AI Travel Platform Defeats Hundreds of Applicants with Compelling "Now We Go" Vision, Earning Judge Recognition for Transforming Social Media Inspiration into Instant Bookable Trips

Columbia, MD – October 7, 2025 – Nowy, the revolutionary AI-powered travel platform, secured second place and $3,000 at the prestigious Great Pumpkin Pitch competition hosted by Maryland Innovation Center (MIC) and Howard County Economic Development Authority. Selected as one of only five finalists from hundreds of applications, CEO and Founder Branda Fan delivered a compelling pitch that resonated deeply with judges and audience members alike.

From Hundreds to Five: Elite Competition

The Great Pumpkin Pitch, part of the renowned Pitch and Mingle Series, attracted hundreds of startup applications across diverse technology sectors. The judging panel—comprising Chris Ewing, Taber J. Small, Luke Cooper, and Fehmida Kapadia—selected just five finalists to compete for prize money totaling $9,500 ($5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second, and $1,500 for third).

Nowy competed against four other exceptional startups:

• Zheyu Jiang (KaraOrchee, Inc.) - First Place

• Brian Carlson and Kate Dwyer (Storytime AI)

• Chase Lawson (Appellate)

• Hamza Umar (SphereHub)

"Now We Go!" Philosophy Captivates Judges

Fan's five-minute pitch, delivered in MIC's atmospheric venue complete with hay bales and pumpkins, centered on a deeply personal story that illuminates Nowy's mission. Her father's spontaneous philosophy—"Now we go!"—inspired the company's approach to eliminating the friction between travel inspiration and actual trip booking.

"My father never waited for the perfect moment because he knew that gap between 'I wish' and 'let's go' kills the magic," Fan explained during her pitch. "That's why we built Nowy—to turn social media inspiration into instant booked trips, so people never have to feel the frustration of wanting to travel but never making it happen."

Strong Judge Validation

The judges' feedback highlighted Nowy's market relevance and execution potential:

Chris Ewing remarked: "You did a great job, Branda Fan! Looking forward to using Nowy to make super fun looking travel experiences a reality for my family in minutes."

Additional audience feedback praised both the pitch delivery and the company's mission, with one attendee noting: "'NOW WE GO!' Loved your pitch and what you are building. Keep grinding. Rooting for you and your team."

Rigorous Q&A Demonstrates Market Readiness

Following her presentation, Fan navigated a challenging three-minute Q&A session where judges probed deeply into Nowy's business model, competitive positioning, and scalability strategy. The thoughtful questioning validated the platform's approach to addressing travel planning's $50 billion conversion gap.

"The judges didn't go easy on us, and I'm grateful for that," Fan reflected. "Their questions pushed us to think deeper about our strategy and reinforced that we're solving a real problem that resonates across demographics."

Building on Strategic Momentum

This competition victory adds to Nowy's impressive recent achievements:

• J.P. Morgan Startup Banking Program: Access to $100K in AWS credits

• Google Cloud Partnership: $25K in cloud credits with expansion potential to $350K

• TEDCO Grant: $10,000 from Maryland Technology Development Corporation

• Moxie Awards: 2025 finalist for "Boldness in Business"

Maryland's Thriving Innovation Ecosystem

The Great Pumpkin Pitch exemplifies Maryland's robust support for early-stage technology companies. Hosted at the Maryland Innovation Center in Columbia Gateway, the event brought together investors, entrepreneurs, and innovation leaders to celebrate and support the region's startup ecosystem.

Maryland Innovation Center and TEDCO's collaborative programming provides crucial platforms for startups to gain visibility, receive expert feedback, and connect with potential investors and partners.

About Nowy

Nowy is an AI-powered travel platform that transforms social media inspiration into personalized, bookable travel experiences. By analyzing user preferences from TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube content, Nowy creates intelligent itineraries with routing, mapping, price monitoring, and instant booking capabilities. Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Washington D.C., Nowy has facilitated over 100,000 trip creations and maintains a 4.9-star user rating across 500,000+ destinations worldwide.

Learn more at nowy.io

Media Contact: Branda Fan, CEO & Co-founder
branda.fan@nowy.io
nowy.io