Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), producers of Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC), has announced the nine outstanding startups participating in Entrepreneur 20X (E20X) Dubai held on May 23, 2023 at HITEC Dubai, co-located with The Hotel Show Dubai.

As the premier hospitality technology pitch competition for nearly a decade, Entrepreneur 20X is a unique opportunity for startups to gain visibility and credibility in the industry and network with fellow solution providers and influential industry professionals. Participants will have four minutes each to present their innovative products or services to a panel of judges with backgrounds in entrepreneurship and a live audience of HITEC attendees. Each pitch will be followed by another four minutes for Q&A between the judges and presenters.

The participating 2023 E20X Dubai startups are:

1. Buk Technology
2. INNREV
3. NYWHR
4. Quoality
5. Tibble
6. Turpal
7. Xaan
8. Xenios Academy
9. Youverse

The winning startup will receive a grand prize of $2,500 USD as the Judges’ Choice Award selection. Judges’ Choice Semi-Finalist and People’s Choice Award winners will also be recognized with the latter selected by the audience in real time during the presentation and deliberation periods. All startups will receive exposure to potential investors, customers, and partners in the hospitality technology industry through their participation in the competition.

“The E20X competition was a great opportunity to explore new startup ideas and connect with like-minded entrepreneurs aiming to make the hospitality industry more efficient, sustainable and, maybe first and foremost, digitized,” said Dominika Duziak, former HFTP Research Center scholar and presenter for Dubai 2022 participant appeti.me. “E20X was a fantastic experience and a chance to meet great people who are eager to share their knowledge and exchange ideas on how to make the hotel sector more innovative.”

This year’s judging panel includes:

• Amit Nayak, Vice President and board member of HAMA MEA
• Frank Wolfe, CEO of HFTP
• Hassan Awada, Associate Managing Director at Kroll
• Marc Descrozaille, Chief of Staff to Chief Executive Officer - Premium, Midscale & Economy at Accor
• Naim Maadad, Chief Executive and Founder of Gates Hospitality
• Willem Both, Executive Vice President of IT for Kerzner International

HFTP is also set to hold an E20X competition at HITEC Toronto 2023 on June 28 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

HITEC is the world’s largest and longest-running hospitality technology conference. HITEC Dubai, co-located at The Hotel Show Dubai will be held May 23-25, 2023 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, UAE. This is the third year that HFTP co-produces HITEC with dmg events. Register to attend.

For more information regarding E20X, email e20x@hftp.org.