Beyond schools
They’re 12 to 17 years old and have already set up their own companies, pitched products to investors and crafted revenue models. Meet some Indian entrepreneurs so young, they’re still in school
These teens have already set up their own ventures, pitched products to investors and crafted revenue models
W hat does it take to be a teenager who is CEO or president of his own company? Chutzpah, inventiveness — and parental support.
Not only because a child cannot legally set up a corporation, but because it takes belief to lend your child money for equipment, allow them to take time off from school or summer classes to explore something they are passionate about.
This combination of confident children who grow up thinking out of the box, and parents who are willing to back them, is creating a generation of entrepreneurs so young, they’re still in school.
“Seeing successful start-up stories around them has made parents and kids positive and confident about taking risks. We need a new generation of risk takers and that’s exactly what we’re starting to see taking shape,” says Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, entrepreneur and CMD of one of the earliest biotech companies, Biocon.
Shaw was one of the speakers at the first-ever India round of Young Entrepreneurs Academy USA (or YEA!), a platform that seeks to groom very young entrepreneurs. This round yielded an app for on-call nannies thought up by a 13-year-old from Gurgaon, and a valet parking service to reduce congestion on Mumbai’s streets. Meanwhile, the TiE Young Entrepreneurs Program gave us a trio who have created a drink that’s 95% fruit, their contribution to the fight against diabetes and obesity.
Others, like teen filmmakers Pal and Chin Vardhman and Jayansh Bhartiya, and app developers Shravan and Sanjay Kumaran, are going it alone, with support from their parents and platforms such as the Children’s Film Society of India and World Wildlife Fund.
The Vardhmans bought a flat in Mumbai so their boys could study aspects of filmmaking in their summer breaks. They even home-schooled them for two years so they could make their first film in peace. (It went on to win international awards).
As the app developers’ dad Kumaran puts it: “It’s such a thrill to see them, so young, taking their ideas through to implementation. For my boys, at their age, to meet Apple’s requirements, it’s amazing.”