Hospitality UPGRADE Award 2020

• hotelforum: Start-up Avisio from Vienna wins Hospitality UPGRADE Award 2020
  
• Five start-ups from hotel management, guest experience and real estate management are competing in the hotelforum techno-pitch

hotelforum presented the Hospitality UPGRADE Award to technically-sophisticated young companies for the third time together with the Gastgewerbe Magazin. This is the first time that GNERATOR powered by GIRA has acted as a tech partner to this competition from the industry. This year’s winner is the start-up Avisio from Vienna with a digital merchandise management platform. The 6-member jury made a selection from the five nominated start-ups that competed in the techno pitch as part of the hotelforum conference on 7 October. Applications were received from a total of 31 start-ups from nine countries.

Advisory board member Markus Fromm-Wittenberg, start-up ambassador at GNERATOR powered by GIRA: “The jury didn’t make it easy for themselves, and it was a close race. Avisio impressed the jury with a high level of benefit in terms of the cost factor. Christian Fiedler, Gastgewerbe Magazin and speaker of the jury, adds: “In the end, founder Matthias Depenbusch impressed the jury with his commanding presentation and convincing answers to all the questions”.

The five nominees were:

		"Improve your imagination", René Weber, Chief Sales Officer, Room.Building.Partner
		"The Power of User generated Content - Show guests the experience beyond your rooms", Benedict Stöhr, Founder & CEO, squarelovin
		"All.In.One. Visual Pricing and Revenue Management 2.0“, Philip Kuchelmeister, Founder & Managing Director, Hotellistat
		"Smart Supply Management tailored for Hospitality", Matthias Depenbusch, Co-Founder & CEO, Avisio
		"Eco not ego", Franziska Altenrath, Managing Partner & Co-founder, Tutaka

Jury:

		Markus Fromm-Wittenberg, Start-Up Ambassador, GNERATOR, Gira Giersiepen
		Harro Grimmer, Managing Partner, MPP MEDING PLAN + PROJEKT
		Sandra Lederer, Editor-in-Chief, hotelbau
		Martina Maly-Gärtner, Chief Operating Officer, Arabella Hospitality
		André Meier, Chief Executive Officer, Online Birds
		Martin Stockburger, Gründer & Geschäftsführer | Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Koncept Hotels

chaired by Christian Fiedler, Managing Director, Gastgewerbe Magazin and Speaker of the pitch jury

As the winner of the Hospitality UPGRADE Award 2020, Avisio will receive network access in GNERATOR powered by GIRA via a fellowship with mentoring. An exhibitor space at hotelforum 2021, as well as a one-year junior membership of the Hotel Properties Working Group, will also be provided free of charge.