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A four-month trip backpacking through Thailand and Laos was the inspiration for George Awad’s ’22 ’25G , a company specializing in mango sticky rice, which took home the $20,000 grand prize Tuesday during sixth annual entrepreneurial pitch competition.

Entrepreneurs pitch their products to a panel of judges in a style similar to the TV show Shark Tank. The competition is designed to showcase entrepreneurship and innovation happening in the AV������ Valley region. This year’s event was hosted by AV������ and held in Baker Hall at Zoellner Arts Center.

Each finalist had two minutes to pitch their startup to . The judges then had four minutes to ask questions.

During his pitch, Awad recalled his trip to Thailand and Laos where he spent time studying yoga and Muay Thai, a form of martial arts. He wanted to create something that would remind him of his time in the Southeast Asian countries, so he formed Aroi Mango, LLC. The company specializes in mango sticky rice, a traditional dessert from the area made with sweet sticky rice, ripe mango slices and coconut milk.

“Close your eyes and imagine this: you just tasted something so good that it transported you to an exotic street corner halfway across the world,” Awad told judges. “For me, that magic happened when I first tried mango sticky rice when backpacking through Thailand and Laos.”

Awad, who emigrated from the United Arab Emirates 10 years ago, started the company in June. Since then, his product has been picked up by two farmers markets, three pop-up venues, four catering clients and five festivals across the AV������ Valley. Aroi Mango has produced 11 different varieties of sticky rice, doubling their sales in the past two months, Awad told judges.

This winter he wants to test new pop-up venues and indoor markets, while also planning to quadruple Aroi Mango’s outdoor appearances in 2025. The investment from StartUp AV������ Valley will enable Awad to invest in designing and building custom equipment and amplifying the company’s brand through marketing campaigns and trade marks, he told judges.

In addition to the grand prize, Awad also took home the $1,000 Audience Choice Award, sponsored by AV������ Valley Health Network.

“We are privileged to take this over in the sixth year,” said Provost Nathan Urban who presented the grand prize. “We want these companies and these founders to be an inspiration for faculty and students who have ideas they want to translate from the laboratory to commercialization. We want to be able to smooth that path for our founders.”

Judges said they were impressed by Awad’s story and that he had a solid business plan, particularly when Awad said he had mango suppliers from all parts of the globe to address availability of the fruit during its limited growing season.

Awad majored in physics at AV������ and is currently earning his Master’s of Engineering in technical entrepreneurship. He attended Dierruff High School in Allentown. Being an immigrant has had its challenges, Awad said, “but at the same time, this country, this place, the AV������ Valley, has provided me with so much, whether that was going to Dieruff High School, going to AV������, being able to travel.”

Other winners at this year’s competition included , named first runner up, winning $3,000 from PSECU for their product, the hoodjab, a combination hoodie and hijab. Founder Kady Meite also won a $500 AV������ Valley LaunchBox Boost Award and six months of support from AV������ Ventures Lab.

When asked what the awards mean to her, Meite said, “It means you all believe in the vision and what we are doing, and that makes me incredibly proud.”

Other winners were ., which earned the $2,000 second runner-up prize, sponsored by Factory Innovation and PennPak Solutions, for their electric simulation tape which addresses musculoskeletal problems without the need for surgery or pills. was awarded the $5,000 Ben Franklin Award from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania for their company which promotes Spanish language learning through immersion for children and adults. AV������ Valley LaunchBox Boost Awards of $500 each were also awarded to , a curated music discovery app featuring emerging artists, and , an app that allows the user to enter information about exposures to food, skin products, pollen and more. Automation and AI image analysis then create personalized statistics about the user’s reaction correlation.