ALEXANDER LE ROUX

Age: 28 • Cofounder, Icon

While studying at Baylor University, Le Roux had a hunch: “What if 3D printers were a lot bigger? What if we could use concrete?” Now he’s the mastermind behind the Vulcan, a nearly 12-foot-tall 3D printer that can make a concrete house in 24 hours for up to 30% cheaper. His startup, Icon, which he founded with over-30-year-olds Evan Loomis and Jason Ballard, used the Vulcan to build America’s first permitted compliant 3D-printed home in 2018. Since then it has built 16 more in Austin, Texas, and expanded into Mexico, where Icon is making the world’s first 3D-printed community for low-income families. He has raised $44 million (including from the late Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital) and scored contracts to build barracks for the Defense Department. Icon recently received funding to help NASA figure out how to build structures on the moon.

JUDGES: Bill Ford, executive chairman, Ford; Ellen Kullman, CEO, Carbon; Austin Russell, founder, Luminar (Under 30 Class of 2018); Marianne Wu, managing director, 40 North Ventures