by Jonas Clark | Aug 29, 2022
Runa was founded by two Brown University students and friends, Tyler Gage, ’08 and Dan MacCombie, ’04, after a soul-searching trip to the Amazon rainforest. Fueled with positive energy and with new-found purpose, the two returned to Ecuador a year later and built the world’s first supply chain for Guayusa and created a new way for more people to experience this unique feeling.
Runa was named one of Inc Magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing Companies in the US in 2015 and 2016. Read Tyler Gage’s profile in Forbes here.
From left: Tyler Gage and Dan MacCombie
Photo Credit: OBSERVER
by Jonas Clark | Aug 28, 2022
Founded by Scott Norton, ’08 and Mark Ramadan, ’08, Sir Kensington’s is a globally inspired, New York admired company best known for making condiments with character. With a mission to reimagine ordinary and overlooked foods with fearless integrity and charm, Sir Kensington’s has become an integral offering at the nation’s leading retailers and restaurants. The company joined Unilever in 2017 and is a certified B Corporation.
Both founders were named on Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2012 – read their Forbes profile here.
From Left: Mark Ramadan and Scott Norton.
Photo Credit: Sir Kensington
by Katie Calabro | Aug 27, 2022
Speechify is a top rated text to speech app that enables users to listen to any writing, anywhere. Speechify enables users to upload and listen to written content in a variety of formats, including books, articles, social posts, emails, and more. Speechify’s app is consistently ranked as the top text to speech app available for mobile and desktop devices, and reached over 6.5 billion monthly words listened to by users in July 2022.
Founder Cliff Weitzman ‘16 has dyslexia, and initially built Speechify to help tackle his course readings. The app now makes reading more accessible to users who are dyslexic, hard of sight, auditory learners, and more. Before Speechify, Cliff founded Brown’s Renewable Energy Engineering concentration and won startup competitions at MIT and Stanford. In 2017, he was included on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.
Photo Credit: Cliff Weitzman
by Tori Gilbert | Aug 27, 2022
Founded by Nicole Cuervo ‘16 in 2020, Springrose designs adaptive intimate apparel with the goal of improving the quality of life for women with limited mobility (eg. conditions like arthritis, shoulder injuries, MS, and stroke). Their innovative clothing technology empowers women to dress painlessly and independently.
Springrose’s journey began with an idea in 2015, was further pushed in ENGN 1010, and has since blossomed into a thriving venture, thanks to support from Brown Alumni mentors, Brad Falkof ’74 and Troy Henikoff ‘86 and successful fundraising efforts. It has raised an impressive $750K from grants and investors.
Springrose has also been a standout in various accelerator programs, including AARP Innovation Labs, Remarkable Accelerator, Zell Fellow, and 1871 LTNtech Founders. Their accolades include first place at the Kellogg Venture Challenge, third place at the Tulane Business Competition, and recognition as one of “100 Rising Latinx Founders to Watch” by Inicio Ventures.
To learn more check out their feature in AgeTech and Cerebral Palsy Foundation podcasts.
Photo Credit: Nicole Cuervo
by Jonas Clark | Aug 26, 2022
Studio is a Los Angeles-based online learning platform that, like Masterclass, lets people learn creative skills from renowned professional artists and artisans. Notable names include musicians such as Pentatonix, Charlie Puth, and H.E.R. Other creators include filmmaker Casey Neistat, music producers Kygo and Ryan Tedder, and magician David Blaine. Subscribers can share their creations with the Studio community.
The platform, originally named Monthly, was founded by Valentin Perez, ‘18, former Brown EP Co-President and founder of the Startup@Brown conference, and Max Deutsch, ‘11. Studio recently announced a $50 million Series B round funding led by San Francisco-based Human Capital and joined by investors including Forerunner Ventures, Greenoaks Capital, and Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo, as well as Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, and LinkedIn chairman Jeff Weiner. Since launching in 2019, the startup says its courses have been taken by “hundreds of thousands” of students globally, who have produced and shared “over half a million creative works” on its platform.
From Left: Max Deutsch and Valentin Perez.
Photo Credit: Valentin Perez
