiple stages. It allows multiple travellers to collaborate for one trip, discuss the plans and then buy as one instead of multiple transactions.

Tramily

Tramily is a marketplace for hoteliers and travel agents. It tries to increase the personal connection of the agents and hoteliers which they can leverage to each other’s advantage. Agents can post their requirements for hotels or find deals to put together their packages using the mobile app.

GoMowgli

GoMowgli takes an interesting approach to the conventional local tours. Instead of just aggregating tours and activities from different providers, they are taking more control over the same to offer a consistent travel experience.

EasyGroupBook

We often have to take the offline route when it comes to booking for events or for large groups. However EasyGroupBook plans to change that. It simplifies the lodging for event organisers by offering negotiated rates for the hotels available for the event through a cloud based solution.

inTRANSIT by Nanak Technologies 

inTRANSIT is a social networking platform that enhances one’s travel experience by improving both the means of communication with other travellers and the quality of time spent at airports. In the inTRANSIT Lounge, travellers can meet like-minded individuals at airports with absolute ease. It offers duty-free deals and promotions to expand its customer base.

iManageMyHotel

The small hotels often rely on old school property management methods as investing into developing software solutions is costly. iManageMyHotel provides a centralised property management system which allows hoteliers to manage their properties from cloud.

If you couldn’t send in your pitch for this edition of Travel Startup Knockdown, you can be a part of the next event in Delhi. Find more details here.

Update (Feb 16, 2016): We have been informed by the OTM team that TripHobo has opted out of participation in #StartupKnockdown Mumbai.

The post Announcing the finalists of the first Travel Startup Knockdown in Mumbai appeared first on TravHQ.