BETHLEHEM, Pa. — StartUp Lehigh Valley, the “Shark Tank”-style contest in which a handful of entrepreneurs pitch their fledgling companies to a panel of judges, awarded more than $33,000 in prizes to a handful of local entrepreneurs Tuesday night.
Each of seven contestants had two minutes to pitch their startups to a panel of three judges: SCY Investments President Susan Yee, tech startup advisor John Bloys and Pennsylvania Deputy Secretary of Technology and Entrepreneurship Jen Gilburg.
"I'm very thankful."Aroi Mango founder George Awad
Tuesday’s big winner, George Awad, took home both the $20,000 first place prize and the $1,000 Audience Choice award for Aroi Mango, his business selling Thai-style mango sticky rice at farmer’s markets, festivals and pop-up events across the Lehigh Valley.
Judges praised him for being quick on his feet during his presentation, and for a solid command of how he plans to grow the company.
Awad also won $3,000 more from Penn State’s local business incubator, Lehigh Valley Launchbox.
The money will go a long way toward growing the less-than-five-month-old company, he said.
“We're hoping to use it for marketing campaigns, for trademarks, as well as actually getting the right equipment to be able to build on that brand,” Awad said. “I’m very thankful.”
Unique hoody, TENS device
The panel awarded second place to Kady Meite’s company Veil Street, which offers a unique hoodie with a built-in hijab, netting her a $3,000 prize, plus $500 from Lehigh Valley Launchbox.
She will also get six months of “direct support” from Lehigh University’s Ventures Lab, another startup incubator.
"We're looking for ways in which discoveries can lead to impact."Lehigh University Provost Nathan Urban
Judges awarded third place and $2,000 to Jake Henry, founder of Lectra, which aims to sell a pain-relieving TENS device built into stretchy kinesiology tape popular with athletes.
Though Tuesday marked StartUp Lehigh Valley’s sixth annual competition, it was the first hosted by Lehigh University in Zoellner Arts Center.
The contest moved out of nearby Factory, LLC’s building when the event’s founder, Rich Thompson, decided he wanted to hand it off to another organizer.
Lehigh University taking the reins made perfect sense, university Provost Nathan Urban said.
“We're looking for ways in which discoveries can lead to impact,” Urban said.
“Commercialization, formation of startup companies, is certainly one way where you can go from discovery to impact on the community and potentially impact on the world. And we see that as part of our mission.”
