There is a historic transformation in the world of entrepreneurship as teenagers lead new, innovative, and impactful startup businesses. With innovation at the intersection of technology, creativity, and social responsibility, these young entrepreneurs are trying to address some of the world's biggest problems - education, health, sustainability, and digital transformation. In no particular order, here are ten companies started by teens that are making an impact around the world.
1. Mercor
Mercor is a transformative AI recruitment startup co-founded by Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath, and Surya Midha—all teenagers at the time. Mercor uses large language models for automated interviews, candidate screening, and assessments for employers. What differentiates Mercor is that they identify and recommend candidates not only based on resumes but through contextual analysis of authentic expressed skills and communication ability. The founders launched Mercor while as students and rapidly built momentum, raising $100 million Series B and reaching a $2 billion valuation. Mercor's systems are used by hundreds of companies, and the team is dedicated to continuing to innovate at the intersection of AI and recruitment.
2. Aviato
Founded by Eric Zhu while he was still in high school, Aviato is a startup data analytics company with the goal of being a better version of PitchBook or Crunchbase, providing the analysis and data on the private market. Eric was a motivated founder by all definitions of the word. For example, he had a reputation for taking meetings wherever he could – he once booked housekeeping pitch meetings using scraped Calendly links, and even took investor calls in his school bathroom! Eric's unique and creative hustle combined with hard work helped him raise over $2 million in funding before he turned 18. Aviato aggregates data on startups, with an emphasis on funding, founder profiles, and valuation. Aviato offers a unique solution for institutional investors and analysts to try and navigate the opaque world of the private market. Aviato is still running and evolving, and now has thousands of users ranging from early-stage investors to journalists and researchers.
3. SpaceHey
SpaceHey, a nostalgic social network reminiscent of early MySpace, was started by German teen Anton Röhm. SpaceHey is a social network that provides total control for users, HTML profile customizability, and does not track the user as part of a surveillance capitalism scheme like the modern day social networks. SpaceHey gained rapid success - immediate growth and organic user interest, and coverage in a variety of media, led to over 500,000 users in less than five months. Anton built SpaceHey himself, completely managing the codebase, design, and community. For users of SpaceHey, the appeal of the retro aesthetic has attracted a diverse user base that enjoys the space, as well as the ethical open source privacy-friendly opinion.
4. Goodwall
Teenage brothers, Omar and Taha Bawa, launched Goodwall as a professional development platform aimed at Generation Z. Unlike LinkedIn, which can often feel intimidating or irrelevant, Goodwall is about showing off skills, volunteer activities, creative projects, and social impact initiatives. Users can take challenges, apply for scholarships, and find similar-minded people. With millions of users around the world, Goodwall has attracted $16 million in funding, empowering young people to build purposeful careers and meaningful communities. Goodwall continues to be an active and growing system in the edtech and social entrepreneurship space.
5. Generic Aadhaar
Generic Aadhaar was created by 16-year-old Arjun Deshpande in India in response to the cost of prescription drugs. His startup finds generic medicines, sources them directly from manufacturers, and distributes them through branded retail through stores at prices way below the normal cost. With Ratan Tata's support, Generic Aadhaar was able to build thousands of stores, and it is now changing the way millions access healthcare. Arjun's aim was to remove the middlemen markup and, thus make healthcare more democratic. He continues to actively pursue this path of democratization, building partnerships and expanding in India.
6. SIMULATE
SIMULATE is a food technology company that was founded by Ben Pasternak when he was only 19. SIMULATE's flagship product is NUGGS, a plant-based chicken nugget. The NUGGS have all the characteristics of chicken nuggets to not only eat but to develop new tech-minded branding and to focus on improving iterations of the plan-based nugget product. The company operates like a software company in that it releases individual batches of NUGGS as products and updates the versions as altered products and collects feedback to improve each iteration. SIMULATE has raised over $57 million and has an impressive footprint nationwide with many of the major supermarkets in the United States. Ben develops each nugget with the best of Gen Z marketing efforts and capabilities while also taking into account real commitments to sustainability and animal rights. SIMULATE continues to grow quickly while developing new product lines and considering international development.
7. Cal AI
Zach Yadegari is the cofounder and CEO of Cal AI, a nutrition app that uses AI to estimate calories and macronutrient values from images of food. Zach created Cal AI in high school, launched it in May 2024, and Cal rapidly grew to over a million downloads, resulting in nearly $1 million per month in recurring revenue and roughly $12–30 million in annual revenue! Cal AI uses image models from OpenAI and Anthropic and employs retrieval-augmented methods, achieving ~90% accuracy with just a small, lean team. Zach began coding at the age of 7, and sold his first app at the age of 12. He believes Cal AI is a product of entrepreneurial hustle, since he was rejected from all the elite institutions he applied to, despite a 4.0 GPA and successful business! Zach is currently running the startup, and is planning to go to college to be part of a community and for personal growth.
8. Malala Fund: Championing Girls’ Education
Shiza Shahid was a co-founder of the Malala Fund with Malala Yousafzai at the age of 19. The Malala Fund is an advocacy organization focused on girls' right to 12 years of free, safe, and quality education all over the world. The Malala Fund (under her leadership and vision) has grown into a meaningful global campaign for education equity and an active ally of grassroots organizations and supporting policy change. This youth-led nonprofit has shown what is possible when young people do activism to create systemic change and center the voices of marginalized populations.
9. Monkey & Gas
Isaiah Turner co-founded Monkey at 18, a video-chat app that rapidly gained popularity among teens. Its playful, unfiltered interface appealed to lots of teens. Later, he helped launch Gas, a social polling app that allows teens to compliment each other anonymously—a rarity for positive spaces on teen social media. Both apps gained millions of downloads in a short period of time. What was unique about these platforms is that they understood how teens behaved, because they were designed by teens. Although most social apps eventually die away, Turner’s ongoing relevance demonstrates the value of a design process based on lived experience.
10. Mo’s Bows: Redefining Youth Fashion Entrepreneurship
At only 16 years old, Moziah Bridges launched Mo’s Bows, a business that produces stylish and affordable bowties. Mo’s Bows started as a personal project—after he was mocked for wearing a homemade bowtie to school—before it quickly became a nationally recognized brand. Mo's Bows has been on television shows and has been sold in major retail stores. Truly a reminder that age doesn't matter when you want to create a successful business, Bridges' story symbolizes how so many teen entrepreneurs are bringing creativity and business together to carve out their own unique space.
Why These Teen‑Led Startups Matter
Together, these startups each have their own story: a story not only of success but of courage, ingenuity, and determination. Teen-led startups can be in a position of comparative advantage; they have not been taught to follow conventional wisdom and are generally more open to taking risks. They also have genuine knowledge of new and emerging problems, especially those impacting their generation. In an ever-quickening world, the opportunity to iterate, learn, and pivot quickly is critical, and teens are equipped to do just that.
Tips for Aspiring Teen Founders
Start with what you know: Many successful startups solve problems the founder personally experiences.
Don’t wait for permission: Age is no barrier. Use available tools to prototype and launch quickly.
Seek mentorship: Even the most successful teen founders had mentors guiding them.
Build your tribe: Find other young founders, join online communities, and collaborate.
Learn continuously: Use every project, success, or failure as a stepping stone.
Final Takeaway
The teen-led startup ecosystem is not just a passing trend: it's an integral piece of the entrepreneurial landscape. These young founders are not waiting to leave their childhood behind to make an impact. They are building scalable solutions to very real problems, they are learning from their failures and proving that age is just a number! If you're a teenager with an idea, don't wait, start it now! The next billion-dollar startup could just be a few clicks away on your laptop after school!
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