10 top young entrepreneurs from around the world

The inaugural G20 Young Entrepreneur summit will kick off in Canada in June, with Australia set to be represented by Jeremy Liddle, who founded his business, RioLife, as a 24-year-old.

 

The summit is set to shine a light on some of the world’s leading young entrepreneurs, who have proved that age is no barrier to going it alone.

 

Indeed, with the likes of 27-year-old Mark Zuckerberg reaching the heights of entrepreneurship, it’s clear that innovators aren’t being held back, even as pre-teens.

 

Here are 10 of the leading business builders from around the world who hope to follow in Zuckerberg’s steps.

 

 

1. Andrew Hsu

 

 

A look at 20-year-old Hsu’s achievements thus far is enough to make Sir Richard Branson glance nervously over his shoulder.

 

At two-years-old he was constructing Lego buildings taller than himself and reading books. He took up golf at three and was a graduate of the University of Washington by 16.

 

But what of his business prowess? Well, Hsu has managed to snare $1.5 million in seed funding for Airy Labs, a business that creates social learning games for children.

 

Like any true entrepreneur, he’s also endured bumps in the road – Hsu has had to fire staff and remodel his business to ensure its future growth.

 

 

2. Savannah Britt

 

 

At the grand old age of 14, Britt became one of the world’s youngest publishing magnates with the launch of fashion title GirlPez.

 

By this time, Britt was already an old hand, having her poetry published aged just eight and receiving a wage as a reviewer of children’s books for The Kitchen Table News, a US newspaper that went under, leaving her unemployed at 11.

 

This early setback didn’t deter Britt, who told the JuniorBiz.com site in 2010: “I like a challenge. I think what drove me to start my magazine was the fact that I was so young and I was doing something that nobody around me was doing.”

 

 

3. Farrhad Acidwalla

 

Indian whizz-kid Acidwalla made his name founding and selling Rockstah Media, a web development and media company.

 

After borrowing $10 from his parents to purchase a domain name, he came up with a slogan – “creating awesomeness” – built the business and then sold it, at a handsome profit.

 

4. Laurence Rook

 

 

For a 13-year-old, Laurence Rook was perhaps a little overly concerned about his family’s safety, but it led to an inspired business idea.

 

Plagued by images of burglars ransacking houses left empty by their occupants going on holiday, the British teenager devised Smart Bell, a special doorbell that deters thieves.

 

How does it do it? Well, when someone rings your doorbell, your mobile is immediately notified, allowing you to speak to the visitor – hopefully the postman rather than an intruder – for as long as you like.

 

Rook is ramping up the commercialisation of his product and says he has a number of other ideas that he hopes to unleash upon the world.

 

 

5. Anshul Samar

 

“Entrepreneurship is cool, and so is chemistry!” enthuses Samar on his personal blog, which is attached to his business, Alchemist Empire.

 

The company’s primary product is Elementeo, which was released by Samar, then just 13-years-old, in 2009.

 

The game, which aims to make chemistry fun by creating characters in a fantasy-style game, is selling strong three years on.