State Government Chooses the Eight Winners

Tourism is a big and booming industry and states benefit big time from it. This is why Karnataka state government recently conducted an open challenge on World Tourism Day topick eight tech startups that hold the potential of benefitting the state tourism. The government hadannounced a total sum of Rs 2 crores to assist these startups in growing.

Startups that made to this list

The government had earlier announced an open challenge where several early stage startups were to present their innovative tech solutions to help tourism grow. The eight winners who made it to the top are:

AAO Hostels (Money designated by state- Rs 40 lacs)

Co-founded by Saurabh Jain and located in Bangalore’s prime area, Koramangala, AAO Hostels aim at providing a comfortable stay to tourists. It offers standard double room and separate dormitories for men and women at very affordable rates.

Highway Delite (Money designated by state- Rs 35 lacs)

It is an app that tells you about all the verified pit stops when you are on the highway. It was founded by Rajesh G. Tourists can search for all the verified hotels, restaurants, fuel pumps with this app. People can also filter their search results around parameters likecredit cards, 24×7, AC, etc.

Highir Technologies (Money designated- Rs 25 Lakh)

Founded by Naveen Subbaraman,the startup has a breakthrough idea that enables tourists to take a VR tour of the best resorts across Karnataka using Google cardboard. It also offers ariel 360 virtual tour in HD quality, HDR imagery, VR-enabled panoramic imagery and ariel mapping. Now tourists see the entire resort in VR before making bookings.

Aseuro Technologies (Money designated- Rs 25 Lakh)

Based out of Bangalore, it is one of the fastest growing IT solutions providers. The startup delivers solutions to varied businesses(in this case tourism) to help reduce cost of operations, enhance productivity and increase flexibility.

Moving Up Products (Money designated-Rs 5 lakh)

The startup takes care of software and technical backend needs of its clients. It is also into consultancy and supply of other IT solutions. The company is headed by three directors- Jain Mahaveer Prashant, Vivek Mahaveer and Nishant Mahaveer.

Trip On Food (Money designated-Rs 5 Lakh)

The startup brings forth an interesting way of exploring a new city; it organizes ‘eatineraries’ for tourists. Just book yourself a food tour with Trip on Food and enjoy the ride as your dedicated food expert takes you to famous eating places for local food. The company, founded by Sanjeev Shenoy, is based out of Bangalore and has its presence in all the major places in the Indian subcontinent.

The other two startups chosen by the state government includeDigiTour Technologies (money designated- Rs 25 Lakh) and Trip Dairy (money designated- Rs 20 Lakh).

A total of 127 startups had participated in the challenge. Out of them, these startups were selected by an independent jury based on their presentation and uniqueness of idea. The designated money will be used by these startups to further grow their services. Priyank Kharge, IT/BT and Tourism Minister of Karnataka, believes that the government can use the help from the winning startups to make the state tourism future-ready and technologically efficient.

Is it time that the other state governments also took steps to revamp their tourism? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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