15 Companies Founded by Incredible Young Entrepreneurs

15 companies created by young entrepreneurs

1. Aline Morse — Zolli Candy

At age 7, Alina Morse went on a bank run with her father. The cashier offered her a lollipop, but she reluctantly refused – her parents had taught her that candy would damage her teeth. From this experience an idea was born: why not make candies that taste good and are good for the teeth? Zollipops were born and soon after, Zolli Candy was being sold in stores across the country. Since then, Morse has expanded its line of vegan, sugar-free, tooth-friendly candies to include taffy and drops. Now a teenager, Morse is the company’s CEO and has been featured in various publications. She launched the Million Smiles Initiative, which encourages schools to discuss dental hygiene by donating Zollipops.

2. Toby Brown – Beem

As a child, Toby Brown loved creating things, making alarms and coding math games for his teachers. He built Beem, an AI platform, in his bedroom. In 2025, at age 16, he convinced San Francisco-based venture capital firm South Park Commons to invest $1 million in his new company. Brown hopes to launch his product, an AI-native computer optimized for human interaction, next year.

3. Maddie Rae — Maddie Rae’s Slime Glue

Slime has taken the children’s world by storm and Maddie Rae has been at the forefront of the trend. As the slime craze took off in 2017, Rae, an avid slime fan, began having trouble finding glue (an essential slime ingredient) in stores. She took matters into her own hands and worked with her father to develop their own glue, optimized for slime production. Soon, Rae expanded her online store to offer a line of slime, slime glue, and slime accessories. Since 2017, she has broken slime world records and held a slime conference called “Slime Bash” in addition to creating content on YouTube and TikTok. Its products can be found online and in stores.

4. Josh Feinsilber—Gimkit

Gimkit started as a high school project. Josh Feinsilber liked Kahoot!, an online educational platform that uses quizzes to facilitate learning. With the help of other classmates, he created his own learning app, which helps students review topics covered in class through gaming. Teachers can produce quizzes and assignments on the platform, then get reports on their students’ results. Feinsilber’s innovation is now used by more than 100,000 students.

5. Mikaila Ulmer — Lemonade me and the bees

When Mikaila Ulmer was 4 years old, she needed an idea for a children’s business competition she entered. Two chance events inspired her: she was stung by a bee, and around the same time, a family member sent Mikaila her great-grandmother Helen’s recipe for flaxseed lemonade. Ulmer decided to create a product that would help bees and used his grandmother Helen’s lemonade recipe. She added honey to the mix and founded Me & the Bees Lemonade. For over a decade, the company has been producing delicious lemonades and donating 10% of its profits to bee conservation. Young Entrepreneurs’ products are available at Costco, online and other retailers. Ulmer is also the author of a book called “Bee Fearless, Dream Like a Kid,” which chronicles her journey as a young founder of a purpose-driven brand.

6. Alphonse Coleman – Bubbles and Blaze

A homeschool project led 14-year-old Alphonse “Fonzi” Coleman to start an eco-friendly vegan candle business, Bubbles and Blaze. Its soy and coconut wax candles are poured into reusable, handcrafted concrete containers that sell across the United States. The company is committed to the environment and donates to Water for South Sudan.

7. Maya Penn — Maya’s Ideas

Maya Penn founded Maya’s Ideas in 2008 when she was just 8 years old. The company sells sustainably produced fashion accessories and is ahead of the slow fashion movement. Penn is not only the company’s designer but also its CEO. Today, Penn has become an environmental activist, writer, and speaker who has given several TED talks. Penn is the author of “You Got This! Unleash Your Awesomeness, Find Your Way, and Change the World” and has given speeches across the country. In 2011, she founded Maya’s Ideas 4 The Planet, which offers a holistic approach to tackling climate change. She is also an animator and has created several short films.

8. Evan Moana — EvanTubeHD YouTube Channel

Evan Moana was named YouTube’s youngest millionaire in 2016. He started his channel, EvanTubeHD, when he was in the fourth grade. His first videos were reviews of popular children’s toys. Since then, the channel has grown and has nearly seven million subscribers. Moana’s entire family started creating content for YouTube and on TikTok. Moana has several channels, her sister has a channel and is featured prominently on hers and they have a channel with their parents featuring family adventures and challenges. Moana currently attends Loyola Marymount University and still posts videos on EvanTube, but not as frequently when school is in session.

9. Moziah Bridges – The Arches of Mo

Moziah Bridges started Mo’s Bows in his grandmother’s kitchen when he was 9 years old. Bridges says his desire for a stylish fashion accessory was the inspiration for his business, which produces stylish, colorful bow ties in a variety of styles and prints. The internationally renowned brand motivated Bridges to study fashion design at university. In addition to bow ties, Memphis, Tenn.-based Bridges sells ties, pocket squares and clothing. He also published a children’s book titled “Mo’s Bows: A Young Person’s Guide to Startup Success” to encourage other young people to follow their business dreams.

10. Andrew Glantz — GiftAMeal

Using the “food for photos” concept, Andrew Glantz encourages people to take photos of food every time they eat at GiftAMeal’s more than 1,000 participating restaurants to help end food insecurity. Every snap and selfie leads to a food donation and gives each restaurant a boost on social media. Glantz launched his app at age 20 while studying at the University of Washington, and GiftAMeal has now donated more than 2.5 million meals to 150 food banks in 44 states.

11. Joosep Seitam — Ice Cartel

Before co-founding his men’s jewelry brand while a student in 2019, Joosep Seitam had already started several businesses, including a lawn service at 16 years old. Icecartel, an e-commerce site, offers high-end jewelry, from diamond chains to luxury watches and personalized designs. The company generates a six-figure turnover.

12. Gabby Goodwin — GaBBy Bows

When Gabby Goodwin was 7 years old, she and her mother, Rozalynn, noticed a problem. Goodwin’s favorite barrettes kept slipping out of her hair during the day, so she kept losing them for good. The mother-daughter duo worked together to design a new type of hair clip, the double-sided double snap barrette. This one stayed put no matter how hard Goodwin played during the day. They patented the design and founded GaBBy Bows. Today, Goodwin is the company’s CEO. In addition to her unique barrettes, Goodwin founded Confidence by GaBBy, a plant-based hair care system designed to make it easier for moms to style their daughters’ hair. Goodwin and her mother also offer business and hair care mentoring services. Goodwin is also the author of the children’s book “Naturally Me at the Confidence Salon.”

13. Nic Bianchi — Bougie Bianchi Co.

Nic Bianchi founded Bianchi Candle Co. when he was 12 years old. He combined his love of math, science and candles to create wonderfully scented, all-natural handcrafted candles. Each set of Bianchi candles is hand poured in small batches and made from all-natural soy wax that burns longer and cleaner. Bianchi has expanded into products such as diffusers and a variety of designer candle lines within its brand. All candles are still handmade but can be purchased in small boutiques across the country. Bianchi also donates profits to a number of causes, including the American Cancer Society, Partnerships 4 Kids and the Angels Among Us Society.

14. François Reihani — La La Land Kind Café

At the age of 20, François Reihani had already successfully launched a poke bowl business, Pok, and a cocktail and appetizer establishment, Bar Stellar. But he wanted to challenge himself to do something more. So he started the La La Land Kind Cafe chain in Dallas, a business with an unusual premise: hiring teens and young adults aging out of the foster system and helping them succeed. His idea evolved into 11 coffee shops in California and Texas, as well as the La La Land Foundation, a nonprofit organization that seeks to help the community through volunteering, mentoring and advocacy.

15. Bunim Laskin — Swimply

Staying cool in the New Jersey heat every summer was difficult for Bunim Laskin, so he came up with a plan to his neighbor: If you let my family use your pool, we’ll help pay their expenses. The idea worked so well that Laskin created a website and mobile app to rent private pools nearby. After launching “Shark Tank” in 2020, Laskin raised more than $51 million in funding to grow his business. The company now allows Swimply users to find not only swimming pools, but also pickleball, basketball and tennis courts.