A Vietnamese entrepreneur has recently grabbed the first prize at a tech pitch competition in the U.S. with his application that teaches children up to 6 years old to read, the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City announced Tuesday in a press release.

Dao Xuan Hoang, an app developer in Hanoi, won the first prize worth US$15,000 at the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Tech-I Pitch Competition organized on June 24 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

Hoang’s product, Monkey Junior, is an interactive application that teaches children from a few months old to six years to read using proven pedagogical methods and highly interactive curricula.

Hoang said his application impressed ten members on the panel of judges, among which Assistant Professor Chuck Eesley from Stanford University agreed to be his mentor.

“He will support me in building relationships with investors and other companies in the U.S., as well as giving advice and sharing experience,” Hoang said in an interview with Tuoi Tre News.

Dao Xuan Hoang receives the first prize at the GIST Tech-I Pitch Competition with his mobile application named Monkey Junior, which teaches children from a few months old to six years to read. Photo: By courtesy of Dao Xuan Hoang

The second prize went to young Malaysian Yap Chee Wei with his startup business named HiGi Energy, which converts invasive water hyacinth and agricultural waste into an environmentally friendly, smoke-free cooking fuel.

The 24-year-old entrepreneur who received an award of $7,000 told Tuoi Tre News he considered the prize concrete proof for his team to validate the importance of the problems they are solving.

“Winning the prize is a combination of luck, opportunity, skills and ability. We will move even faster from this point onward and hit more milestones,” Yap said.

Yap Chee Wei, a 24-year-old Malaysian entrepreneur who won the second prize at the GIST Tech-I Pitch Competition, attends the 2016 GES held from June 22 to 24, 2016 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Photo: Binh Minh/Tuoi Tre News

HiGi Energy converts invasive water hyacinth and agricultural waste into an environmentally friendly, smoke-free cooking fuel as shown in this file photo. Photo: Binh Minh/Tuoi Tre News

The third prize worth $3,000 was given to Muhammad Wagas from Pakistan.

His business, WonderTree, produces interactive augmented reality educational games for children with cognitive or motor disabilities, enabling them to become more active in society.

The GIST Tech-I Pitch Competition seeks to empower young innovators through networking, skills building, mentoring, and access to financing to develop startup solutions that address their economic and development challenges.

The event was held during the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), an initiative by U.S. President Barack Obama which aims to showcase inspiring entrepreneurs and investors from around the world, creating new opportunities for investment, partnership, and collaboration, while highlighting entrepreneurship as a means to address some of the most intractable global challenges.

Participants in the Tech-I Pitch Competition Finals were chosen from over 1,000 applications submitted by science and technology entrepreneurs in 135 emerging economies.

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