Jason Lucash, co-founder of OrigAudio in Chicago, has just been announced as one of five finalists for the Entrepreneur of 2012 contest presented by The UPS Store, in the Emerging Entrepreneur category. Now through September 17, the business community can vote for Jason to become the Emerging Entrepreneur of 2012.
“This is an unprecedented group of finalists,” saids Amy Cosper, vice president/editor in chief at Entrepreneur. “How the small-business community votes will indicate which finalists fellow entrepreneurs draw the most inspiration from, and that insight will be critical to us when making the final selection of winners.”
Lucash and business partner Mike Szymczak were constantly on the road traveling early in their careers and wanted an easy, portable solution to listen to their music while on the road. It was in August of 2009 that they launched OrigAudio, with their first product, Fold ‘n’ Play—portable speakers made up of 70 percent recycled material that could be folded and unfolded like the Japanese art of origami.
Three months after launching, the Fold n’ Play speakers were named to Time Magazine’s “50 Best Inventions of the Year” list. Lucash and Szymczak also later went on to win season two of ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank.” OrigAudio now offers seven different portable audio devices, including three different products that are customizable by the consumer and they have their product in 5,000 stores across the county and 38 countries around the world.
“It is really exciting to be a finalist,” said Lucash. “I’ve worked so hard to get OrigAudio to where it is today. Winning this award would be the ultimate stamp of approval from the business community!”
To see Jason’s full business profile and video-and to vote, go to http://www.entrepreneur.com/e2012/emerging#1293. Finalists will receive a percentage of points based on the number of online votes they receive, which together with voting points allocated to each of the panel of judges will determine the final winners.
For more information, visit www.origaudio.com.
