Teen business CEOS Kate and Annie Madden from Summerhill 

Madden sisters listed in '20 under 20' CEOs in UK and Ireland

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Their businesses span everything from boot cleaning and fitness marketing to anti-bullying and equestrian performance supplements that are used by five royal families. The young people behind them represent the brightest entrepreneurial talent in the UK and Ireland – two of which hail from Ireland, Meath to be precise.

International payments company TransferWise searched the countries to identify the twenty youngest and most promising teen CEOs, aged 16-19, all with the ability to become international success stories.  

The sisters and business owners Kate and Annie Madden from Summerhill have been included in TransferWise’s ‘20 Under 20’ – chosen by a panel of leading entrepreneurs, investors and advisors. The winners will all receive bespoke mentoring, borderless business accounts and £1 million worth of fee-free international payments.

Kate and Annie, aged 18 and 16, are the co-founders of the multi-award-winning business FenuHealth, which provides a range of supplements to help stomach and digestion problems in horses and camels. After three years, the company has nine employees and customers in 15 countries, including five royal families. 

Phoebe Hugh, CEO and founder of Brolly, and also a judge of the competition, said: “Kate and Annie have created an extraordinary international business. These young sisters are hugely inspirational and have aggressive plans for expansion – I look forward to seeing how they progress.”

The other judges chosen to select the ’20 Under 20’ included Deliveroo CEO and co-founder, Will Shu; Secret Escapes co-founder and COO, Tom Valentine; WAH Nails founder and columnist, Sharmadean Reid; and renowned investor and entrepreneur Robin Klein.

TransferWise was created by Skype’s first employee Taavet Hinrikus and his co-founder Kristo Käärmann. The company launched in 2011 and is now one of the world’s most successful fintechs having raised $397m from investors, including Sir Richard Branson, Pay Pal co-founders Max Levchin and Peter Thiel, Andreessen Horowitz and Index Ventures. 

TransferWise co-founder and chairman, Taavet Hinrikus, said:  “There’s an astounding level of determination and creativity out there amongst young people, our 20 Under 20 proves that. But growing a business globally is a journey that needs a ton of support, and without the benefit of wide networks built from years of career experience, it can be tough for teen CEOs to find those people to lean on. We want to help the brightest teen talent with practical support on the journey to scale up - I’m really excited to be part of that.”

Impressively, Kate and Annie were also chosen amongst the top five young entrepreneurs and have gone forward to pitch to Hinrikus for up-to £10,000 of no-strings attached investment, during a trip to Estonia – one of the world’s most successful start-up nations and home to TransferWise’s largest office. 

Also in the top five 20 under 20 are:

Arminder Dhillon, Boot Buddy
17 years old, London – founded Boot Buddy to clean his muddy football boots at age 11 and is projecting 800k turnover for 2018. He is the youngest person ever to receive backing on Dragon’s Den, aged 15, from Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden and Touker Suleyman.

Will Shu, CEO and co-founder of Deliveroo, said:
“With Boot Buddy, Arminder has created something rare – a genuinely useful and clever product, which I can see doing really well.”

Rose Dyson, Pura Cosmetics
18 years old, Yorkshire – founded Pura Cosmetics producing ethical lip balms, with only £25 investment, and last year turned over £50,000.

Renowned investor and advisor Robin Klein, General Partner and co-founder of LocalGlobe, said:
“Rose lives her business and has developed an original range of products – originality in the beauty business is really important.”

Akshay Ruparelia, Doorsteps
19 years old, London – founder of online estate agent Doorsteps.co.uk, currently the 14th largest in the UK with over 2,500 properties from across the UK on the platform.

Tom Valentine, co-founder and COO of Secret Escapes, said:
“Akshay has got traction in a huge market and has built a very clear brand.”

Callum Griffiths, Clydach Farm Group
19 years old, Wales – the director of Clydach Farm Group which manufactures healthy dry pet food for dogs sold across the UK and internationally. He first created his signature poultry feed on the farm when he was just 13 years old.

Robin Klein said:
“Callum really knows his product and his market. He has built a great business at such a young age, showing originality and impressive drive.”

The competition follows a survey of millennials by YouGov for TransferWise which identified the high level of entrepreneurial talent in the UK and Ireland as well as some of the main obstacles facing budding young business people.

The survey reveals that nationally half of young people aged 16-25 are attracted to entrepreneurialism as a career (50%) and, as children, almost a third (32%) of these millennials pursued entrepreneurial activities – from selling items online to developing apps before they were 18. 

However, as people get older, practical and social pressures get in the way of success. Of the 2,008 16 to 25-year olds surveyed by YouGov, nearly a quarter (23%) cited a lack of financial support as their main barrier to entrepreneurialism.

Interestingly, confidence appears to be key. Nationally, over a third of young people surveyed (38%) cited confidence issues as the biggest barrier preventing them pushing forward with starting a business: 10% cited fear of failure, while 28% said they believed they didn’t have a good enough idea. 

At the same time, confidence (23%) was thought to be more important for success than intelligence (9%) or creativity (12%). Overall, organisation (24%) was marginally seen as the most important characteristic for successful entrepreneurs.

Yet, despite evidence of childhood entrepreneurialism and respect for this choice of career, just 13% of young people nationally would describe themselves as an entrepreneur either now or in the past.
 

The 20 Under 20 are:

 

  • Akshay Ruparelia, 19, London – the founder of online estate agent Doorsteps.co.uk, currently the 14th largest in the UK. https://doorsteps.co.uk/

     

    • Ben Towers, 19, Kent – who started his first business aged 11 is the owner of Ben Towers Ltd, a multi-million pound media company. He was recently voted one of the smartest teenagers on the planet by The Times. https://bentowers.co.uk/

       

      • Rose Dyson, 18, South Yorkshire – founded Pura Cosmetics producing ethical lip balms, with only £25 and last year turned over £50,000. http://www.puracosmetics.co.uk/

         

        • Owen Foster, 16, Dundee – owns Owen’s Angus Jams, a local Scottish jam production company that has recently won a supplier contract for Glamis Castle. https://www.facebook.com/owensangusjams/

           

          • Devon Smith, 18, London – founded Nexocharge, a network of portable charges for hire around London. He is working towards becoming the “Santander cycles of power banks”. http://www.nexocharge.co.uk/

             

            • Cameron Bradbury, 19, Wales – founded Muscle Media Marketing to help health and fitness businesses grow their customer base via social media. https://www.musclemediamarketing.com/

               

              • Harry Daymond, 19, Sussex – created Kart Kompany, offering vintage snack carts for events. He founded the brand when he was just 15 and custom built the first cart with his grandpa in their garage. http://kartkompany.co.uk/

                 

                • Kieran O’Toole, 18, Hampshire – founded Rock Clothing Social, which reinvests its profits into funding anti-bullying workshops throughout the UK. https://www.rockclothing.org/about

                   

                  • Callum Griffiths, 19, Wales – is the director of Clydach Farm Group, which manufactures healthy dry pet food for dogs. He first created his signature poultry feed on the farm when he was just 13 years old. https://www.clydachfarmgroup.co.uk/

                     

                    • Kate & Annie Madden, 18 and 16, Ireland – are the owners of FenuHealth, providing dietary supplements for horses, with customers in 15 countries including five royal families. http://www.fenuhealth.com/

                       

                      • Arminder Dhillon, 17, London – founded Boot Buddy to clean his muddy football boots, and is projecting 800k turnover for 2018. https://bootbuddy.com/

                         

                        • Ollie Forsyth, 19, London – is the founder of The Budding Entrepreneur Club, an application or invitation-only entrepreneur's community for the most ambitious, entrepreneurial individuals in the UK. https://tbeclub.com/