Startup Turismo, the Italian network bringing together start-ups and innovation operators in the tourism sector, presented the 11 start-ups selected from over 90 applications at Travel Investor Day 2026. The event took place at Milano SmartCityLab, as a follow-up to the call for applications launched in March for innovative start-ups and SMEs in the tourism, hospitality, culture and experiences sectors.
The initiative, of which Startupbusiness is a partner, was launched a few years ago to connect companies in the fundraising phase with venture capital firms, corporations and industry players – a matchmaking service that is of considerable importance in a country with a strong tourism sector such as Italy. The association reports over 140 member start-ups, a network of more than 600 stakeholders and over 10 active projects for 2026. For this edition, over 40 companies were shortlisted and 11 were selected for the final pitch.
The selected start-ups cover a wide range of travel tech sectors: hotel operations, hospitality CRM, destination intelligence, outdoor activities, catering, culture, customer experience, AI research, beaches, luggage logistics and study trips.
The selected startups
Cora – Agrate Brianza, Lombardy
Cora is developing an AI platform for hotel operations management. The product digitises back-of-house operations and aims to reduce manual processes, fragmentation and operational inefficiencies in accommodation facilities. The start-up is seeking €500,000 to consolidate the product and scale up commercially.
Weforguest – Turin, Piedmont
Weforguest is an AI-powered CRM for hotels and hotel groups. It centralises guest data, automates communications throughout the guest journey, and supports marketing and loyalty strategies. The funding round in question is worth €1.5 million, to be used for growth, international expansion, AI and integrations.
IODAH – Milan, Lombardy
IODAH specialises in decision intelligence for the tourism sector. The platform collects and analyses data from multiple sources, simulates travellers’ search behaviour, and provides dashboards and AI-powered vertical search engines to monitor tourism KPIs. It is seeking €3 million to strengthen its sales, business development and technical teams.
Mountain Maps – Trento, Trentino-South Tyrol
Mountain Maps uses AI, multi-agent models and satellite imagery to generate personalised, up-to-date outdoor routes. The aim is to minimise the use of outdated data and improve the safety and reliability of its recommendations. The start-up is seeking to raise €1.5 million for product development and go-to-market activities.
I am – Brescia, Lombardy
iammi is an AI-native SaaS platform for the operational and financial management of restaurants and food & beverage venues. It consolidates data from till systems, bank accounts, invoices and inventory into a single dashboard and automates repetitive tasks. It is seeking €500,000 in funding, with a focus on marketing, sales, R&D and operational infrastructure.
CulturaTela – Turin, PiedmontCulturaTela – Torino, Piemonte
CulturaTela has developed TELA, a cloud-based SaaS platform for museums and cultural organisations. It integrates management, CRM, analytics, AI, and online and on-site ticketing. The start-up is seeking €500,000 to expand its team, with a significant portion of the funding earmarked for sales, marketing and R&D.
Popup – Teramo, Abruzzo
Popup is a SaaS platform for the hospitality and tourism sectors that integrates NFC, QR codes and AI. It offers digital menus, reviews, analytics, AI assistants, voice concierge services and intelligent agents. The funding round in question is for €1 million, to be allocated to the team, go-to-market strategy, product development and operations.
Rankwit AI – Catania, Sicily
Rankwit AI has developed RankHotel, a vertical AI solution designed to help hotels appear in the results of generative search engines and turn AI search into a direct booking channel. The start-up is seeking €300,000 to strengthen its technical, sales, marketing and R&D teams, with the aim of preparing for a Series A funding round in 2027.
PuntoMare – Lecce, Apulia
PuntoMare is an app that helps tourists and industry professionals choose beaches and activities based on marine weather data, geospatial information and computer vision. The platform provides localised recommendations and updates on sea conditions. It is seeking €100,000, primarily for marketing and revenue validation during the summer season.
Baggysitter – Milan, Lombardy
Baggysitter manages end-to-end luggage services for travellers and tour operators: collection, storage and delivery, even between different cities. The service is primarily aimed at same-day bookings, freeing travellers from the hassle of luggage on the first and last days of their trip. The funding round is for €600,000.
Jo-In – Turin, Piedmont
Jo-In specialises in Augmented Educational Travel. The platform combines AI and Web-AR to transform study trips into a measurable learning journey, from pre-trip preparation to skills assessment. It is seeking €600,000 for R&D, go-to-market activities and the recruitment of key personnel.
The selection provides a snapshot of the Italian travel tech sector: fewer generalist platforms, more vertical software solutions built to address operational challenges. Hotels needing to reduce their reliance on OTAs, destinations seeking more accessible data, museums still lagging behind on ticketing and CRM, outdoor operators focusing on safety and keeping information up to date, and the hospitality sector grappling with tight margins and fragmented processes. AI features in many projects, and this is no mere detail; for a travel tech start-up, the point is not simply to claim that it uses AI, but to engage in a real-world process, solve a problem that an operator recognises as urgent, demonstrate scalability, and become sufficiently integrable to attract industrial clients, partners or potential buyers.
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