Xenios Academy Wins Entrepreneur20X Competition in Dubai

Xenios Academy, an Abu Dhabi-based startup, has emerged as the winner of a prestigious global startup competition focusing on the implementation of new technologies in the hospitality and hotel industries.

Entrepreneur20X, a competition for young companies from around the world, was held at the World Trade Center in Dubai on 23 May 2023 during the Dubai Hotel Show, in front of several hundred innovators in the hotel industry and judges with extensive experience. The victory was claimed by a company that includes Igor Besermenji in its team, a resident of Novi Sad, Serbia, who currently works from the Middle East and Serbia.

“We considered it a significant success to be accepted into the competition where nine startups reached the final. The triumph of our fully gamified mobile application, which greatly facilitates the training process for hotel and restaurant owners and managers, came during our first public presentation, which serves as great encouragement for us to continue walking down the path we have taken. On that occasion in Dubai, my colleague Marco Corallo and I made excellent contacts that are now opening doors for us on the global stage,” said Besermenji.

Xenios Academy is an international startup operating from a base in the Middle East, and their fully gamified app for hospitality education will be introduced to the global market this summer. Through the use of game-like elements and artificial intelligence, the app trains employees and assists them in improving their communication skills with guests, as well as providing top-notch service, from the reception to the bar, restaurant, and kitchen. The CEO of this young company is also from Novi Sad, Serbia, Zeljana Babic, who currently works between California and the United Arab Emirates.

“I am extremely proud of our team. We spent a year preparing the platform, and with this victory, we have opened even more doors to the world of luxury hospitality for Xenios Academy. We are currently in negotiations for a major project in the United Arab Emirates, and if successful, it would be a significant achievement for our company as a whole and a promotion of talented young individuals from around the world who are committed to transforming the future of hospitality training. Employee education in the hospitality industry is now literally at everyone’s fingertips, fast and easy, with the help of our mobile app, which will be launched in the global market this summer. I would be extremely happy to see it thrive around the world”, Babić stated.