Judges for the Cornell Hospitality Business Plan Competition have declared the contest’s first-ever tie between two winning teams — Last Second Beach and Maidbot. The two teams will each receive $25,000 for their business plans and entrepreneurial ideas in travel and hotel operations, according to the University. Although the competition’s funding only provided a $25,000 prize for one team, Dean of the School of Hotel Administration, Prof. Michael Johnson, hotel administration, matched the prize for the other team, according to Maidbot founder Alex Levy ’18. “I was a little surprised it ended in a tie, as nothing like that had ever happened before,” Levy said. “I was very happy for [Last Second Beach founder Khalid Ladha grad] and his team, though and absolutely thrilled Dean Johnson matched the rest of the money.”
Last Second Beach — co-founded last year by Ladha and Zach Demuth grad — is a software platform that simplifies consumer navigation for travel purchases, according to Ladha.