A new generation of AI entrepreneurs is reshaping the technology landscape, with teenagers and twenty-somethings raising millions in venture capital funding while dropping out of prestigious universities to seize the AI opportunity. Business Insider’s Young Geniuses series highlights 16 young founders who are moving fast and raising serious cash in the rapidly evolving AI industry.
Carina Hong, 24, exemplifies this trend. The Rhodes Scholar dropped out of Stanford graduate studies to found Axiom Math, an AI startup building superintelligent reasoning systems. She’s already raised $64 million in seed funding and recruited top talent from Meta’s FAIR lab, Meta’s GenAI team, and Google Brain. Hong even convinced renowned mathematician Ken Ono to leave academia and join her venture.
The youngest founder featured is Zach Yadegari, who at 18 co-founded Cal AI, an AI-powered nutrition app generating approximately $30 million annually. He started the company before beginning college at University of Miami, using proceeds from selling a video gaming app he created at 16.
Arlan Rakhmetzhanov, 18, dropped out of high school in Kazakhstan to pursue his AI coding agents startup, Nozomio, at Y Combinator, raising $6.2 million. Meanwhile, Phoebe Gates (daughter of Bill Gates) and Sophia Kianni launched Phia, an AI-powered shopping assistant that reached 600,000 users and raised $8 million in seed funding from Kleiner Perkins and celebrity investors.
Other notable young founders include Toby Brown, 16, who raised $1 million for his AI project Beem from South Park Commons; Alyx van der Vorm, 25, who secured $14 million in Series A funding for Clyx, a social app using AI to connect people in real life; and MIT freshmen dropouts who raised $2.7 million for their police tech startup.
The urgency driving these young entrepreneurs stems from a belief that the AI window has opened but may not stay open long. They’re skipping dream internships, leaving full-time roles, and abandoning traditional educational paths to capitalize on this moment. Investors are betting early and big, driven by the sense that hesitation costs more than risk in the current AI landscape.
These founders are transforming diverse sectors including healthcare, shopping, education, social networking, and software development—all powered by artificial intelligence technology.
Key Quotes
One thing I heard from some of the top researchers and mathematicians I’ve recruited to Axiom is that solving for mathematical superintelligence will be their legacy. When the problem is hard enough, talent density gets very high, and that makes you a magnet for other great thinkers.
Carina Hong, 24-year-old founder of Axiom Math, explained how she’s attracting top talent from Meta and Google to her $64 million AI startup. This quote illustrates how ambitious AI problems can draw world-class researchers away from established tech giants.
There was nobody to coach me on pitching to investors, so I just took a maniacal approach of bashing away at it until I got the right solution.
Toby Brown, 16, described his self-taught approach to raising $1 million for his AI project Beem. His comment reflects the DIY ethos and determination characterizing this generation of AI founders who are learning as they go.
I miss a lot of things about school. I had to delete my Instagram during the first week of classes so I wouldn’t get FOMO. However, I don’t regret my decision.
Christine Zhang, 19, reflected on taking a gap year from Harvard to build her AI startup after raising $1 million. Her statement captures the trade-offs young founders face between traditional education and entrepreneurial opportunities in the AI boom.
I can’t share too much about it. I hope that if done right, it will redefine how people interact with technology.
Toby Brown discussing his AI project Beem, demonstrating the ambitious vision driving these young founders. Despite his age, he’s thinking about fundamental transformations in human-technology interaction.
Our Take
This phenomenon represents more than just youthful ambition—it’s a rational response to a unique technological moment. The AI revolution is happening now, and these young founders understand that being first matters more than being credentialed. What’s particularly striking is the quality of backing they’re receiving: top-tier VCs, celebrity investors, and experienced tech executives are betting that speed and native digital fluency trump traditional experience.
However, this raises important questions about sustainability and depth. While moving fast is crucial in AI, building lasting companies requires more than just raising capital and shipping quickly. The real test will come in 3-5 years when we see which of these ventures have built defensible businesses versus those caught up in hype. The brain drain from academia is also concerning—when 16-year-olds are dropping out of high school and Rhodes Scholars are leaving Stanford, we must ask what knowledge and perspective is being sacrificed for speed. Still, their success challenges conventional wisdom about the prerequisites for innovation.
Why This Matters
This wave of young AI entrepreneurs signals a fundamental shift in how innovation happens in the technology sector. The traditional path of completing education, gaining experience, and then founding companies is being disrupted by the urgency of the AI moment. These founders recognize that first-mover advantage in AI could be decisive, and they’re willing to sacrifice conventional credentials for speed.
The massive funding rounds these young founders are securing—from $1 million to $64 million—demonstrate that investors share this sense of urgency and are willing to bet on youth and speed over experience. This represents a significant departure from traditional venture capital patterns.
For the broader AI industry, this influx of young talent and fresh perspectives could accelerate innovation across multiple sectors. These founders aren’t constrained by industry conventions or legacy thinking, potentially leading to more disruptive applications of AI technology. However, it also raises questions about sustainability, the value of formal education, and whether this gold rush mentality will produce lasting companies or a bubble. The trend reflects both the democratization of AI development and the intense competitive pressure driving the current AI race.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/young-founders-raising-millions-for-their-ai-startups-2025-12