One of the biggest wins at HITEC didn’t come from one of the industry’s technology giants. It came from Maui.
Abra Hospitality, founded by Josh Ellis, Dana Ellis, and Paul Dumais, took home the People’s Choice Award at the E20X Startup Pitch Competition, beating a field of hospitality technology startups from around the world.
Abra is tackling one of hospitality’s hardest problems: turning scattered guest data and the day-to-day knowledge of frontline teams into coordinated, anticipatory service. It’s a challenge the industry has wrestled with for years, and one that, until now, has lacked a truly compelling solution. I think of it as “last-mile CRM”: giving staff the information they need to deliver an extraordinary experience when the guest is actually on property.
Full disclosure: I’ve spent time with the Abra team over the past year or so as something of an unofficial sounding board. Watching them refine their vision and then seeing the industry validate it on one of hospitality’s biggest stages gave me a real sense of pride.
Congratulations to Josh, Dana, Paul, and the team for putting Hawai’i’s growing hospitality tech community firmly in the spotlight.
If a Maui-built company is solving a guest personalization problem the whole industry keeps talking about, Hawaiʻi hotels should probably be paying attention. Check them out at abrahospitality.com.
