Page 31 - Entrepreneur-November 2018

Anne Wojcicki Doug Brenneke
Cofounder and CEO/ 23andMe VP of research and
Bold move/ Helping consumers development/ Belden
understand their genes—and Bold move/ Providing drug
take control of their health rehab to job candidates
nne Wojcicki wants to give ost companies turn away
A consumers affordable access M candidates who fail drug
to potentially lifesaving informa- tests. Belden’s manufacturing
tion. This March, 23andMe became plant in Richmond, Ind., welcomes
the first company to receive FDA them. Spearheaded by Doug

authorization to sell direct-to- Brenneke, Belden’s VP of R&D,
consumer cancer-testing kits with- the company’s new Pathways to
P H O T O G R A P H B Y TA N I A F E G H A L I ( Y O U S S O U F & M O H A M E D ) ; P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F 2 3 A N D M E ( W O J C I C K I ) ; P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F B E L D E N
out a prescription. The company Employment program offers reha-
also recently announced plans to bilitation therapy to any success-
study the genetics of depression ful candidate who tests positive
and bipolar disorder, and has part- for drug use and promises them
( B R E N N E K E ) ; P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F M O R G A N ' S I N S P I R AT I O N I S L A N D ( H A R T M A N ) ; P H O T O G R A P H S C O U R T E S Y O F R E L AT I V I T Y S PA C E
nered with GSK to use genetic employment after completing the
insights to develop new medi- program. “We felt a responsibility
cines. “In healthcare there is a huge to take action on an issue that was
incentive in making money off ill- affecting our community,” says
ness, and very little incentive for Brenneke. “It was impacting our
preventing illness,” Wojcicki says. [local] talent pool. We saw a need
“When people have access to their to address the shortage of work-
information, they can mitigate risk.” ers available.”

Haweya Mohamed Gordon Hartman
and Ammin Youssouf Founder/ Morgan’s
Cofounders/ Afrobytes Inspiration Island
Bold move/ Getting investors Bold move/ Building an Tim Ellis and
to pay attention to Africa amusement park for everyone
Jordan Noone
mmin Youssouf and Haweya ordon Hartman had already
Cofounders/ Relativity Space
A Mohamed believe the future Gmade a first-of-its-kind place: In
Bold move/ Sending a
growth of the tech industry is in 2006, inspired by the needs of his
3-D-printed rocket to space
Africa—but that vision isn’t shared by physically and cognitively challenged
most investors. To change perception, daughter’s struggle to make friends at im Ellis and Jordan Noone,
the duo launched Afrobytes, a series of a swimming pool, he called together a T college buddies who got their
conferences in Paris, New York, Hong group of passionate people—doctors, start at USC’s Rocket Propulsion
Kong, and other cities, which gather therapists, teachers, parents of Lab, believed they could 3-D-print
African innovators and international special- needs children—“to come up an entire rocket made of only 1,000 parts—instead of the typical
investors under one roof. “Our goal has with big ideas,” says Hartman. In 2010, 100,000. To get their venture off the ground, the pair cold-emailed
been to bridge the gap between the he opened Morgan’s Wonderland, an Mark Cuban to ask for funding. Three years later, they have raised
African tech industry and other inter- ultra- accessible theme park in San more than $45 million in three rounds of funding (all of which Cuban
national communities,” says Youssouf, Antonio for kids of all abilities. Last participated in) and recently announced a partnership with NASA, with
Afrobytes’ CEO. This year, top tech year, he came full circle, expanding plans to launch their first rocket by 2020. “Starting any company is
players like Google, Instagram, and the successful concept to a water mind-bendingly difficult,” says Ellis, Relativity Space’s CEO. “A rocket
Alibaba participated in their gatherings. park: Morgan’s Inspiration Island, with company, extra so. And then a 3-D-printed-rocket company using
“It was crucial to create a tool for peo- waterproof wheelchairs, a splash pad technology no one has ever developed before, and having to reinvent
ple of African descent to get back their for those sensitive to the cold, and processes people have relied on for 60 years in building aerospace
narrative,” says Mohamed. other inclusive features. products? It was borderline crazy.”

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