About Us

New York City-based OMAO was founded upon a common frustration: paper straws suck! As busy professionals hustling through Manhattan, we all rely on our morning cup of coffee to start the day. Although we care about the plastic pollution problem plaguing our planet, paper straws are simply terrible! They get soggy within minutes and often add a weird taste and texture to the drink.

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So, we started to think: What if we create a straw that doesn’t crumble but still benefits the environment?

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Driven by this mission, we pitched our idea in the ‘Alliance Social Enterprise Challenge’, an international competition hosted by Columbia University, Sciences Po, Ecole Polytechnique and Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne. OMAO was awarded as the first runner-up and champion of Columbia University!

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In 2020, a diverse team of people from different races, genders, and professional backgrounds joined forces to officially launch OMAO, a socially responsible company.