Table of Contents Show
ExoTrails has officially announced that it has been selected as a Top 5 Finalist of the GSIC × Mass Participation World Innovation Challenge 2025, in the category Fan & Participation Engagement. This marks a significant milestone not only for ExoTrails, but also for Vietnam’s broader technology ecosystem, as a product developed in Vietnam has been recognized on an international stage dedicated to innovative solutions in sports and mass participation.
The challenge is co-organized by Mass Participation World (MPW), a reputable global organization connecting event organizers, platforms, and innovators in the mass participation sports industry, and the Global Sports Innovation Center (GSIC), founded and supported by Microsoft. Through this initiative, MPW and GSIC seek technology solutions capable of addressing the industry’s most pressing challenges, ranging from engagement and event operations to data measurement and improving the effectiveness of commercialization based on real-world participation.
A key highlight is that ExoTrails is the only representative from Vietnam to make it into the Top 5, and also one of the few platforms from the Asia-Pacific region selected as a finalist.
Onto the International Stage
As sports and outdoor activities continue to grow rapidly worldwide, the mass participation industry, from marathons, cycling races, and community runs to grassroots sports events, is facing major challenges: how to attract meaningful participation, sustain long-term community connection, and generate reliable data to support sponsors, organizers, and partners.
ExoTrails approaches this challenge through its positioning as a platform for outdoor discovery and activation, rather than merely a destination-search application. Instead of stopping at helping users “find where to go,” ExoTrails focuses on encouraging real participation, motivating action, and providing clear measurement capabilities for community-scale outdoor programs.
According to ExoTrails representatives, one of the industry’s biggest gaps today is that many grassroots sports and outdoor activities still lack effective tools for tracking, verification, and coordination, especially for activities distributed across locations and time. This makes it difficult for organizers to measure outcomes, for brands to evaluate the impact of sponsorship programs, and for participants to experience the long-term value of community connection.
TrackMate và Basecamp: Key Solutions Recognized by the International Jury
ExoTrails was selected as a finalist thanks to two standout technology solutions: TrackMate and Basecamp.
TrackMate enables real-time participation tracking, helping users monitor their activity journeys while supporting clear and reliable verification. Meanwhile, Basecamp serves as a community hub for outdoor groups, helping coordinate activities by team, goal, and location, while also providing a data-driven foundation to measure engagement.
Importantly, these solutions are not only designed for individual users, but also open up scalable deployment for event organizers, sponsoring brands, and partners seeking to build activation programs based on real-world participation.
“A Milestone That Confirms Our Direction, But Not the Final Destination”
Commenting on the achievement, Michael Wong, CEO of ExoTrails, said:
“Being selected as a Top 5 Finalist by GSIC and Mass Participation World is an important milestone that validates the direction we have been pursuing: turning technology into a driver of real participation, measurable engagement, and meaningful impact. It is also a proud moment for the ExoTrails team that a product developed in Vietnam has been recognized on a global innovation stage. However, this is not the final destination, but the beginning of our next phase of growth.”
To ExoTrails, its growth strategy focuses on expanding capabilities to support mass participation models, including hybrid online and offline events, localized community activities, and sponsorship programs built on verified participation.
Unlocking Opportunities for Partnerships and International Scale
Becoming a Top 5 Finalist is not only a recognition, but also a signal that ExoTrails is entering a stage of readiness for global scaling and commercialization. In the future, the platform can support a wide range of collaboration models: from sponsored activation programs and partnerships with event organizers and tourism destinations, to providing data and technological infrastructure for partners through extended solutions.
In a market where participation is increasingly considered the central element of mass participation sports, ExoTrails aims to become an infrastructure layer that helps partners build effective, transparent participation experiences and generate measurable value.
The milestone of being named a Top 5 Finalist in the GSIC × MPW Innovation Challenge 2025 once again reinforces ExoTrails’ positioning: not only as a discovery platform, but as a technology solution that drives real-world participation and connects outdoor communities through data. With a platform developed in Vietnam and scalable capabilities, ExoTrails aims to contribute to the future of mass participation, where technology does not only create interaction, but also enables action and sustainable impact.
Experience ExoTrails today, or follow our Fanpage for more updates and stories.
