Latest News
HomeAsia-PacificSoftinn wins Startup of the Year at WIT Startup Pitch Competition in Tokyo
Technology

Softinn wins Startup of the Year at WIT Startup Pitch Competition in Tokyo

As the winner, Softinn received a trophy, a ticket to attend the flagship WIT Conference Singapore in October, a ticket to attend Phocuswright Conference in Florida in November, as well as an enrollment to Amadeus Mentorship Program.

MALACCA, MALAYSIA – Softinn Solutions Sdn. Bhd., a travel technology company offering a cloud-based hotel reservation system for small- and medium-sized hotels, has won Startup of the Year award at the WIT Startup Pitch in Tokyo, Japan, as part of the WIT Japan & North Asia 2017 Conference. This year’s Pitch, powered by Amadeus Next, saw Softinn picked to present at the semi-finals on June 8 from more than 30 submissions. The Grand Final Pitch took place the day after.

As the winner, Softinn received a trophy, a ticket to attend the flagship WIT Conference Singapore in October, a ticket to attend Phocuswright Conference in Florida in November, as well as an enrollment to Amadeus Mentorship Program.

Jason JeeShen Lee, Founder of Softinn said, “We are humbled by the recognition. Winning the WIT Startup Pitch competition helps boost our confidence in serving the small and independent hotels. We thank WIT and Amadeus for making our dream come true.”

Jason explained, “The WIT Startup Pitch was an excellent platform for us to introduce Softinn to international conference delegates and judges. We admit it was not easy when we were up against startups from Japan, Korea and other countries but we gave our best. We are glad that esteemed judges have picked us as the winner.”

Simon Akeroyd, Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Business Development, Amadeus Asia Pacific said, “Softinn has found a sweet spot targeting small to mid-sized hotels. The hotel industry in Asia Pacific has a very long tail of small and independent properties and startups like Softinn catering specifically to them are a win-win on both ends. What stood out about Softinn during the Pitch was their dedication towards perfecting their product. They took feedback seriously and built on it. In fact, one of the reasons they won was because they showed the biggest improvement over the course of the Pitch. We commend them for this and congratulate them for the well-deserved win. We look forward to helping them develop their ideas and grow their business through our mentorship program.”

Yeoh Siew Hoon, Founder, WIT, which has been running travel startup competitions in Asia for the past eight years, said, “I first met the Softinn team about three years ago and thought they had a good idea to solve the pain points of small and medium-sized hotels in Asia which account for the majority of room inventory in our region.”

Yeoh Siew Hoon stated, “That they’ve been able to execute so well and grow their business despite being bootstrapped from the start – their presentation showed they’ve managed so far with only US$225,000 in funding – is impressive and shows the determination and passion of the founders.”

“What I liked personally was that during the final pitch, Softinn not only talked about their product but also the outcome of what their product could do for travellers – enabling them to discover in-destination experiences that small and medium-sized hotels can offer – and this all adds up to supporting the diversity of travel,” Yeoh Siew Hoon added.

Vicky Karantzavelou
Co-Founder & Chief Editor - TravelDailyNews Media Network | + Articles

Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.

11/10/2024
10/10/2024
09/10/2024
08/10/2024
07/10/2024
04/10/2024