In Forbes’ tenth-annual 30 Under 30 list for e-commerce, Forbes highlights the retail industry’s fast-rising stars who are changing how we shop and what we buy:
As a teenager, Cami Téllez remembers feeling dismayed while combing through piles of padded bras underneath photos of Victoria’s Secret’s impossibly thin supermodels. She cofounded Parade in 2018 to offer an alternative that wasn’t so big on sex appeal: A line of fun, colorful underwear that came in inclusive sizes and started at $9. “It’s a $13 billion category in crisis,” says Téllez, 23, the youngest person to appear on this year’s list. The New York-based company has raised $8 million from traditional VC shops and celebrities like Shakira and Karlie Kloss, and is on track to generate $10 million in revenue in 2020.
The 2021 30 Under 30 Retail & E-commerce list highlights Téllez, cofounder Jack DeFuria (who left the company in November) and other superstars who are changing how we shop and what we buy.
Take Stanford grads Sophia Edelstein and Nathan Kondamuri, who started Pair Eyewear in 2017 after watching Kondamuri's younger brother struggle to pick out a pair of frames that were both boring and expensive. They introduced a line of affordable glasses, plus customizable, rotating frames that could be changed in seconds. The 26-year-olds have raised $4.5 million in funding from Norwest Venture Partners, Precursor Ventures and others, and are projecting revenue of $20 million in 2021.
Another standout: Ann McFerran, 27, who similarly turned a problem she encountered in her own life into a booming business. Since immigrating from Thailand as a kid, McFerran has used fake lashes to shore up her confidence. But glue-on lashes were difficult to apply and didn't last. After a year working through prototypes, she landed on a formula for magnetic lashes that took seconds to put on, didn't fall off and could be re-worn 40 times. Glamnetic launched in August 2019 and is already on track to do $50 million in sales this year. Its lashes will be available in 1,000 Ulta stores early next year.
McFerran is one of eight immigrants to appear on this year’s list, along with another 22 first-generation individuals. Philippines-native Mikaella Go cofounded Vessi, which makes completely waterproof shoes and is on track to do $43 million in sales this year without ever raising traditional funding. Extend cofounder Rohan Shah, whose parents came to the U.S. from India, is making it easier for brands like Peloton, iRobot and Harman to offer extended warranties online.
The pandemic has brought both challenges and opportunities for this year’s crop of young entrepreneurs. Office furniture startup Branch Furniture cofounders Sib Mahapatra, 29, and Verity Sylvester, 29, had to quickly pivot to selling furniture to consumers for their home offices when offices nationwide shuttered in March. SwagUp founder Michael Martocci, 25, started selling swag to virtual conference attendees and new employees starting their positions remotely, helping triple sales to $21 million in 2020.
Allysa Dittmar, who is legally deaf, had been working on a transparent surgical mask all the way back to 2015, when she went into surgery and wasn’t able to read the lips of her doctors. This year’s mad rush for masks has blown open ClearMasks’s target market, helping the company sell 12 million masks since April and putting it on track to generate $40 million in sales in 2020.
Read more about Forbes’ spotlight on ClearMask here.