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Shubham Banerjee: Founder of Braigo

Posted by krummelva24

· Saturday, October 26th, 2024

· 2 Comments

12-year-old Shubham Banerjee’s interest in Braille and Braille printers evolved out of his love for science. While doing research for an engineering project to enter for a science fair in January of 2014, he discovered that less than 10% of blind people can actually read Braille. This was, in part, due to the extremely high prices of Braille printers, costing around $2,000. Additionally, technological advancements such as the development of voice-to-text software significantly impacted the lives of the visually impaired. Banerjee realized that many visually impaired people were not able to afford the extremely expensive Braille printers, or the technology needed to efficiently communicate without one. Therefore, his new goal was to significantly reduce the cost of a Braille printer.

Banerjee worked for weeks to create a working prototype. After seven attempts, he finally successfully created a prototype using a Lego Mindstorms EV3 robotics kit and some small electrical components. Banerjee and his father, a software engineer, would often stay up until 2 a. m. working on the project together. At 13 years old, a high school freshman, Banerjee founded Braigo, the company name combining the words Braille and Lego. Braigo was a low-cost, portable printer and embosser that prints out raised bumps on paper. Banerjee also co-founded the company Braigo Labs to further develop the printer. Banerjee was faced with a lot of criticism and uncertainty because many Silicon Valley startups had tried to undertake the same project without success. He did not let this affect his work and research, however, and persevered through the difficult times. “Some [people] said that the market is not that big, or [that this is] a specialty product,” Banerjee says, unfazed. “I just went ahead with what I thought was right.”

The Braigo printed proved a success even while in its early stages. Banerjee entered his product into the 2014 Synopsis Science Fair and took home the top prize for a science or engineering breakthrough. It was also endorsed by Henry Wedler, a PhD candidate in organic chemistry who was honored by Barack Obama as a Champion of Change for his work leading a chemistry camp for visually impaired students. As Wedler puts it, “Inventors have been attempting to do what Shubham has done with Braille embossers for many years. Sometimes, it takes a young, fresh imagination and a will of iron to be truly innovative. This is the energy and quality that Shubham’s knowledge and passion as an inventor bring to Silicon Valley.” Banerjee and his company, Braigo Labs, managed to bring in venture capital to ensure the success of his company, becoming the youngest person ever to receive venture capitalist investment, according to CBS. Banerjee’s innovative spirit helped to better the lives of the visually impaired, while also encouraging and promoting others to follow in his footsteps.

To learn more about Shubham Banerjee and Braigo , click here.

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Categories : Business::Entrepreneurs, Engineering, Kid Entrepreneurs, Male Entrepreneurs, Social Impact, STEM, Technology, Uncategorized

RJ Duarte: The Founder of Green Worx Landscaping

Posted by krummelva24

· Monday, October 14th, 2024

· 1 Comment

Based out of Golden, Colorado, RJ Duarte was only eight years old when his entrepreneurial ventures started. Motivated by his desire to buy himself candy, Duarte started his lawn mowing business in 2008 with one lawn mower, a red wagon, and five weekly lawn mowing clients. He began to take his business seriously by his third season and invested his savings back into his company. Duarte’s dedication, commitment, and incredible work ethic as an entrepreneur are evident as his income tripled every year since he began his business.

As Duarte began middle school, his business had grown too large to handle himself. He chose a friend from middle school, Owen Johnson, to be a partner in his landscaping business. Two years later, Duarte and Johnson decided they needed a name for their company- they eventually landed on Green Worx. Green Worx had grown much larger than the mere neighborhood lawncare service it started as. After working with Green Worx for over five years, Johnson decided to part ways with the company in order to pursue a college education after graduating high school. Duarte and Johnson, however, still frequently meet as friends to discuss Green Worx and life in general. As Duarte was contemplating going to college and running his company from school, Green Worx was pulling in six figures from annual revenue. He decided to focus on growing his company and work on creating a full-scale landscaping business.

One way that Duarte demonstrated he was an excellent, young entrepreneur was through his willingness to take risks. After high school, in 2019, Duarte made the decision to drop Grenn Worx’s small clients and, instead, rebrand as a premium landscaping and maintenance company. This meant that he would be undertaking large-scale, intricate landscaping and construction projects. Green Worx added two construction crews and lots of new equipment to the company. Duarte knew how risky the shift in scale would be for the business but decided to continue with it anyway. “It’s higher margins for more risk,” he says. “That comes with headaches, but without headaches, there’s no reward.”

Green Worx was incredibly successful throughout the years. In 2015, Duarte and Johnson had won first place in the Celebration for Young Entrepreneurs and also won the Young Americans Bank Business Award. In 2016, the newsletter, The Golden Informer, wrote an article about the success of Green Worx and put Green Worx on the front cover. In that same year, Green Worx was nominated and won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award By Ernst & Young Foundation. By the end of 2016, Green Worx was 300% bigger than the year before. Green Worx continues to steadily grow. In 2019, the company brought in $750,000 in revenue. Duarte was never afraid of the workload and was always searching for new ways to expand and grow his business. Green Worx’s success is built off of his hard work and devotion to his craft.

Click here to read more about Green Worx.

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Categories : Business, Small Business, Business::Entrepreneurs, Construction, Kid Entrepreneurs, Landscaping, Male Entrepreneurs, Manual labor, Outdoors, young entrepreneurs

Riya Karumanchi: Founder and CEO of Smart Cane

Posted by krummelva24

· Saturday, September 28th, 2024

· 1 Comment

Riya Karumanchi was only 15 years old when she came up with an idea to revolutionize technology to improve the well-being of visually impaired individuals. One day while visiting a friend’s house, Riya was introduced to her friend’s visually impaired grandmother. She empathized with the woman as she struggled to navigate and move throughout her home. Riya didn’t understand how over the years, the traditional white cane that aids in guiding the visually impaired, hadn’t been replaced by newer technology. She recognized the massive effect that technological advancements have on a society and the people living in it but did not believe changes in tech were being distributed equally in all communities. She came up with an idea to apply that to the standard white canes. Her idea was to integrate technology to the white cane by adding ultrasonic sensors that work to identify objects on the ground that may not have been detected before. This new device, the Smart Cane, is able to detect obstacles that may be in one’s path and alert the user of their location with vibrations. Another feature of the Smart Cane includes a GPS navigation system which helps the user to travel safely and efficiently. This is also made possible by the use of vibrations: One buzz to turn left, and two buzzes to turn right.

Riya’s innovative idea had proved a success. Smart Cane had initial funding from many large companies such as Microsoft, Arrow Electronics, and Inertia Engineering. She raised over $85,000 in funding. Next her attention will turn to user testing. Riya recognized the importance of input from the prospective users themselves. She met with the visually impaired community and listened to the problems they encountered with the standard white cane. She then came up with innovation solutions and developed the Smart Cane. Smart Cane’s mission, she says, is to empower the visually impaired and create for them a better, safer way of living. “Instead of [building] a company that has a valuation of a billion dollars, it’s the person that can impact a billion people,” she explains. “It’s ambitious, but that’s my goal.”

To learn more about Riya Karumanchi and Smart Cane, click here.

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Categories : Business::Entrepreneurs, Challenge, Entrepreneurship, Health, Social Impact, Technology, Women Entrepreneurs, Young Entrepreneur

Kenan Pala: Founder of Kids4Community

Posted by krummelva24

· Saturday, September 21st, 2024

· 1 Comment

Kenan Pala was only 11 years old when he founded the nonprofit organization Kids4Community in 2017. Growing up in his hometown of San Diego, Kenan was born with a servant’s heart. He loved to volunteer at soup kitchens, beach cleanups, and more. He always looked for opportunities to serve others in his community but soon found out that many places he wanted to volunteer at had age restrictions. To his surprise, many of the local nonprofits he wished to support only allowed people over the age of 18 to volunteer. Kenan’s dream to create a solution to this problem was realized when he founded an organization that not only accepted but also encouraged children of all ages to volunteer and serve in their communities. In Kenan’s words, “All our events are open to anybody of any age. If you have the passion, you can come.” Kids4Community funds programs for a variety of social issues. Two years later, it has raised more than $1 million dollars for homeless initiatives, for example, gathering and cooking meals for homeless shelters. It also strives to promote awareness of other concerns such as educational programs for kids and adults about the dangers of substance abuse. In honor of Kenan Pala and the difference he has made in his city, the mayor of San Diego named January 23, Kenan Pala Day. But Kenan’s influence didn’t stop in San Diego. The organization changed the lives of countless people by preparing more than 8,000 packs of food, beverages, soaps, shampoos and wet wipes for homeless people. They were donated to institutions for the homeless across the U.S. In 2017, he was named one of the top ten youth volunteers in the country by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Kenan Pala has made a significant difference in his hometown of San Diego and communities everywhere. Kids4Community is fostering an eagerness to serve the less fortunate in the lives of children of all ages.