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November 25, 2022

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Capitalizing on her 14-year-old self’s science enthusiasm 12 years ago, Cathy Tie, transformed herself into a successful bioinformatician and entrepreneur.

At 18, the young Canadian became the co-founder of the $1 million dollar worth Ranomics company, a health risk prediction provider. While she co-founded Locke Bio, an e-commerce platform for pharmaceutical and other FDA-approved product suppliers when she was 23.

Today, the 26-year-old sci-entrepreneur shares that having a broader view is her key to being integrative and cross-disciplined in the many fields she is engaged in, as art and creativity are easier said than done.

During an interview with CNBC, Tie mentions her ability to connect ideas and see them far differently from how others perceive, including how science can grow and expand for beginners which she thinks is more artistic and creative than technical. 

This skill, however, is uncommon among teenagers. Yet, Tie’s innate dexterity manifested in her secondary years as she reserved a special place for science and relevant practical activities in her heart ever since a kid. 

Discontented with the standard curriculum, she wrote unsolicited letters to her professors seeking to tour the school labs, perform studies, and assist in their scientific projects, which taught her a lot until she had her first paper published in a peer-reviewed journal at age 16. 

However, she realized that getting entrepreneurial financing is better than relying on academic allowances since she could do more research. She applied to entrepreneur programs to assist her in the startup world.

Upon getting acquainted with Leo Wan who was then a Ph.D. student at the school where she was a neophyte, they worked together and were admitted into IndieBio, a startup platform that finances and mentors science entrepreneurs.

With Tie having prime knowledge on how to figure out issues on genetic trial precision, she subsequently co-founded Randomics with Wan after quitting college and leaving for San Francisco where she became the CEO for the three early years.

Thereafter, she was asked to apply and was accepted to The Thiel Fellowship, which aids a $100,000 subsidy to out-of-college inexperienced entrepreneurs.

A year following her collaboration with Cervin Ventures, she founded Locke Bio, which currently has three U.S. and Canadian business resources.

Tie’s business is nonexempt to challenges that a company experiences, yet, hard work and reflection make it possible for her to always “see the bigger picture. In this light, she and her team have a lot ahead for the company.

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Slime Company Started By High School Student In His Garage Made $1.2 Million Sales After Joining “Shark Tank”

Mark Lin was only 17 when he started selling food-scented slime out of his Burbank, California garage in 2020. 

He then won over venture capitalists on an episode of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” with his zeal for pitching and the amazing yield his company was generating, where $300,000 was a net profit out of the $540,000 in sales he obtained at the time.

With the assistance of a couple of his buddies, whom he employed for packaging and shipping, Lin, a high school freshman and novice in the industry, developed the slime successfully, enabling him to make $50,000 in sales in his first year of operation.

CNBC reports that Lin’s sales increased to $580,000 the following year.

Sliimeyhoney now sells edible and food-scented slimes with flavors like banana milk, hot cocoa, and birthday cake batter for between $10 and $16 per six-ounce jar utilizing Tiktok as his marketing platform.

The company consistently achieves sold-out sales for its weekly introduction of new products to its almost one million followers.

After a thorough negotiation with Kevin O’Leary and Daymond John, Lin secured $150,000 for 20% share from the two.

This, according to Lin, will be beneficial in moving his company from his garage into a warehouse and gaining mentorship while he still pursues his studies.

John was quoted saying “I believe in you, and we’re going to make sure you go to school, and I will help you with this business.”

Lin is now a first-year college student at UCLA with his company continuously rising.

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Capitalizing On Her Advocacy For Women’s Protection, Young CEO Now Leading Safety Device Company Invisawear

Taking it from her unforgettable and scary experience involving safety and security, Rajia Abdelaziz realized the importance of women’s self-protection which made her put up Invisawear, now a leading safety device manufacturer.

Together with her best friend and now business partner Ray Hamilton, they designed a piece of wearable tech that allows the user to call for help and alert emergency contacts at a double-press.

InvisaWear is jewelry that can save lives. Although their components resemble ordinary accessories, they are actually safety devices supported by America’s top security supplier (ADT).

The devices have a secret panic button that can be set to dial 911, send a pre-programmed text message to five emergency contacts, and send a GPS location to the emergency services. They are worn on the body so they are nearly always available.

The co-owner was quoted saying “InvisaWear also partnered with ADT to provide access to video streaming, voice activation, and self-defense classes as a way of “equipping people to protect themselves,” 

Compared to a cellular phone, it is a more accessible safety device which comes in the form of a charm necklace.

Considering women’s safety as a very important issue, Abdelaziz rejected high-paying job offerings related to her electrical engineering training just to prioritize her advocacy even if she struggled with many challenges in starting it up.

Though laborious, Invisawear was able to raise millions of funds for the safety device.

Five years after its founding, the business has grown to produce more than just gold and rhodium-plated jewelry. It now makes fitness bands, hair accessories, and keychains, all of which have timeless appeal and fashionable, practical designs.

According to Abdelaziz in Forbes, several of their items are now also available in unisex versions since they discovered that safety wasn’t just important for women but also for some guys.

The business intends to grow in Europe and the Middle East and just announced a new cooperation with a Canadian security company.

Invisawear is a technical advancement that has significantly improved people’s lives.

Abdelaziz emphasized “One of the best moments of my life was the first time one of our devices saved someone’s life,” she says, “a young woman had been badly injured in a car accident and her keychain saved her life. Her dad was able to get to her and be with her while they waited for an ambulance, who knows how long it would have taken to find her otherwise.”

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Christmas is Merrier at Mall of America With 6 Diverse St. Nicholas Including the First Asian Santa

After three long years of not celebrating Christmas the ‘usual’ way, children at the Mall of America (MOA) were finally sitting again in amusement and happiness on Santa’s lap. 

What makes the experience even happier and better is to have six different Santas whom children and parents can choose from in making The Santa Experience happen.

In 2016, Larry Jefferson became the first African American Santa Claus in MOA. 

Now, Jefferson will not be alone in completing the Christmas vibe as a diverse group of Santas will be working together to do the task. Among them are two African Americans and the first-ever Asian Santa Allan Siu, named “Santa Allan” in MOA’s record.

All of them are ready to listen to the Christmas wishes from young and young-at-heart people.

With two of the Santas able to speak both Spanish and Cantonese, it adds color in telling the children if they were naughty or nice.

“To run across someone who speaks your language, there’s kind of a bond there. Not only is the language a bond but there is also some sort of psychological bond,” Allan told Fox.

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First Indonesian Vegan Cosmetic Startup Obtains $6 Million Funding From Unilever Ventures

The first and top vegan cosmetics company in Indonesia, ESQA Cosmetics, raised $6 million in a series A round led by Unilever Ventures marking the latter’s first investment in the Southeast Asian beauty market.

In the said round, East Ventures also participated, the venture arm of the global consumer goods giant.

After spending over ten years living and working in Los Angeles, Cindy Angelina and Kezia Trihatmanto created ESQA in 2016, shortly after their return to Indonesia.

The two intended to redefine luxury cosmetic products and make them more widely available and reasonably priced.

With the acquired funds, the company plans to use the money to reach more cities and markets while also extending its omni-channel distribution.

Additionally, they want to expand their product offerings, foster talent development, and amplify their marketing initiatives.

Prior to this, the company reportedly increased its sales to Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia. 

TECHINASIA mentioned that one of the company’s expansion initiatives was to sell its goods through Sociolla’s physical storefronts, another East Ventures-backed startup.

Accordingly, the business stated that despite the pandemic, it had managed to turn a profit with its 120 vegan and Halal-certified products.

Avina Sugiarto, a partner at East Ventures, stated in Deal Street Asia that by having consistent profitability, they weren’t looking for high-quality, hyperlocal, and affordable beauty products.

She continued saying “We were certain that ESQA’s innovative, natural ingredients and wide-product offerings will propel ESQA to be a leader in the beauty market in Southeast Asia.”