Winning LaunchCon 2026 Would Provide Victor Nguyen the Seed Money for Development of B2B Software Platform for Modernizing Seafood Supply Chain

As Jordyn Paul-Slater writes for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, "[w]hile Columbus puts more emphasis on entrepreneurship as a piece of its economic development strategy, four founders will get their chance to pitch business ideas they hope could grow along with the region." Paul-Slater is referring to the four finalists, selected from 65 applicants representing Columbus and cities within a 150-mile radius, who will compete for $40,000 at the StartUP Columbus LaunchCon, a Shark Tank-style competition, this Friday. One of these finalists is Victor Nguyen, a 2018 graduate of the TSYS School who has founded Prestige Foods, a business-to-business (B2B) software platform designed to modernize the seafood supply chain by bringing purchasing, inventory, pricing, ordering, invoicing, delivery and profitability data into one ordering app. According to Paul-Slater's report, Nguyen's product was borne from experiencing repetitive difficulties in communication between suppliers and clients with his wholesale seafood business, Prestige Shrimp. Nguyen described to Paul-Slater a communication chain slowed by missing catalogs and highly specific product details. Buyers identify exactly what they want, then wholesalers contact suppliers one by one to check pricing and availability. Responses can take hours, delaying decisions and sometimes sending buyers elsewhere, Nguyen explained to Paul-Slater. “It was just one big chaotic mess that took up so much time and money that I realized, ‘Wait, there is a better way of doing this.’ Think of us as the middleman between the buyers and suppliers,” Nguyen stated in his interview with Paul-Slater. “We’re connecting the two and making sure they talk to each other seamlessly.” As Paul-Slater reports, Prestige Shrimp is using Prestige Foods to get businesses interacting with the platform. Winning the pitch competition would provide more money for development of the technology and the business, which Nguyen hopes to scale as soon as possible. “I enjoy solving problems,” Nguyen stated to Paul-Slater. “I realized what I go through is what 95% of other businesses go through. That’s what gets me excited because I’m like, ‘If I can help myself, I can help these other businesses too.’ “… So, what I got to do is prove this works. I have to prove it first in order for other people to join along. And that’s what gets me excited: making it to the top and bringing others to the top with me.”