Newswise — Babson College students and alumni continue to earn their way into the entrepreneurial spotlight, including six recent honorees, and two ultimate winners, of Inc. Magazine’s 2015 readers’ choice rankings.
Coolest College Startups
Ava Anderson Non-Toxic, founded by Babson Undergraduate student Ava Anderson ’16, topped Inc.’s list of the 16 most impressive student businesses in the world – becoming the Coolest College Startup of 2015.
At 15-years-old, Ava came across research revealing that adolescents nationwide are exposed to, and often contaminated by, potentially harmful chemicals used in most cosmetics and other related products. This sparked the creation of a blog to help raise awareness of the issue, and eventually led to the launch of her very own non-toxic product line.
“Today, Anderson is a student at Babson College and also sits at the helm of a non-toxic consumer products empire that offers 11 distinct lines and more than 75 products,” said Diana Ransom, Features Editor, Inc.
Also earning a spot for themselves among the world’s ‘Coolest College Startups’ are Emily Lagasse M’15, founder of Fedwell Pet Foods – ‘home-style food for healthy pets’, and Marissa Goldstein M’15, co-founder of Orora Global - a global social enterprise providing affordable, reliable, and accessible renewable energy to rural and urban communities around the world.
30 Under 30
Dinesh Wadhwani ’12 , co-founder of ThinkLite, has been named Inc.’s 2015 top 30 Under 30 – an honor showcasing the world’s leading entrepreneurs under the age of 30. Alongside his co-founder Danny Wadhwani, Dinesh leads this global lighting efficiency company that custom designs, manufactures, distributes, and installs LED bulbs compatible with customers’ existing infrastructures.
“When he was a sophomore at Babson College, Dinesh Wadhwani had what he calls ‘a life-changing moment’ while meeting with a large telecom company. The enterprising student had started a business selling LED lighting systems to companies that wanted to reduce energy costs…but realized he had to stop being a reseller of [consumer] products, and start being an innovator,” said Donna Fenn, Contributing Editor, Inc. Dinesh claims, “ThinkLite is currently the only company that offers a true retrofit solution for companies that want to switch to LED lights without installing new fixtures.” The company’s products are now sold in 13 different countries. Two additional Babson alumni topped the finalists list, including Polina Raygorodskaya ’08, founder and CEO of Wanderu – an online scheduling platform helping to ease bus and train travel, and Gautam Gupta ’07, co-founder of NatureBox– a healthy, subscription snack-box service. NatureBox co-founder and Babson alumnus, Ken Chen ’06, just missed the list’s eligibility at 33-years-young. Polina, Gautam, and Ken were also recently honored as three of Babson’s 2015 Alumni Entrepreneur ‘Rising Stars’. For more info, visit http://bit.ly/1FTqoQJ
About Babson College
Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®. The College is a dynamic living and learning laboratory, where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society—while at the same time evolving our methods and advancing our programs. We shape the leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to create economic and social value. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought and Action® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. Visit www.babson.edu.
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