Forbes has released their 30 Under 30 2020 list. The list celebrates the brightest entrepreneurs in a variety of industries and categories, from games to healthcare, from energy to entertainment, all under the age of 30. Among this year's honorees are a number of NYU entrepreneurs who are disrupting their industries and causing real change. Check out the list below, and help us celebrate our incredible entrepreneurship community!
NYU's 30 Under 30
Lia Winograd, (Stern '19) & Jaclyn Fu
Startup: Pepper
Category: Retail & Ecommerce
Jaclyn Fu has always been small-chested and struggled to find bras that fit her. In 2017, she teamed up with coworker Lia Winograd to create a line of bras designed for women with small busts. The bras, which start at $48, have shallower cups, light padding and a specially curved underwire. Pepper has a distribution deal with Urban Outfitters and projects revenue of $6 million in 2020. Learn more about Lia and Jaclyn.
Kyleigh Russ, (Wagner '20) & Octavia Abell
Startup: Govern for America
Category: Law & Policy
Born of its cofounders desire to increase diversity in public sector jobs, Govern for America collaborates with more than 150 recruiting partners across the country to place candidates in a two-year service fellowship. The goal, according to Abell and Russ, is to build local governments that better reflect the communities served. Learn more about Octavia and Kyleigh.
Lauren Singer (CAS '13)
Startup: Package Free
Category: Social Entrepreneurs
Lauren Singer is best known her blog Trash is Tossers, which chronicles her experience and gives advice on living a zero waste lifestyle. But she has also opened physical stores stocking waste-free products and raised $4.5 million from investors like Softmatter VC to manufacture her own sustainable consumer products (think Unilever 2.0). Learn more about Lauren.
Wemimo Abbey (Wagner '15) & Samir Goel (Stern '16)
Startup: Esusu Financial
Category: Social Entrepreneurs
Esusu helps users save money, access capital and build credit. In 2018, the fintech company debuted its peer-to-peer savings app on iOS and Android. The following year Abbey and Goel launched a reporting platform to give renters credit for making monthly payments, a benefit historically reserved for homeowners. Esusu has served over 30,000 people, saving them over $20 million in interest rates. Learn more about Wemimo and Samir.
Olivia Landau (Steinhardt '13) & Kyle Simon
Startup: The Clear Cut
Category: Retail & Ecommerce
Olivia Landau and Kyle Simon are the husband-and-wife duo behind The Clear Cut, which creates custom engagement rings sold directly to consumers online. This lets people in so-called "diamond deserts," where ring options typically come from big chains, to buy bespoke. Landau is the fourth generation of her family in the diamond business, while Simon previously cofounded a fair-trade diamond mining company in Sierra Leone. The company expects sales to more than double to $11 million in 2020. Learn more about Olivia and Kyle.
Dylan Sprouse (Gallatin '15)
Startup: All-Wise Meadery
Category: Hollywood & Entertainment
Dylan and his twin brother Cole started acting at eight months old before their breakout roles on Disney Channel's 'The Suite Life of Zack and Cody' and its sequel 'The Suite Life on Deck.' After doing a number of independent and short films, Sprouse is set to hit the big screen in 'After We Collided' When he's not acting, he oversees All-Wise Meadery in Brooklyn, where he brews honey wine. The business, which is only its second year, is already profitable with revenue of over $1 million for 2019. Learn more about Dylan.
Samantha Pratt (Steinhardt '15)
Startup: KlickEngage
Category: Education
Especially in crowded classrooms, teachers can have a hard time tracking the mental health of students. Pratt, a 2019 Camelback Ventures fellow, is bridging that gap with KickEngage, through which users self-report their mental state with a two-minute survey at the beginning of the day. The app, which aims to help the estimated 20% of youth with a mental health condition, then recommends actions to students while giving teachers real-time data on student wellness. Learn more about Samantha.
Trinity Mouzon Wofford (CAS '14) & Issey Kobori (Steinhardt '15)
Startup: Golde
Category: Food & Drink
Trinity Mouzon Wofford and Issey Kobori cofounded Golde, a Brooklyn-based superfood health and beauty brand, when they were both 23 years old as a response to the modern wellness movement trending towards the ultra-luxe and often inaccessible. Their first product, a $29 Turmeric Tonic blend with 30 servings, launched in 2017. They bootstrapped the business, never taking on investors, and now sell matcha and cacao flavors, as well as sachet sets with individual packets, at retailers including Urban Outfitters and Goop. When Golde launched at Sephora in 2019, Mouzon Wofford became the youngest woman of color to ever launch a brand at the beauty retailer. The couple then unveiled a line of natural face masks. Kobori is a Japanese citizen. Learn more about Trinity and Issey.
Meng Ai (Tandon '16), Ning (Amelie) Kang & Yishu He
Startup: Málà Project
Category: Food & Drink
Ning (Amelie) Kang moved to America to pursue a bachelor degree at the Culinary Institute of America and quickly found New York's Chinese food scene to be lacking diversity. She then met Meng Ai and Yishu He, and together they decided to open up the first dry pot focused Chinese restaurant in Manhattan, called MáLà Project, in January 2016. Today, Kang is executive chef while Ai oversees the business' financials from Shanghai. Learn more about Meng, Ning, and Yishu.
Samantha Gerson (Silver '15)
Startup: UnBroken
Category: Healthcare
Gerson is founder and CEO of UnBroken, a nonprofit that offers free legal, therapeutic and vocational services to survivors of institutional abuse and conversion therapy. To date, UnBroken has serviced more than 800 clientele, and offers innovative research to medical professionals on long term effects of institutional abuse and conversion therapy. Learn more about Samantha.
Anita Gou (Tisch '13)
Startup: Kindred Spirit
Category: Hollywood & Entertainment
Gou founded production company Kindred Spirit, which produces content aimed at a global audience and showcases underrepresented voices. Her most recent films, 'The Farewell' and 'Honey Boy,' both showed at Sundance in 2019 and were acquired by A24 and Amazon, respectively, in multi-million dollar deals. Gou has debuted each of her first four feature films at Sundance. Learn more about Anita.
Rylee Ebsen (Tisch '13)
Startup: Ebsen Enterprises
Category: Marketing & Advertising
Rylee Ebsen creates content for traditional and digital platforms, and previously worked at Snap Inc. Storytelling runs in her family. As the granddaughter of Hollywood actor Buddy Ebsen and advertising creative director Stan Freberg, Ebsen decided to reinstate Buddy's old production company Ebsen Enterprises Inc. in April 2019. Clients include Disney, Facebook and Snapchat. Her commercial work has generated more than 40 million views on YouTube. Learn more about Rylee.
Jessica Assaf (Gallatin '12)
Startup: Prima
Category: Retail & Ecommerce
In high school, Jessica Assaf helped lobby for a piece of legislation in California that required cosmetics makers to disclose the use of carcinogens. Now, she is working to bring rigor to the cannabis industry, in partnership with Christopher Gavigan, the cofounder of The Honest Company, and Laurel Angelica Myers, another Honest alum. The trio launched Prima, a CBD wellness and beauty brand, in June 2019 with eight doctor-formulated serums and supplements (click here to find delta 8 near me that is available at the best price). Prima raised $3.25 million in funding from Lerer Hippeau and Greycroft, the largest seed round for a CBD company. Learn more about Jessica.
Lindon Gao (Stern '13), Ahmed Beshry, Yilin Huang & York Yang
Startup: Caper
Category: Retail & Ecommerce
When a quick trip to Zara turned into a 30-minute ordeal thanks to a long checkout line, Lindon Gao figured there had to be a more efficient way to pay. In January 2019, he and his cofounders Ahmed Beshry, Yilin Huang and York Yang launched Caper to build the world's first shopping cart powered by artificial intelligence. The idea: Carts automatically detect items as they are added. They're not there yet, but are marketing a smart cart that allows customers to scan their items as they go and skip the line by paying directly from their carts. Canadian grocery store Sobeys is conducting a pilot and Caper will do $1 million in revenue in 2019. It's raised $13 million in funding from the likes of Lux Capital, First Round Capital and Instacart cofounder Max Mullen. Learn more about Lindon, Ahmed, Yilin, and York.
Catharine Dockery (Gallatin '14)
Startup: Vice Ventures
Category: Venture Capital
In 2018 Catharine Dockery was raising money for L.A. wine startup Bev when she experienced a major buzzkill: "the vice clause." To manage money for foundations and nonprofits, many investors pledge to avoid companies dealing in alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, gambling and sex. As a result, numerous VCs repeatedly told Dockery the wine company was off-limits. Rather than an obstacle, Dockery saw an opportunity. She sold her New York apartment to launch her fund Vice Ventures to back taboo brands. Formerly a Citi investment banker and a chief of staff for Bonobos cofounder Andy Dunn, Dockery has raised $25 million from family offices and high-profile investors like Marc Andreessen and Bradley Tusk. Early bets include CBD drink maker Recess and Maude, which makes condoms and vibrators. "A lot of people were very skeptical and didn't believe," Dockery says. "Now I have a ton of companies that come to me directly, and I get deals from a lot of other funds." Learn more about Catharine.
Other NYU 30 Under 30 2020 members include the musician Maggie Rogers (Tisch '16), researcher Esti Blanco-Elorrieta (GSAS '19), and actor Cole Sprouse (Gallatin '15). The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute congratulates all NYU alumni selected!
