Last weekend, I attended the Kairos Global Summit, held at the United Nations and the New York Stock Exchange, and had the opportunity to meet 50 incredibly cool, young startup founders. The Kairos Society was founded by 21-year-old Akur Jain, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton undergraduate program, and the son of Intelius CEO Naveen Jain. His intention was to assemble the world’s most entrepreneurial college students and encourage them, by giving them access to mentors, to start businesses that solve major world problems. At the event this weekend, approximately 300 “Kairos fellows” met with mentors from private industry, the not for profit sector, and government to discuss big issues like world hunger, access to clean water, higher education, energy consumption, empowering women globally, and expanding access to health care. Jain’s goal was to jumpstart the startup process for a new generation of entrepreneurs, who he hopes will create global companies from the get-go. The students had plenty of inspiration, because they were able to meet “50 most innovative student ventures,” presented by The Campaign for Free Enterprise, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange last Saturday. Here are just a few of the companies that knocked my socks off:
* Solben. Founded by chemical engineering student Daniel Gomez Iñiguez, Solben is a biodiesel fuel company in Monterrey, Mexico. Gomez invented a new way to produce bio-diesel and is focusing on commercializing his bio-diesel plants. Solben currently has 25 employees working on green technology ventures; Gomez was also first runner up at last year’s Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Ten College Startups That Want to Change the World | BNET
Author: Donna Fenn
