Meet the Next Generation of American Entrepreneurship
As we close out Entrepreneurship Month, we’re highlighting a few amazing American entrepreneurs.
“[I]t has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor — who have carried us up the long rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.” — President Obama, Inaugural Address, January 21, 2009
As we close out Entrepreneurship Month, we’re highlighting a few amazing American entrepreneurs. Over the past eight years, thanks to the grit, determination, and creativity of folks from all across the country, American startup activity is rebounding and growing more inclusive. In fact, over the past eight years, rates of entrepreneurship have increased for Latinos, African Americans. And from 2007 to today, the number of women-owned firms is estimated to have grown at a rate five times the national average, and the number of minority-owned firms owned by African American women and Latinas more than doubled.
Hannah Chung, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Sproutel
“When I was a kid, my dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Helping my dad adjust to his new lifestyle was a transformative time in my childhood, and inspired my work on our first product, Jerry the Bear, an educational companion for kids with type 1 diabetes. We’ve now extended our design process to many other childhood illnesses, too. We’re also honored to be the recipient of an NIH SBIR grant and even to have visited the White House to share our work with President Obama!”
Sproutel was featured at the first-ever White House Demo Day, which welcomed startup founders from diverse walks of life and from across the country to showcase their innovations.
Pashon Murray, Co-founder of Detroit Dirt
“I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan but chose to move to Detroit because I always treasured the history and the people. Detroit was once an industrial city — and I believe the industrial cities can be the most sustainable by adapting green building, zero waste and clean energy practices that will birth a circular economy. It matters to me that our work is rooted in the community.”
Detroit Dirt produces high quality compost made from food and green waste. Detroit Dirt was featured at the first-ever White House Demo Day, which welcomed startup founders from diverse walks of life and from across the country to showcase their innovations. Since 2007, the number of women-owned firms, like Pashon’s, grew at an estimated 5 times faster than the national average.
Amar Sawhney, CEO of Ocular Therapeutix
“My name is Amar Sawhney. After I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with an M.S. in Chemical Engineering, I ended up being turned down for a job by all 30 companies I had applied to. Back in India, success was pretty easy to come by. But now I was in the United States…where I was an immigrant without a work visa. So the stakes were pretty high. But fortunately, this tough situation propelled me in a direction that I otherwise may never have taken, had things come easier.
During my graduate studies my academic advisor and I invented some very elegant technology that allowed us to do super-fast chemical reactions directly on living cells and tissues without harming them. We were approached by a venture capital fund that wanted to start a company using our technology, and there began my entrepreneurial career. Thanks to the JOBS Act signed by President Obama, my latest venture had a smoother path to an initial public offering as an emerging growth company.”
Learn more about the actions President Obama has taken to accelerate American entrepreneurship.
