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.

left: Markus Fromm-Wittenberg, GIRA and Matthis Depenbusch, Avisio, winner 2020 (on the screen), right: all finalists // Photos: Grazyna Wislocka |
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:

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"Improve your imagination", René Weber, Chief Sales Officer, Room.Building.Partner
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"The Power of User generated Content - Show guests the experience beyond your rooms", Benedict Stöhr, Founder & CEO, squarelovin
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"All.In.One. Visual Pricing and Revenue Management 2.0“, Philip Kuchelmeister, Founder & Managing Director, Hotellistat
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"Smart Supply Management tailored for Hospitality", Matthias Depenbusch, Co-Founder & CEO, Avisio
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"Eco not ego", Franziska Altenrath, Managing Partner & Co-founder, Tutaka
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Jury:
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Markus Fromm-Wittenberg, Start-Up Ambassador, GNERATOR, Gira Giersiepen
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Harro Grimmer, Managing Partner, MPP MEDING PLAN + PROJEKT
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Sandra Lederer, Editor-in-Chief, hotelbau
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Martina Maly-Gärtner, Chief Operating Officer, Arabella Hospitality
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André Meier, Chief Executive Officer, Online Birds
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Martin Stockburger, Gründer & Geschäftsführer | Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Koncept Hotels
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chaired by Christian Fiedler, Managing Director, Gastgewerbe Magazin and Speaker of the pitch jury
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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.