The VietAID community center in Fields Corner was the setting for a unique competition last week (May 21) as thirteen would-be entrepreneurs vied for prize money in an event aimed at boosting Asian-American businesses. The “shark tank”-styled forum was co-sponsored by VietAID, Boston Little Saigon, and ElevAsian, a Boston-based organization that offers technical assistance and counseling to emerging business owners.
ElevAsian’s founder, Andrew Goldberg, often recruits participants through pitch contests, like this one.

“People always wonder why a Jewish Caucasian guy is running a pitch contest for Asian business entrepreneurs,” says Goldberg. “My last full-time job was with the Asian American Civic Association in Chinatown; I was hired as their director of development.”

ElevAsian is focused on helping English-speaking entrepreneurs grow their business knowledge through a four-and-a-half month-long online program that includes strategies on early-stage revenue-gathering processes. Here, participants complete classes, work with mentors, and lead a final presentation about what they are up to.

“We aspire to do these pitch contests in Asian communities around the state,” Goldberg said. “Dorchester was an obvious place to host with the Vietnamese community there.”

For three hours during the evening event at VietAID, the contestants were invited to pitch their products to a panel of four judges and an audience of community members. The jurors included Tran Le, the managing partner of Pho Le Restaurant in Dorchester; Tam Le, a restaurant owner and founding partner at Reign Hospitality Group; Diego Portillo Mazal, the director of the inner-city capital connections program; and Van Paul Le, a consultant and attorney.

The contest comprised two categories: the existing business track and the new venture track. Those with at least one year of operation competed on the existing business track while those who were pre-revenue participated in the new venture category. In each category, the winner earned $5,000, second place took down $2,500, and third place received $1,000. 

After sharing their ideas in four minutes, each contestant answered follow-up questions from the judges, who then privately convened and returned with the results. 

Kanwar Singh, the chairman and co-founder of Hello Zora Nutrition – and an officer in the National Guard – was awarded first place in the existing business category. Singh and his team have created an app that will help users maintain a healthy diet.

“We have built a computer version app that allows you to simply take a picture of the food around you and we can tell you what’s in the food, the macros and the micros, and help you get an understanding of how you can improve your nutrition,” said Singh. “We’re focused on the education side. The goal is that if you have a better sense of what you’re eating you’ll likely make better eating decisions.” 

The Hello Zora app, named after Singh’s son and currently in a beta launch phase, aims to fill the role of nutritionist for $10 a month.  A beta phase means that only a small group of people can use the app as the team works to finalize the product. It can then use the feedback from these users and the funds from the first-place prize to perfect the product. 

Second place went to Jia Li of Physcio X, followed by Michelle Zhang of X Style in third place. 

While these three business owners have experience in their fields, those on the new venture track have just begun.

The winner in that category was Windy Pham, a Vietnamese-American mother and author who was born and raised in Vietnam and moved to the US when she was 17 years old. After being mocked for her accent after the move, she felt like she had to hide her roots to fit in.

“That changed when I had my daughter,” said Pham. “I realized how important it is for me to celebrate and share my culture with her. I started looking into bilingual books and I discovered a huge gap there.” But instead of waiting for someone else to close the gap, Pham established a business called  Little Ant World: Bilingual Vietnamese Books and closed it up herself by creating “bilingual literature to help kids and adults learn their language and culture and help promote diversity in the community.” 

So far, she has published three books: “Eat the Rainbow,” “The ABCs of Vietnamese Food,” and “Vietnamese Animal Alphabet.” Each includes Vietnamese and English alphabets and translations. They have been purchased across the country as well as in Canada and Australia.

While her business is off to a good start, Pham participated in the contest because she wants to do more, and with the help of the $5,000 prize, she can produce and sell more books and expand her brand. She hopes to do so by creating interactive books, games, and activities, all of which would promote pride in diversity. 

Rishi Narayan received the second place $2,500 for Knocadia Labs, CreativeSync AI Platform, and Nana Qi, the founder of Keepin AI, secured the third place prize. 

In addition, Vanessa and Luke Arcovio were awarded the $500 audience prize for their business, Minando Entertainment.