8.00 – 9.00

Checking in

Come early for coffee and catching up.


9.00 – 9.10

Kick-off

Revolving around the theme of “Better Travel”, this year's Bootcamp delves into what makes a better startup and how startups can make travel better. Plus of course, lots of coaching in between and our WIT Startup Pitch which comes with a prize worth US$30,000 in seed funding from Travelport Labs and a spot in the Travelport Accelerator Programme in Denver.

Yeoh Siew Hoon, Founder, WIT


What Makes A Better Startup?

What are the ingredients that make a better startup – one that can last the distance? Some say it’s down to the founders, so what makes a bad or good founder? Some say it's down to the investors, so what makes a good or bad investor? Some say, persistence, team, humility. Other words that come to mind – focused, detail-oriented, serious, paranoid, thoughtful, winning mentality, patience, clenched fists. Perhaps it's all that and more – let's get stuck into a discussion on what makes a better startup.

William Bao Bean, General Partner, SOSV; Managing Director, Chinaaccelerator
Simon Akeroyd, Vice President Corporate Strategy & Business Development, Amadeus Asia Pacific
Kuo-Yi Lim, Managing Partner, Monk's Hill Ventures
Melissa Yang, Co-founder, Tujia Inc.
Moderator: Fritz Demopoulous, CEO, Queen’s Road Capital

9.10 – 9.40


9.40 – 10.10

How to overcome betrayals, rejections and failures: Building resilience in your business

Grit is a vital ingredient in startups. It helps you rise up when you have been knocked down. It helps you overcome failures and move on. In this panel, we talk about how you build resilience in your business and perhaps get a confession or two about failures and how they were overcome.

Rod Cuthbert, CEO, Rome2rio
Hichame Assi, CEO, Hotelscombined.com
Blanca Menchaca, COO & Co-Founder, BeMyGuest
Wee Hee Ling, Head of Business Development, Mary Chia
Holdings
Moderator: Yeoh Siew Hoon, Founder & Managing Director, WIT


10.10 – 10.40

Market & Opportunity Updates

To be a better startup, you need to watch the big picture trends as well as be aware of new opportunities over the horizon.

Eye Over Asia

What’s happening in the world of startups and specifically in Asia? Where are the funds going? And which are the hot spaces?

Chetan Kapoor, Research Analyst, Asia Pacific, Phocuswright

Chinese & Japanese Traveller Trends: Turning Insights Into Action

Travel is not a one size fits all experience, and the motivations and priorities for one traveller are likely different for another. Learn how Chinese and Japanese travellers are influenced throughout the booking journey, and the motives and emotions that drive their decisions. Plus, see how one destination harnessed the power of modern technology and digital marketing to identify, engage and convert potential visitors from Japan.

Gianluca Armando, Director at Expedia Media Solutions, Asia Pacific

Sailing Away
The cruise market is exploding in Asia and it's a segment that is largely offline. Is there an opportunity to move some of that market online and what are the pain points in that industry? Learn from a veteran who's been watching and commenting on the global cruise market.

Arnie Weissmann, Editor in Chief, Travel Weekly; Senior Vice President/Editorial Director, Northstar Travel Group


10.40 – 11.10

Break


11.10 – 11.20

User Behavior: Different or Same Same?

Expedia opened its first innovation Lab in Singapore this April to better understand consumers in Asia. What has it learnt so far and how does user behavior here differ from elsewhere?

Tammy Snow, Director, User Experience Research, Expedia, Inc.


11.20 – 11.30

Grooming Talent: Start Them Young & Train Them

A case study of how CarTrawler incubates young talent

Bobby Healy, CTO, CarTrawler


11.30 – 11.55

Startups Got Talent

Team and Talent are vital to better startups. How can startups compete with the giant tech brands for talent? Let’s hear from those who have chosen to work for startups and find out what motivates them and what else could be done to attract and retain talent.  

Alex Shen, Strategic Partnerships Manager, GetYourGuide
Dan Lynn, Co-Founder, ZUZU Hospitality Solutions
Mildred Cheong, General Manager, Air Black Box Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
Nabil El-Shafeay, Head of Global Partnerships, BeMyGuest


Moderator: Marissa Trew, Content & Marketing, WIT


11.55 – 12.25

Product Ideas

We showcase a few ideas for product innovation, in 10 minutes each. 

Solving The Immigration Pain Point
As the volume of travellers grows, immigration bottlenecks have become a right pain at airports from Bangkok to Beijing. One Malaysia-based entrepreneur has been trying to solve the problem with the goal being to ease travel within ASEAN. In August, its product finally passed the Final Acceptance Test with the Malaysian Immigration Department at KLIA2.

Faisal Ariff, Founder & CEO, BorderPass

Chatbots & Mobile Trends

What’s happening in the world of chatbots? Is it still just a lot of chatter about nothing? What traction is being seen? As well as a peek into the latest mobile behavior of consumers in Asia.

Matthew Hulen, Industry Manager, Travel, Facebook Singapore


Social Heroes

This year, Booking.com ran its Booking Booster programme to fund socially-driven businesses. We find out its reasons for doing so and what it unearthed during the exercise. And we put the spotlight on two WIT Startup Alumni social enterprises, who walked away with two of the top prizes. Plus we add another voice – that of Chyloe Kurdas, ex-Australian Rules Football player, who's out to  “empower young people, encouraging them to be curious about themselves, their own authenticity, and their place in this world” with her startup.

Marianne Gybels, Manager, Booking Cares, Booking.com
Somsak "Pai" Boonkam, Founder & CEO, LocalAlike (WIT’s People's Choice Award winner, 2014)

Jamon Mok, CEO & Co-Founder, Backstreet Academy (WIT 2016 Finalist)
Chyloe Kurdas, Founder, Own Journey Travel

Moderator: Yeoh Siew Hoon, Founder & Managing Director, WIT

12.25 – 12.50


12.50 – 13.50

Lunch


13.50 – 14.10

Open Space

Time for a group activity led by Chyloe Kurdas, former Australian Rules Football player turned coach. Get ready to play, participate and learn.


14.10 – 15.00

WIT 2017 Startup Pitch Part 1, powered by Travelport Labs

Our annual startup competition featuring a shorlist of candidates pitching their ideas to our panel of judges and coaches. Three will go on to pitch live at the Grand Finals on Oct 25 and the winner wins a place in the Travelport Labs Accelerator programme, which comes with seed funding of up to US$30,000.

Fritz Demopoulos, CEO, Queen’s Road Capital
William Bao Bean, General Partner, SOSV; Managing Director, Chinaaccelerator
David Zimmer, Global Head of Product and Innovation, Hospitality, Travelport
Kei Shibata, CEO, Venture Republic
Kuo-Yi Lim, Managing Partner, Monk's Hill Ventures
Aya Yamoto, Manager, 
Travel Investment, Recruit
Pauline Andriejanssen, Investor, B Capital Group
Bart Bellers, Founding Partner & CEO, Xpdite Ventures
Duncan Horton, CEO, Jacobs Media Group
John Butler, Vice President, Information Technology Asia Pacific, Carlson Wagonlit Travel


15.00 – 15.25

Room for Dreams

The hospitality sector is one of the most complex yet lucrative to crack. It’s fragmented and diverse. Meet those startups making room for their dreams. 

Jee Shen (Jason) Lee, Founder, Softinn Solutions (WIT Japan & North Asia Startup of the Year)
Charlie Osmond, Chief Tease, TripTease
Akemi Tsunagawa, Founder & CEO, Bespoke Inc.

Moderator: Timothy Hughes, Vice President, Business Development, Agoda


15.25 – 15.55

Room For Alternative Dreams

There's lots of room in the alternative spaces in travel – from private accommodation to food to experiences. After all, people eat and do more stuff in-destination than they stay in lodging. A look at the startups building their dreams in some of the hottest spaces in Asia.

Chuan Seng (C.S.) Soong, General Manager Southeast Asia, Klook
Jeffrey Manheimer, Founder & COO, Tripping.com
Suchada Taechotirote, Co-Founder & CEO, Favstay

Louis (Pumin) Yuvacharuskul, Co-Founder & CEO, Eatigo

Moderator: Chetan Kapoor, Research Analyst, Asia Pacific, Phocuswright
 


15.55 – 16.25

Break


16.25 – 17.15

WIT 2017 Startup Pitch Part 2, powered by Travelport
Labs

Our annual startup competition featuring a shorlist of candidates pitching their ideas to our panel of judges and coaches. Three will go on to pitch live at the Grand Finals on Oct 25 and the winner wins a place in the Travelport Labs Accelerator programme, which comes with seed funding of up to US$30,000.

Fritz Demopoulos, CEO, Queen’s Road Capital
William Bao Bean, General Partner, SOSV; Managing Director, Chinaaccelerator
David Zimmer, Global Head of Product and Innovation, Hospitality, Travelport
Kei Shibata, CEO, Venture Republic
Kuo-Yi Lim, Managing Partner, Monk's Hill Ventures
Aya Yamoto, Chief Business Analyst,
 Recruit
Pauline Andriejanssen, Investor, B Capital Group
Bart Bellers, Founding Partner & CEO, Xpdite Ventures
Duncan Horton, CEO, Jacobs Media Group
John Butler, Vice President, Information Technology Asia Pacific, Carlson Wagonlit Travel


17.15 – 17.40

The Air Upstarts

The airline sector has always been one of the hardest to crack. Legacy infrastructure, closed systems, conservative thinking – yet a few have given it a go. We speak to startups who are trying to find their own slipstream in the world of aviation.

Charles "Chuck" Chang, Co-Founder & COO, MyCape, Inc. (WIT Singapore Startup of the Year 2016)
Rajeev Kumar G., Founder, Managing Director & CEO, Mystifly
Ron Ramanan, Founder & CEO, GoQuo
Troy Liu, CEO, Mileslife


Moderator: Steven Greenway, CEO, reward-U; CEO, U-FLY Holidays; Deputy CEO, U-FLY Alliance; Director, Zuji


17.40 – 18.00

Face Off

The fitting end to the day as two successful startup leaders face off in a rapid fire format designed the get the pulse racing and ideas firing.

Melissa Yang, Co-Founder, Tujia, Inc. & Fritz Demopoulos, CEO, Queen's Road Capital


18.00 – 18.10 

Announcement of the finalists for the Grand Finals and Closing


18.30 – 20.30

Cocktails sponsored by Accor Plus, featuring the WIT Cooking Challenge, powered by Rezgo

Come prepared to pick up some cooking skills in a special challenge designed for WIT by Singapore-born Australian Masterchef Audra Morrice.