Winning $100,000 in prize money would have provided a comfortable spike in production funding, but the owners of Grand Canyon University startups Vox Company and Powder Pal had no qualms about their presentations Monday in the first Inferno Invitational Startup Cup at the ASU Health Futures Center Auditorium.
“I think we did perfectly,” Vox co-founder Kevin Vega said shortly after his company and seven nominees from four Arizona colleges were passed over in favor of Legion Platforms, an Arizona State University startup that creates games for users with bad computers, slow internet access and download issues.
“Unfortunately, the judges came to a decision that I respect, but the future is clearly in AI. ... I'm very proud of the work we've done. Very happy of all the support GCU has given us. We're going to keep pushing forward. This is nothing.”
Vox, led by co-founder Suman Dangol and Vega, won the $5,000 AZ Venture of the Year Award at GCU’s Demo Day in February for their app, which produces solutions for businesses by providing artificial intelligence, design, branding and marketing services.
Vega and Dangol also represented GCU as one of 750 startups competing for $1 million in prizes at the prestigious Hult Prize 2025 USA National Competition in Boston in March.
They showcased their Vox Box, touted as the world’s first AI-powered business consultant in a box.
“Of course, we wanted to win, but we have revenue coming in,” Vega said. “We're releasing the box in December. That doesn't change at all. We're happy to have been able to be part of this opportunity, and we're going to keep working hard and put AI at the core of every business in Arizona.”
Said Dangol, “This is like a natural evolution, right? We've been consulting for a year. We've been creating a name for ourselves, thanks to GCU. It’s been good for us. It's like a natural evolution, like creating our service, turning it into a product. And I know this is going to sell really well. I know this is the future, and we’re building it.”
Tom Prescott, an ASU alumnus and former president and CEO of Align Technology, which produced teeth straightening system Invisalign, donated the $100,000 prize. The format was similar to GCU's Canyon Challenge, in which contestants present their product in five minutes, followed by a question-and-answer session with judges.
Joy Griffin, assistant professor in the technology entrepreneurship management program and faculty director of venture development for the Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, shared some of Prescott’s vision as one of the four judges.
“Where we are now is that we have to make profitability a priority, and so focusing on that business model, thinking about your unique economics and finding the way to really focus on that is what Tom would tell you to do today,” Griffin said.
“To do that, you just have to really focus on the value proposition, right? So you can focus down. So you have to think about scale, but you have to think about making money. Because if you're not able to make money, you may not have a company. You may just have a good idea for a product.”
Lucas Patten, spring 2024 Canyon Challenge winner for his Powder Pal scooper, unveiled his new Powder Pal collagen dietary supplement, designed for people 50 and older, for those looking to enhance their hair, skin and nails, and for athletes seeking to protect their joints, ligaments and tendons.
“We're going be the only collagen on the entire supplement market space that has a scoop outside of the bucket or the bottle,” Patten said. “So it's going be a real game-changer. I think it's going to do really well. Our Powder Pal scoops are still selling, but now we're just taking a new direction. We're going into the supplement industry, and I think it's going to be huge.”
The demand has been so great that Patten said Powder Pal has earned $100,000 in revenue during the last 90 days. He also has expanded his staff from a one-man crew to four employees.
“We went from one (3D) printer to eight printers, and we're moving into large-scale manufacturing,” Patten said.
The University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University and Estrella Mountain Community College also competed, with startups ranging from premium clear handbags with removable privacy covers, to an AI vascular screening system, to a hydration tracking system.
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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