Dec 7, 2021

GUERIN BLASK FOR FORBES As the economy reopens, these Listers are soothing childcare headaches, making mortgages manageable, digitally connecting neighbors, and finding healthcare for your growing pandemic pooch. D uring the dark, early days of Covid lockdowns, millions of Americans got a pandemic pet to help cope with loneliness and stress. The furry friends brought relief—and pricey medical bills. Andrew Malek, 27, and Marc Atiyeh, 29, founded Pawp to deliver the new telehealth trend to your furry friend. For $19 a month, Pawp gives your pooch unlimited video calls with a vet who can help with illness, behavior issues, and nutrition—plus $3,000 worth of coverage for more intense treatments. Malek and Atiyeh, who met in high school in Lebanon before starting their digital kitty clinic, have raised $16 million from Lux Capital, DCM, and Digitalis. Pawp is one of thirty companies on the 2022 Forbes Under 30 Consumer Tech List led by daring young leaders set to improve how we eat, travel, invest, and care for each other in a recovering world. To make this year’s list, writers  Will Yakowicz ,  Nina Wolpow  and I plowed through thousands of top-notch nominations. We then turned the finalists over to our expert, independent judges Will Ahmed (founder of Whoop ),  Peter Boyce II   (founder of  Stellation Capital ) and  Lydia Jett  (partner at the  Softbank Vision Fund ), who selected the Listers. The result: a new class of talented innovators driving influential change in our ever-changing world. (Check out the complete 2022 Forbes Under 30 List here ). During the pandemic, Helen Mayer, 25, lost childcare for her twins. She started Otter, a platform that matches families who need childcare with stay-at-home parents who can watch their kids. Since launching, Otter has raised $27.8 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Abstract Ventures, Sequoia and Thrive Capital. To date it’s connected 7,000 families with 3,500 caretakers. Other Listers are helping us connect with our neighbors. As the pandemic squeezed everyone’s social orbit , Nikolas Georgantas, 28, and Selin Sonmez, 27, started hyperlocal social network OneRoof. The duo raised $1.35 million from General Catalyst, Kleiner Perkins, and 122 West Ventures to build an app to connect neighbors within apartment complexes to give your building more of a communal feel—and make the elevator rides less awkward. And to help pay off your pricy pad, Andrew Wang (pictured above) launched Valon to take the mortgage nightmare out of the American Dream. Wang, 29, and cofounders Jon Hsu and Eric Chiang created Valon to give clunky mortgage servicing software a modern, mobile feel. Valon automates payments, gives a clear view of one’s balance and educates borrowers about loans and taxes and insurance. Earlier this year, the trio raised a $50 million series A round from Andreessen Horowitz, the family office of WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann, and others. Some Under 30 Listers, meanwhile are going after property in the metaverse. Brothers Max and Zach Bruch aim to build the Amazon of NFTs. They are creating a marketplace for people to buy, sell and trade NFTs licensed from established brands, sports teams, movie characters, cartoons and other much-loved, old-line media content. Think crypto-collectibles. Max, 24, and Zach, 28, recently partnered with ViacomCBS. In September, the pair raised a massive $50 million round led by hedge fund billionaire Stevie Cohen, which valued the marketplace at $333 billion—bringing real cash to the virtual game. 30 UNDER 30 RELATED ARTICLES