The latest Forbes lists were recently released, and as usual, there are several alumni among the honorees. Scroll down to meet the four alumni named to Forbes’ latest 30 under 30 list for North America and the three alumnae recognized on the World’s Most Powerful Women list. Click on their names below to read more.
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Forbes 30 under 30 North America 2023
Consumer Technology
Brandon Li (TOR, SFO 14-19)
Co-founder and co-CEO, Power
Patient recruitment is a major bottleneck in developing new medical treatments. While self-directed research for trials has grown 22x in the last seven years, trial delays remain high due to friction in the patient journey.
Brandon Li co-founded Power to increase clinical trial accessibility, improve patient pipelines, and expedite new treatments by enabling patients and providers to search for clinical trials.
The platform includes over 30,000 clinical trials and 100,000 researchers spanning 10,000 medical conditions across the U.S. "We had a ton of user traction in 2022. The most important thing in 2023 is proving we can now build a sustainable business," says Brandon.
Following Power’s successful launch, Brandon has learned that traction is the biggest factor to standing out amongst the competition. "The only thing that matters is focusing on your customers,” he says. “In the earliest days of a consumer product, focus on simplicity. Nail the core thing that your customer needs. You'll never stand out by doing lots of things just OK.”
Manufacturing & Industry
Jamie Balsillie (TOR 16-18)
Co-founder and CEO, Hedgehog
Agricultural sustainability is Jamie Balsillie's MO. Jamie launched his new startup Hedgehog in February 2022. Hedgehog's mission? To use robotic fungi farms to produce quality mushrooms at a significantly lower cost.
According to Jamie, the value proposition of mushrooms is simple. "Fungi transform food and agricultural waste into protein-rich foods without using arable land or irrigation. Mushrooms are our gateway to the world of potential fungi-based foods," he explains.
Using the power of AI, Hedgehog's robotic farms drive down manufacturing costs by automating labor and identifying optimal growing conditions through experimentation.
The company has raised $4 million in funding since its launch. It aims to achieve over $1 million in annualized revenue and the lowest shiitake production costs in the U.S. by the end of this year.
Aarav Chavda (NJE 17-20)
Co-founder and CEO, INVERSA Leathers
Aarav Chavda has witnessed first-hand the negative impact of invasive species on native biodiversity. The avid outdoorsman's trips to Florida revealed a region devastated by invasive lionfish, which can kill 79% of native reef fish life, and invasive Burmese pythons, which are responsible for killing up to 99% of some species of small mammalian life in the Everglades.
To combat the crisis, Aarav co-founded Inversa Leathers, an alternative leather startup that produces leathers from invasive species for the fashion industry. The company currently has three types of leathers – lionfish, Burmese python, and dragonfin – and sells them to brands that turn them into everything from shoes to handbags.
Aarav believes that consumers can contribute to a true net-positive environmental outcome by choosing fashion materials that derive from increasingly abundant and destructive invasive species. "When you remove invasives from an environment, you can watch it come back to life," he says. "We view ourselves as the next step beyond sustainable into active environmental regeneration."
Venture Capital
Ashley Paston (NYO 16-18)
Partner, Meritech
Ashley Paston is the first and only woman Partner at Meritech Capital, and a co-founder of Meritech’s New York offices. She co-leads the firm’s fintech practice, and also specializes in enterprise software and marketplaces. Before joining Meritech, she was a Principal at Bain Capital Ventures, where she was responsible for investing in early stage and growth equity investments across fintech, investing in companies such as SmartRent (SMRT), Pleo, GoCardless, Material Bank, Autoleap, Orum, Finix, and Moov.
The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women 2022
Jane Fraser (NYO 94-00)
CEO, Citi
Jessica Tan (SIN 00-12)
Co-CEO, Ping An
Joey Wat (HKO 00-03)
CEO, Yum China