Seventeen MIT entrepreneurs named to 2017 Forbes “30 Under 30” lists

Seventeen MIT alumni and students were named to the 2017 Forbes “30 Under 30” lists. With products and services ranging from prescription delivery to a handheld malaria detection device, these young entrepreneurs are tackling serious and social and health problems with smart, tech-driven innovations.

In addition to the entrepreneurs below, this year’s lists include MIT graduates working in finance, venture capital, and elsewhere, as well as MIT faculty members.

Social Entrepreneurs

Ricky Ashenfelter, MBA ’15, co-founded Spoiler Alert, an online platform to help businesses manage food donations and reduce food waste.

Noam Angrist, SB ’13, is the co-founder of Young 1ove, a nonprofit that scales successful sexual health information campaigns to reach youth in Africa.

John Lewandowski, a PhD student, launched Disease Diagnostic Group to make a handheld malaria detection device for use in areas without access to medical facilities.

Kwami Williams, SB ’12, started  MoringaConnect to create cosmetics and snacks from Moringa trees growing in Ghana.

Health Care

Archit Bhise, SB ’13, and Vinayak Ramesh, SB ’12, founded Wellframe, which makes a care management mobile app and dashboard for health insurance companies and patients.

Tim Wang, a PhD student, co-founded KSQ Therapeutics to use gene-editing technology to search for new drugs to treat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Consumer Technology

Christina Bognet, SB ’10, started PlateJoy to create custom meal plans and grocery lists, with delivery options.

Jamie Karraker, SB ’12, SM ’13, is the co-founder of Scriptdash, a prescription delivery service.

Kai Kloepfer, SB ’20, is the founder of Biofire Technologies, makers of a “smart gun” that requires fingerprint authentication to fire. 

Enterprise Technology

Brad Cordova, SM ’14, is the co-founder of TrueMotion, which bills itself as “the app to end distracted driving.”

Curtis Liu, SB ’10, and Spenser Skates, SB ’10, are the co-founders of Amplitude Analytics, a product analytics platform that helps businesses examine user behavior.

Sports

Alessandro Babini, MSMS ’15, is the co-founder of Humon, which sells a fitness wearable that monitors oxygen in muscles to help athletes train.

Manufacturing and Industry

Sean Hunt, SM ’13, PhD ’16, launched Solugen to make a plant-based hydrogen peroxide for use in a variety of industries, including household cleaning.

Hasier Larrea, SM ’15, is the founder of Ori, which draws on MIT Media Lab robotics work to make adjustable furniture that responds to the space and use needs of urban dwellers.

Science

Mark Smith, PhD ’14, is the co-founder of OpenBiome, a nonprofit that serves as a blood bank for human stool. The company aims to treat Clostridium difficile, a common infection that affects as many as 500,000 people in the United States each year.