Babson College Alumni Make Forbes 30 Under 30

Forefront among 30 Under 30
Listen

Among the top young entrepreneurs in the United States are Babson alumni who are leading startups Ambi, EdSights, Forefront, and Italic. That’s according to the latest 2019 30 Under 30 U.S. and Canada announcement by Forbes, featuring the next generation of business leaders.

“The young, creative, and bold minds on this year’s 30 Under 30 list are proof positive that the future will be new, exciting, and profoundly different,” is the optimistic forecast from the Forbes editors.

These former students are just the latest of the more than 31 million entrepreneurs in the United States who are motivated by opportunity, according to research by the College’s authored Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) U.S. report.

Forbes 30 Under 30 Startups

Saad El Yamani ’16 and Soham Khaitan ‘16, cofounders of Ambi, are the featured honorees in the Education section, “bringing access and opportunity to the classroom and beyond.”   According to Forbes, “Students juggle a mess of websites and apps to navigate student life: tools to track coursework, register for classes or sign up for clubs.  [Their] edtech company combines all this and more into a single product.”

EdSight’s “customers are college students, especially those at risk of dropping out,” according to Forbes. Established by entrepreneurs Carolina Recchi ’14 and her sister Claudia, EdSight’s product is a “chatbot that checks in with students on issues such as engagement, homework, grades, and personal financial issues and problems.”

Forefront, co-founded by Josuel Plasencia ’17 and Yulkendy Valdez ’17, “helps employers retain and advance the next generation of culturally competent leaders through gamified bite-size courses. Leveraging evidence-based research, Forefront educates workers on how to lead with empathy and understanding, and foster more inclusive workplaces.”

Italic, founded by entrepreneurial leader Jeremy Cai ’17, is among the businesses he established after receiving a Thiel Fellowship.  It provides “luxury goods straight from the same manufacturers as your favorite brands.”

These former students are using Babson’s one-of-a-kind Entrepreneurial Thought and Action®(ET&A) methodology that the College uses to teach undergraduates, graduates, and executives to balance action, experimentation, and creativity with a deep understanding of business fundamentals and rigorous analysis as the ideal approach to creating economic and social value.

Posted in Community, Entrepreneurial Leadership

More from Community »

Latest Stories

Farrah Narkiewicz and Rob Major sit and talk at Trim Dining Hall
The Regular Crowd Shuffles In: Lunchtime at Trim  Trim Dining Hall may be a key part of everyday life for many Babson students, but a slew of faculty and staff members also make it part of their daily routine. At lunchtime, they file into the dining hall, seeking food and camaraderie.
By
John Crawford
Senior Journalist
John Crawford
A writer for Babson Thought & Action and the Babson Magazine, John Crawford has been telling the College’s entrepreneurial story for more than 15 years. Assignments for Babson have taken him from Rwanda to El Salvador, from the sweet-smelling factory of a Pennsylvania candy maker, to the stately Atlanta headquarters of an NFL owner, to the bustling office of a New York City fashion designer. Beyond his work for Babson, he has written articles and essays for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Notre Dame Magazine, The Good Men Project, and other publications. He can be found on Twitter, @crawfordwriter, where he tweets about climate change.
September 4, 2025

Posted in Community

Babson Study Reveals the Power of Customer Kindness New Babson-funded research shows that customer kindness can boost employee satisfaction, reduce turnover, and spark a cycle of positivity in service industries.
By
Hillary Chabot
Writer
Hillary Chabot
Hillary Chabot is a writer for Babson Thought & Action and Babson Magazine. An award-winning journalist, she is known for her insightful reporting and dedication to detailed storytelling. With a career spanning over two decades, she has covered a wide range of topics, from presidential campaigns and government policy to neighborhood issues and investigative series. As a reporter for The Boston Herald, Hillary earned a reputation for tenacity and integrity. Her work at Babson College fuels her passions—to learn something new every day and conduct thoughtful, empathic interviews. She’s thrilled to be at Babson College, where students, faculty, staff members and classes provide compelling copy daily.
September 3, 2025

Posted in Community, Insights

Three photos in a side-by-side collage depict Michael Kopelman coaching, Brady Anderson in action, and the doubles team celebrating
Courting Success: How Babson Tennis Teams Transformed into National Powerhouses With championships and top-tier recruiting classes, Babson Director of Tennis Michael Kopelman has overseen the transformation of the men’s and women’s programs into national powerhouses.
By
Scott Dietz
Writer
Scott Dietz
Scott Dietz is Babson College's Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communications. Dietz is responsible for the department's internal and external communications, including branding, campus engagement, marketing, social media, sponsorships and website management. Additional duties consist of event coverage, facilitation of interview requests, media pitching, video content, writing and editing. Before Babson, Dietz spent 13-plus years at fellow NEWMAC institution Wheaton College, worked for the NFL, New England Patriots, and in the media relations department with the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. A native of South Park, PA, Dietz began his sports information career at Westminster College.
September 2, 2025

Posted in Community