Teen Innovators Launch Clever Safety Gadget in London

N. Raghuraman, Management Guru

In their first meeting with a few others to discuss the product idea, 17-year-old Eugenia took over as chief executive and 16-year-old Navya took over as chief financial officer. At the end of the meeting they realized they had the same goal – to create change and real impact in their community.

These teenagers from St Paul’s School for Girls joined together with classmates from St Paul’s School for Boys and shared concerns about their safety in London. But none of them wanted to carry alarms, as they looked ‘clinical’ and were considered embarrassing to have. Gradually these students started having confidence in their own solution to the problem. In just four months he made a business worth thousands of pounds. They sold alarms that were hidden in soft toy key rings that looked like common bag accessories.

They grew step by step, just like a company. Surveyed, made prototype, market testing and finally designed the product. Last September, they created a prototype for a competition and then refined it based on feedback from customers across different locations and markets.

Although initially they thought that this product was only for school and college going teenagers, they were surprised that a large number of adults also started buying it for themselves. This key chain, priced at £15 to £20, can be customized with optional accessories such as a torch and 3D printed initials.

Even after being chosen runner-up in the competition, he did not stop. The judges told them that it could become a successful product, so the students decided to start the startup this month. As soon as the startup was formed, they discussed with Botswana’s Ministry of Education about selling the product in nine of its schools and got the contract. Since security is a global issue, Navya is now planning to extend it to foreign countries.

In another unrelated development, Ivan Zhao, CEO of $11 billion software developer Notion, hired a 16-year-old high school student to work part-time on the company’s product features in early 2026. When the Notion team saw the student-made designs and AI-based videos on YouTube, it was selected.

The company believes that such high school students adopt AI tools more quickly and also have lower perceptions of the limitations of the technology. The most important project recently created by the young employees of Notion is a unique AI chat app. It’s a dedicated chat-first interface designed for email and calendar management, with full access to the user’s Notion context. Zhao said that a small team prepared it very quickly through AI coding agents. A ‘significant batch’ of a new product, prepared mainly by this class 10 student and yet unannounced, is to be launched this month.

Zhao said that due to advances in AI, ‘extreme experience no longer matters.’ That’s why Notion is now choosing either very young, or very experienced senior operators. This shows that entrepreneurs are now paying more attention to ‘passion’ rather than ‘competencies’.

They need people who can grow their business faster than others to capture the market. And who would be better for this than these 16 year old teenagers, who were born in the era of technology and who have seen technology developing in many forms.

The bottom line is that Entrepreneurs should visit nearby schools. Contests with big prizes should be held to find high school students who are AI-native, agile, and can come up with ‘out of the box’ ideas for their business.

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