Hapi Makes HTNG’s “Hack the Night” Hackathon Even “Hapi-er” with Presentation of Special Sponsorship Prize

Sunnyvale, CA - January 31, 2019 - Hapi, a transformative new data streaming, integration and enrichment platform designed to accelerate technology innovation in hospitality, has announced the winner of its special Hapi Sponsorship Challenge at the inaugural Hospitality Technology Next Generation (HTNG) "Hack the Night" Hackathon. The Hapi team took part as a Diamond Sponsor of the weekend event, which was held January 25-27 at the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, CA and attracted nearly 60 hackers, including graduate students and professional developers.

After successfully meeting the challenge to create a technology solution that incorporates the Hapi platform in the most creative way, Team Yosemite was awarded their choice of $750 or a drone for their "Taylor Made Holidays" app. The special award was presented by Luis Segredo, president and CEO of Data Travel, LLC, the developer of the Hapi platform.

Segredo served as a judge in the main competition as well, for which Team Yosemite was also the second runner up, claiming another $500 prize. Team HM took home the $1,500 first runner up award for their "Check-in Before You Check-in" app and Team Seena captured the Grand prize of $3,000 for his "Event Leaf" app. Oracle Hospitality also awarded Team No Sleep a special prize for his "Ribbon" app.

"It was truly inspiring to see the incredible talent, drive and expertise that each team brought to the table during this first-of-its-kind event for hospitality," said Segredo. "We were honored to be part of bringing innovative solutions to the industry and pledge our ongoing support to any endeavor that promises to assist in its ongoing evolution."

Hapi joined title sponsor Oracle Hospitality and co-sponsor POYNT in providing the API and building blocks for Hackathon participants, who worked throughout the night in a fast-paced team development competition to create state-of-the-art prototypes that have the most potential to provide innovation in the hospitality industry.

Competition entries were judged on the potential impact that submissions could have on the hotel guest journey and how likely a forward-thinking hospitality company would be to adopt such a solution at scale. Solutions were also evaluated based on API usage, as well as HTNG standards adoption. In addition to the main prizes, Hapi upped the ante by presenting a special sponsorship challenge to participants.

"Almost every one of the 12 teams ended up using the Hapi platform during the event and the feedback was very positive. It was a great opportunity to validate our own product vision - simplifying data connectivity, and accelerating innovation in hospitality," said Jonathan Reynolds, Head of Product Strategy at Hapi. "Hapi congratulates all of the "Hack the Night" winners and participants that took part in this unique event."

To learn more about the Hapi data streaming and integration platform, please visit Hapicloud.io.

About HAPI

Hapi is the hospitality industry's leading platform for fast and cost-effective connectivity between technology systems, allowing hotel companies access to critical guest and transactional data. Hapi exposes event streams and transactional APIs from hotel systems at scale; stores normalized hotel system data in a secure and scalable fashion in AWS; and seamlessly integrates hotel data into Salesforce CRM, allowing hotel companies to deliver enhanced, personalized guest journeys. Hapi serves 7,000 hotels globally, including IHG Hotels & Resorts, Sonesta Hotels, Accor, Hyatt Hotels, Rosewood Hotels, Margaritaville and SH Hotels and Resorts. Visit Hapi at www.hapicloud.io.