SAAD EL YAMANI, 26

COFOUNDER, AMBI

“Colleges have a labyrinth of clunky and disconnected digital tools that don’t inform, engage or facilitate collaboration,” says Ambi cofounder Saad El Yamani. Students must juggle a mess of websites and apps to navigate student life. At many schools, there are separate digital tools to track coursework, register for classes or sign up for clubs. El Yamani and cofounder Soham Khaitan want to simplify things. Their edtech company Ambi combines disparate digitial programs into a single product. With Ambi, you can access readings for Psych 101 or look up your next band practice. The pair launched the company while at Babson College, securing $445,000 of seed funding from two professors. They have since raised $6 million. They have a deal with Columbia University and are in talks with nine other schools. They’re also negotiating with El Yamani’s home country of Morocco to onboard its university students. —Carter Coudriet, Caroline Howard, Katherine Love