Words: Gentleman's Journal
It’s never too old to become an entrepreneur; but some of the brightest stars in the start-up world began before they could legally drink. Here, we present the top 10 most successful British entrepreneurs under the age of 30.
D’Aloisio founded Summly aged just 15 and is the youngest person in the world to receive venture capital. Selling the news-summarizing app two years later to Yahoo for $30 million, he’s now studying Computer Science at Oxford. His next move will be closely watched.
Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures
Despite finding fame on Made in Chelsea, it’s the world of business that gets Atherton going. She founded the jewellery e-commerce site MyFlashTrash whilst on the show, selling it last year for £2 million. Her next project won’t be far away.
Aged just 16 Cator founded ‘Hide my Ass’, a software to get around his school’s Internet filters. Now 26, he’s sold the software to AVG for £40 million, and continues to work on internet privacy with his new company, Privax.
Doherty was 14 when he realised the worth of his Grandmother’s jam recipes, now mass-producing millions of jars to sell in more than 2000 stores worldwide. He’s expanded the brand to include caffeine and craft beers, earning himself an MBE in the process.
Burgess has always been entrepreneurial – starting his career with an eBay shop, he has since founded Gojimo, an app to help students revise. Ironically, it’s so successful Burgess dropped out of Stanford to focus on it full time.
Kay founded Bio-Bean, a company that converts 50,000 tonnes of unwanted coffee grounds into biofuel each year, which has seen great growth and won critical acclaim. The green company has just announced a partnership with Costa Coffee, so expect to hear much more soon.
Proud secured $40 million in seed funding to create Hello, a company that manufactures tech products to help us all sleep better. He probably hasn’t had much sleep himself – he built the company from nothing, avoiding University and moving to San Francisco in the process.
Daykin was the youngest successful Dragon’s Den contestant when he secured £80,000 of Deborah Meaden’s money for his grandfather’s invention, the GripIt. The tool for hanging pictures and televisions revolutionized the DIY market, and netted Daykin over £10,000,000.
Khan’s career started at private equity firm Terra Firma aged just 21, before running strategy at property website Zoopla. At 28 she launched Eporta, an online marketplace for interior designers. It has revolutionized the industry, and is heading stateside in the next year.
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