TCU alumni, Fort Worth educator, Dallas Wings star all make Forbes’ 30 Under 30
The Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2026 is out, and Texans were featured prominently once again. In fact, out of 20,000 candidates, the most-chosen individuals were from Texas, California and New York.
The Forbes 30 under 30 list features young adults like Spurs rookie superstar Victor Webanyama, Grammy winner Doechii and Academy Award winner Mikey Madison, and also smaller businesses and voices in local communities. Anyone can apply, as long as they are under 29 years old by Dec. 31, 2025.
The list is determined by Forbes 30 under 30 alumni, experts and the public. Forbes looks at the company’s funding, revenue, social impact, scale, inventiveness and potential. Six hundred people, representing 20 industries, were chosen from a pool of more than 20,000 nominations.
Let’s take a look at the impact Texans had on the list.
TCU alumni make Forbes 30 under 30 once again
HNY+ founders and TCU alumni Ross Cooley, Liam Brogan and Luke Smialowicz made the list under the food and drink category. HNY+ is a healthy pre-workout gel that the founders made in their dorm room at TCU.
HNY+ is used by pro baseball players and Olympian track runners. After only a year of production, their honey pouches made it into Sunlife Organics juice bars across the U.S. and Luke’s Lockers stores (including the one in Clearfork). The product also made its way onto Amazon.
This isn’t the first time TCU alumni made Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. Last year, Realsy founders Austin Patry and Sophia Karbowski were featured for their nut butter-filled dates company.
Patry and Karbowski told the Star-Telegram that since they made the list last year, they now sell Realsy in more than 3,000 retail locations across the U.S., as well as on Amazon and the TikTok shop. Early next year, their product will hit shelves in Costcos across the Midwest and Southwest. They also plan to release a new peanut butter-and-jelly-filled date flavor next year.
Other Texans on the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list
As for Texas residents who have made the Forbes 30 under 30 list, here’s who and why.
Fort Worth
Elise Pham made the Education list. As a Harvard student, she founded the Ultimate Ivy League Guide that mentors students on applying to college. She amassed more than 1 million followers across Instagram and TikTok and is projected to finish 2025 with $2 million in revenue.
Arlington
Paige Bueckers made the Sports list. The Dallas Wings guard was WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2025 and the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft.
Austin
- Sam Abdallah made the Retail & Ecommerce list. Absallah and his co-founders created Glasspass, a social marketplace app for glass goods and smoking accessories, connecting collectors and artists. They are expected to top $4.5 million in sales this year.
- Jose Bethancourt made the Finance list. The University of Texas alumni created Method, a company used to help other businesses see how much debt a consumer has (with the consumer’s permission).
- Brennen Bliss made the Marketing & Advertising list. Bliss founded his AI-driven travel and tourism marketing business, Propellic, when he was 14 years old. Today it has evolved to manage $50M in ad spending this year.
- Marilyn Califano made the Retail & Ecommerce list. Califano is the CEO of Hempress Hygienics, which creates hemp-based period products and is sold in H-E-B, Central Market and Earth Fare stores. the company is expected to end with $1 million in revenue for 2025.
- Jake Chambers made the Retail & Ecommerce list. Chambers is the creator of Pupsentials, a brand that embroiders pet photos onto merchandise. Without outside funding, the company is expected to finish with $5 million in revenue.
- Mohand Khouider made the Food & Drink list. Khouider made Allday, a caffeine spray that is 400 times more concentrated than Red Bull. It’s now sold in more than 200 retail locations, including 7Eleven.
- Annika Kim madethe Finance list. She is a TMRS (Texas Municipal Retirement System) employee that has raised almost $1 billion across private markets since joining.
- Alexia Leclercq made the Education list. Leclercq co-founded Start:Empowerment, a youth-led nonprofit focused on climate education and environmental justice. Now, their 65 hours of curriculum is used by more than 600 teachers reaching 120,000 K-12 students.
- Alex Ojeda made the Social Media list. Ojeda is a travel influencer with more than 14 million followers across social media platforms.
- Emily Schunk made the Games list. Schunk cosplays on gamer streaming site Twitch, where she is the most-watched female streamer on the platform, generating more than $1.5 million in revenue.
- Naweed Tahmas made the Transportation & Aerospace list. Tahmas founded of Aeon, which creates AI-generated tactical missile systems, and has raised more than $18.6 million in revenue.
- Joshua Yang made the Manufacturing & Industry list. With more than $1.7 million in finding, Yang founded Brightlight, the first-ever cost and size effective chip-scale titanium:sapphire laser.
College Station
Katie Calderon made the Sports list. The Texas A&M alum started Club Girl Golf. Its flagship product, the Monarch Putter, sold out at its launch in October 2024.
Dallas
- Faraz Fadavi made the Education list. Fadavi co-founded Ascent Autism, an AI-driven platform that helps kids with autism improve social skills. More than 4,500 children use the platform.
- Mila Magnani made the Social Impact list for founding Milamend, a 14-ingredient formula designed to help women’s health by balancing their hormones, aiding PCOS and Endometriosis patients. The company is on track to make $18 million in sales after they launched in May 2024 and sold out within a minute.
Dripping Springs
Ty Myers made the Music list. Meyers, at only 18 years old, has sold out his 73-date “The Select” Tour and made Billboard’s “21 Under 21” list with his platinum single called “Ends of the Earth.”
Edinburg
Mackenzie Feldman made the Social Impact list. She launched Re:wild Your Campus, a company that helps protect toxic, cancer causing gardening chemicals from being used on college campuses. So far, it’s improved more than 5,000 acres and 600 college campuses.
Leander
Eunice Ajim made the Venture Capital list. She founded Ajim Capital and turned to venture capital where she turned the first firm’s fund into 20 early-stage startups. Now, their second fund will invest into digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence and fintech with a goal of $25 million.
Lubbock
NiJaree Canady made the Sports list. After playing two years at Stanford, Canady signed to Texas Tech for a $1 million NIL deal and became the nation’s top softball player after leading her team to the College World Series.
McKinney
Matteo Kimura made the Science list for co-founding Atum Works, a 3D microchip company which will make AI hardware faster. The company raised more than $10 million in investments.
San Antonio
- Jesse Evans and Eric Herrera made the Energy & Green Tech list. They founded Maverick, and found an enzyme that will expose embeddable materials like copper, gold, and platinum without using toxic chemicals. They raised $19 million in investments for a seed round.
- Bobby Magee made the Finance list for founding Escalera Capital, a real estate equity firm, while he was still a student at Trinity University. The firm holds $500 million in assets.
Waco
Eduardo Garcia made the Food & Drink list. He took over Waco family company, Helados La Azteca, a Mexican ice cream and popsicle company that now has multiple Texas locations and more than a million TikTok followers.