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Press Release

Up Close: A Look at 2017 Allied Member of the Year Mandeep Arora

CHICAGO – March 31, 2017 – Mandeep Arora, Co-Founder and CEO of Cantaloupe Systems, was recently announced as NAMA’s Allied Member of the Year as part of the association’s 2017 Industry Awards. Arora will be presented with his award on April 19 at the 2017 NAMA OneShow in Las Vegas.

The NAMA Allied Member of the Year award recognizes an individual who has exhibited the highest level of integrity, dedication, and leadership in the convenience services industry. The recipient of this award has provided innovative products and services and demonstrated responsiveness to the needs of the industry through education and best practices, helping operators to grow their businesses.

Mandeep Arora joined the industry in 2002, but his roots would say that it was certainly in his blood. Growing up as the son of Mani and Singh, founders of Vend Mart Inc., a vending distribution company, Mandeep found an opportunity to change the way vending operators had thought of delivery and logistics. In 2002, he co-founded Cantaloupe Systems with his UCLA classmate, Anant Agrawal, to leverage cloud and internet of things technology to make vending operations more profitable and scalable. Today, Cantaloupe’s suite of products and services is helping operators optimize their businesses with cashless payments, telemetry, warehouse management and dynamic scheduling.

Mandeep’s dedication to advancing the industry extends beyond his company to sharing his knowledge and expertise as a OneShow education speaker and panelist, and a Learning Lab presenter. Mandeep also participated in NAMA’s first-ever Executive Forum in Silicon Valley, taking part in dynamic discussions, thought leadership and site visits. Under his leadership, many Cantaloupe colleagues have also been active in industry education and advocacy efforts.
Mandeep and Cantaloupe have been recognized as one of Inc. Magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies, and as one of San Francisco Business Times’ Top 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies. His team was also named Automatic Merchandiser’s 2014 Pros to Know Team of the Year and received a 2013 NAMA Innovation Award. Outside of the industry, Mandeep supports various local and global charitable organizations. He lives in San Francisco with his wife Maybelle and daughter Mira. Mandeep holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from UCLA.

About the Awards
The NAMA Industry Awards are presented to individuals that best exemplify support of the convenience services industry through a history of service and leadership throughout the industry and in their own communities.

About NAMA OneShow
The NAMA OneShow draws more than 4,500 professionals and nearly 300 exhibitors from the convenience services industry. It is the meeting place for vending, coffee services, micro market and food service professionals to focus on advancing industry innovation, build relationships and grow their businesses.

Learn more and register at namaoneshow.org.

NAMA represents the $34.9 billion U.S. Convenience Services Industry. By providing advocacy, education, and research, NAMA works to promote and protect the industry’s over 160,000 hardworking employees. Through traditional vending and micro markets, office coffee and pantry services, product manufacturing, and small-drop distribution, convenience services meets the needs of over 40 million American consumers daily at work, home, school, and play.

SANDRA RENDEROS
Manager, Communications & Marketing
[email protected]