The Travel Experience Incubator Challenge FAQs

Marriott International, the world’s largest hotel operator with 6,100 properties in 30 leading hotel brands spanning 124 countries and territories, is committed to creating amazing experiences and is looking to the startup community to help invent those experiences throughout the customer’s travel journey. The Travel Experience Incubator Challenge, brought to you by Marriott International, its official Travel Experience Incubator Partner, Accenture Interactive, and 1776, seeks solutions that increase connectedness and enhance guest experience in each stage of the travel journey.

The application deadline is August 7, 2017.

• Must be a for-profit business
• Must be a scalable product or service (fundamentally beyond “idea stage”, MVP or pilots are fine)
• Must have at least two full-time team members
• The product must provide unique value beyond a user-friendly application or portal
• The participants must be willing to be available for some in-person sessions in the Washington, D.C. Metro area during the duration of the cohort program, September through December 2017

Judges will evaluate startups based on the following criteria:

• Extent to which the product solves a Marriott specific business problem
• Innovative and disruptive technology to transform the traveler experience
• Size of market opportunity and revenue potential
• A strong market rollout plan
• Proven traction (e.g. users, customers, revenue)
• A motivated and skilled team

The program welcomes ideas both big and small that help to build a better end-to-end travel experience.

If you are selected as a finalist, 1776 will be providing one roundtrip ticket to Washington, D.C., from your home base for final round of interviews. Any additional team members are welcome, but at your own expense. Only one team member is allowed to interview during the process.

The process consists of a pitch followed by Q&A. The pitch will be strictly three minutes long, and we’ll conduct an interview between a group of panelists to clarify remaining questions on your business.

For any questions regarding your pitches or the application process, please email Veronica Rivas at veronica@1776.vc. 

The location of the final interviews on the week of August 17 – 18 will take place at 1776’s Crystal City Campus. Address is 2231 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202. We’re located on the tenth floor.

You will check in with the front desk at our campus. You’ll be directed to the appropriate room for your interview.

You will need to fill out a form once you are confirmed as a finalist with the details of your departure airport, etc. Flight and accommodation will be booked on your behalf by 1776. You will receive all confirmation documents via email when arrangements are ready.

You are responsible for arranging and paying for your transportation to/from the airport. Taxi/Uber is recommended. The blue and yellow line metro is also available from Reagan National Airport. What is the easiest way to get around town while you’re here is to take a taxi/Uber or the metro. 

Travel Experience Incubator Challenge will only pay for one round-trip ticket (or two travel legs) to Washington, D.C., per company. If you’d like to have meetings in other cities, the travel arrangements must be made on your own.

Accommodation information will be shared via email once confirmed.

Yes, but please know that Travel Experience Incubator Challenge will pay for flight and accommodation only for the date that your interview is scheduled. Any time outside of those dates will need to be arranged and paid for separately. 

Travel Experience Incubator Challenge is only committing to providing accommodation for one team member during the dates of the interview. If you would like to book extra days at the same hotel, you will have to make those arrangements on your own.

Travel Experience Incubator Challenge is providing accommodation for one team member. If you would like to book extra accommodation for additional team members, friends, or family, you will have to make those arrangements.

The Travel Experience Incubator Challenge is a three month program designed to validate and test the businesses that can have a transformative impact in the travel industry. The Travel Experience Incubator Challenge will help the winning startups grow their businesses for pilot project collaborations and investment opportunities.

The startups participating in the Travel Experience Incubator Challenge will receive the following benefits:

• Access to and feedback from industry leaders, mentors, representatives from Accenture Interactive, Marriott, and 1776.
• Weekly curated programming and office hours throughout the course of the 3-month program to prepare participating startups for piloting opportunities.
• Three months of 1776 campus reserved membership.
• Three months of 1776 virtual membership following the program’s conclusion.
• Opportunity for investment and paid piloting opportunities with partner organizations: Marriott International, Accenture Interactive, and 1776.
• If traveling from outside Washington, D.C., Metro Area, travel and lodging accommodations included up to one trip weekly.
• If planning to relocate to the Washington, D.C., area, travel and lodging accommodations included.
• Promotion on 1776’s channels and ability to participate in 1776’s marketing assets.
• Opportunity to pitch company in front of Marriott International, Accenture Interactive, and 1776 executives for investment and pilot project opportunities, during a demo day after the 3-month program.

This Travel Experience Incubator Challenge will take place over the course of three months. Each week, startups will participate in a curated course featuring experts and speakers from Marriott, Accenture Interactive, and 1776. Startups will meet weekly with 1776 team members to apply learnings from courses to evolve business models and determine a curriculum plan based on 1776 and program partners’ available resources.

Over the course of three months, startups will receive intensive training and coursework to develop their business models. The program will culminate in a private Demo Day, where the startups will pitch to an audience of executives from Marriott, Accenture Interactive, and 1776. Incubator participants will have access to the UNION network, where they’ll be able to choose from 45+ hours weekly of individual mentorship based on topics of need, including business model transformation, mergers and acquisitions, tax policy, etc.

The program will include:

• Regular Office Hours: Startups will have access to 1776’s 1,000+ mentors and experts, with whom you can reserve individual meetings. These appointments, which startups can book through UNION, 1776’s virtual platform, are 30 minutes each and there is no limit to the number of office hours a startup can book. Startups will also be required to have office hours with the Program Lead.

• Workshops/Classes: Startups will be required to participate in a weekly course on a variety of curriculum topics, including overall company growth and scale as well as specific travel and hospitality related topics.

• The Travel Experience Incubator Team Lead: Each startup will have the opportunity to meet with the Travel Experience Incubator Challenge Team Lead weekly to determine roadmaps for growth, how to best navigate the program and 1776. This Program Leader will guide startups through Travel Experience Incubator Challenge system, and provide feedback and business insights to successfully prepare the startup for the final Demo Day.

• First Day of Cohort: Mid-September 2017
• Last Day of Cohort: Mid-December 2017
• Demo Day: Mid-December 2017

Your startup will be based out the 1776 Crystal City campus in the Travel Experience Incubator section of the campus. You will be considered a “Reserved” Member, which includes:

• Dedicated desk space
• 24/7 access to Crystal City campus
• Nine fully equipped conference rooms (bookable online)
• Prepared Community Lunch by in house chef daily
• Mail service
• Three private call rooms
• Conveniently located two blocks from Metro and 1 mile from DCA airport

The goal of the cohort training is to position each startup for the best possible Demo Day. However, we cannot guarantee pilot projects or investments. We strongly encourage startups to maximize their use of all of the resources provided during the cohort and to develop strong relationships with all the stakeholders and partners that will participate in the cohort. These relationships will strongly increase the chances of success on Demo Day. 

• Booking Travel: You will need to fill out a form with the details of your departure airport, etc. If you are relocating to the region, you flight will be booked on your behalf. You will receive all confirmation documents via email when arrangements are ready. If you are traveling regularly to participate in the program, we will work with you separately.

• Where will I live? If you choose to relocate to the Washington, D.C., Metro area during the duration of the cohort, we can help you to find arrangements in the Crystal City neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia. Only 15 minutes away from downtown Washington, D.C., you’ll be walking distance from the 1776 Crystal City Campus and a metro ride from the DC Campus.
• Other members of my team want to participate in the cohort program what do I do? There will be one representative of each winning startup that will participate in the cohort. Unfortunately, we can not include other team members at this time.