For the first time since its inception three years ago, a Uruguayan startup was named the best travel startup in the international TravelUps competition, an annual event held in Buenos Aires that selects the top 10 startups in the region and invites them to present their ideas in person, where a panel of judges selects the winner.
This year, at the final held on October 2, the winning entry was Vení Seguro, a product created by Juan Pedro Narancio and Joaquín Elizondo—graduates of the Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Administration and the Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, respectively—along with Federico Kramer.
To qualify for this competition, the team applied online alongside 50 other startups from Latin America. A few days before the in-person event, they were informed that they were one of the five finalists and that they would have to present their project on stage at TravelUps, which is held as part of the International Tourism Fair in Buenos Aires.
In a three-minute presentation accompanied by a video, the three entrepreneurs outlined their project to an audience of over 100 people gathered at La Rural in Palermo. The judging panel consisted of Robert Brown, GVP and Managing Director of OTA at Travelport; Eduardo Amadeo, Managing Partner at Mountain Nazca Venture Capital Firm and General Manager for Chile and Argentina; and Francisco Vigo, Country Manager at Almundo.
“The final was held on Tuesday the 2nd, and we were thrilled to take first place,” said Juan Pedro, who noted that in the two previous editions, the winners were a Chilean startup and an Argentine startup.
As a prize, they received travel and accommodation to represent the company at the ITB in Berlin in March 2019, the world’s leading tourism trade fair.
In addition, they receive a year of mentoring and access to Amadeus software, a travel management and booking system that connects them to the global travel ecosystem and enables them to provide better service to travelers.
“But beyond the awards, it was incredibly helpful in terms of networking and confirming that we’re on the right track,” he added. TravelUps aims to foster interaction between startups and investors to highlight opportunities for dialogue between the tourism and technology industries.
Come On Over
The Vení Seguro product is part of Aseguro Mi Viaje, the company founded by the three entrepreneurs that specializes in offering travel insurance to travelers in the region.
Aseguro Mi Viaje has been operating in Montevideo since 2017, and as of April of this year, it also has offices in Asunción. “Given our experience in the industry, we recognized the need to explore new ways to market insurance, which is why we created Vení Seguro,” he explained.
“Basically, with Vení Seguro, a tourism establishment can offer its guests travel insurance the moment they arrive at the hotel. This is an opportunity to explain how important it is to have coverage and to offer them a very affordable policy. If the guest accepts, the hotel can issue the insurance instantly through our website using software created specifically for this project. The hotel bills the guest, and we bill the hotel for our commission,” Juan Pedro explained.
“In short, the hotel gains a new service and new revenue. Guests enjoy a new purchasing experience, purchasing their coverage upon arrival at the hotel without any further concerns, and the state also benefits by saving on costs associated with tourists who previously relied on public healthcare and will now have their own coverage,” he added.
According to them, they already have several clients and plan to expand their reach following this award ceremony.
“The next steps are to reach out to more tourism establishments, strengthen the brand, leverage the network of contacts we’ve built through the competition, and bring the project to Berlin at a more mature stage, with a strong presence in Uruguay, Paraguay, and possibly other countries in the region,” Juan Diego concluded.