This year’s applications, as well as the final number of participating teams, once again set a new record for the Idea Platform youth competition, organized annually by the Capsule^T Travel & Hospitality Accelerator.

The 14 teams, presenting innovative ideas in the tourism sector, successfully completed the 12-day program of workshops and mentoring as part of the 7th Idea Platform, showcasing their final business proposals “on stage” during the Closing & Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, April 28.

The event was hosted at the EVDOMOS venue, where the accelerator of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels welcomed representatives of the Chamber, strategic partners, speakers, judges, and mentors, in a particularly positive atmosphere, where three innovative proposals stood out.

Throughout the competition, participating teams further developed their ideas through specialized workshops and mentoring sessions, aiming to create startups that address modern needs in tourism and hospitality. The final presentations received positive feedback and recognition from the audience attending the event.

The evaluation was carried out by a Jury Committee consisting of: Nikos Papagiannopoulos, CFA - Athens International Airport, Athanasios Sofianos, Founder & CEO - Relevance Digital Agency, Spyros Arsenis, Head of Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development - NBG Business Seeds, Liza Katsouraki, Startup Expert & Angel Investor, and Konstantinos Kallioudakis, Member of the BoD of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels & Executive Advisor of Capsule^T.

The three teams that stood out were Beach Operations Manager, NOEMATICA, and ClinicaGo, winning cash prizes from the accelerator, free services and benefits from the program’s strategic partners, as well as entry into the 9th Acceleration Cycle of CapsuleT.

More specifically, the winning teams:

Beach Operations Manager
A full-stack cloud solution (React & Firebase) that combines a Direct Booking Portal with dynamic pricing, a Live Beach Manager with real-time status synchronization (Free, Reserved, Arrived), and an AI Assistant (Google Gemini) for shift analysis, SOP recommendations, and decision support. It creates a virtual twin of the beach, connects bookings with operations, eliminates double bookings, optimizes staff allocation based on occupancy and weather, and automates key operational processes in real time.

NOEMATICA
A real-time bidirectional translation system that converts sign language into structured speech and spoken language into a digital avatar’s motion. It is built on an Edge AI architecture, enabling offline operation with zero latency. Its key differentiation lies in processing skeletal data instead of video, ensuring full privacy and reliable, real-time communication in demanding environments.

ClinicaGo
A medical tourism platform that allows patients to organize their entire experience—treatment, accommodation, and transportation—within a single environment. At the same time, it enables clinics to efficiently manage international requests through a simple system featuring secure messaging, video calls, and multi-person booking. The Clinic Panel automates over 80% of international patient management, improving both efficiency and user experience.

A total of 14 teams successfully completed the program:

Anagenesis AI, Beach Operations Manager, BEED, ClinicaGo, EcoTrack, Greecoast, NOEMATICA, OpenDoors, Revelio by Phutur, SailHub, SkipQ, SynodiGO, Tripativo, and ZenVoya.

The teams worked across a wide range of themes, reflecting current trends and needs in the tourism sector. More specifically, the proposals focused on areas such as Artificial Intelligence and automation (4 teams), hospitality operations and technology (3 teams), sustainability solutions (2 teams), travel experiences (3 teams), transportation (1 team), as well as accessibility and inclusion (1 team), highlighting the breadth and potential of the ideas developed within the program.

Mr. Konstantinos Kallioudakis, Member of the BoD of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels & Executive Advisor of Capsule^T, stated: “In the context of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels’ effort to strengthen the development of new business ideas in tourism, the Idea Platform serves as a creative and open expression of this initiative. Through its evolution, it has become a process that brings ideas increasingly closer to the real needs of the sector, adding particular value to today’s process. In practice, what we see is not just ideas, but the way a new generation approaches tourism, with a different perspective and greater familiarity with technology.

In an environment where tourism is constantly evolving and demands are becoming more complex, innovation is a practical necessity. The Idea Platform focuses precisely on this point: where ideas are tested, structured, and transformed into more comprehensive proposals. This is directly linked to our mission — to support early-stage efforts and contribute to the creation of new entrepreneurial initiatives in tourism with real impact.”

The Director of Capsule^T, Katerina Saridakis, noted: “Another Idea Platform closing ceremony was completed today, with yet another record level of participation in the presentations. Fourteen teams successfully completed our program, and we are extremely proud of those who reached this stage - presenting with both excitement and pressure, but also with a highly valuable outcome that they managed to shape within a total duration of almost one month. During this period, with more than 50 hours of mentoring, 16 workshop and presentation sessions, and the contribution of 46 speakers and mentors - with the intensive guidance taking place over 12 days - they made it here with us today.

We sincerely wish them the best of luck in their next steps and look forward to welcoming them to the Accelerator, as we are confident that many of them will continue their journey in the market, with CapsuleT standing by their side and supporting them through the ecosystem it has built over the past seven years.”

Finally, Ms. Agni Christidou, General Director of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, stated:

“The startup accelerator of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels aims to bridge the hotel sector with a new generation of people who are technologically adept and engaged with the future - a future that is now evolving at a rapid pace. This represents one of the Chamber’s most significant achievements: fostering a creative collaboration between hoteliers and new professionals with innovative ideas. Through Capsule^T, teams gain direct exposure to the market, visit hotel businesses across the country, and operate within a dynamic environment of knowledge exchange, shared experience, and the development of new opportunities for all. Over time, a vibrant community of young people continues to grow within the Chamber - individuals with drive, a modern mindset, and a clear vision for the future. This community acts as a point of reference for the hotel sector, contributing to its modernization and helping it move away from more traditional, established approaches.”

For the implementation of the 7th Idea Platform, the accelerator collaborated with key organizations and companies in the tourism ecosystem. Strategic partners included Athens International Airport, Expedia Group, NBG Business Seeds by the National Bank of Greece, Relevance Digital, Blue Functor, and DRAKOPOULOS Law Firm.

The program was also supported by mentors and speakers from recognized startups in the sector, including Camspsaround, Clio Muse Tours, Ferryhopper, Sammy, TravelMyth, Triparound, UniStudents, Vivestia, and Welcome Pickups.

Next steps

The next Idea Platform is scheduled for February 2027, while applications for the 9th Acceleration Cycle of Capsule^T - aimed at early-stage tourism startups - will be open from May 25 to June 25, 2026.

Highlights from the Closing & Awards Ceremony will soon be available on our YouTube channel.

Stay tuned to Capsule^T’s social media for all upcoming activities in Greece and abroad.