NW Valley Times

Kevin Vega and Suman Dangol, known for their innovative entrepreneurial ventures, have once again made headlines by winning the $5,000 AZ Venture of the Year Award at Grand Canyon University's Demo Day. This recognition comes five years after they first gained attention as freshmen by securing first place in the university's Canyon Challenge.

Their company, Vox Custom AI Solutions, offers advanced artificial intelligence solutions alongside design, branding, and marketing services to businesses. "It feels like the next step," Vega remarked about their latest achievement. He further added that participating in such competitions has been instrumental in growing their business.

The Demo Day event was held at Canyon Ventures, GCU's business incubator aimed at nurturing startups. Judges included Greg Barr from Phoenix Business Journal, Ashley Sankar from NineteenTwenty Designs and a "Shark Tank" winner, and Nick Kasten from National Bank of Arizona. Each of the seven competing companies were part of Cohort 001 from the Founders Forum entrepreneurship training program.

Robert Vera, founding director of Canyon Ventures who moderated the event said, “It’s not easy to be an entrepreneur. All of our entrepreneurs work really hard to grow their businesses."

Vega and Dangol have come a long way since their initial success with LopesEat app during the Canyon Challenge in 2020. Reflecting on his journey at GCU, Vega shared how joining Exponential Destiny helped him hone his AI skills over four years. Meanwhile, Dangol developed Jotted, a note-taking app.

Their company Vox works with various clients including law firms and nonprofits to implement custom solutions using consulting and development strategies. “We sit with every employee until every employee has adopted the software,” Vega explained during his pitch.

The event also recognized other innovative ideas: Caleb McCandliss' CarChap won both People's Choice Award and Most Innovative Award; Sophia Zaft's Splashy Sand received the True Visionary Award; Shannon Ortiz's Best Bar earned the Next Unicorn Award.

Vega expressed gratitude towards GCU for providing resources that aided their entrepreneurial journey: “Within a month of being here at GCU I was given an office...I’m happy to be here.”