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Talking on the Web Summit stage – at 15 & 16 years old

Published: November 11, 2025 at 3:42 pm

I don’t remember too much from my last year at school, but it definitely didn’t involve being a speaker at a global scale event filled with entrepreneurs and investors.

It also, unfortunately, didn’t involve starting a successful business in the world of technology.

Heman Bekele (15), Raya Mardani (16) and Aarav Sharma (15) all just spoke on a panel chaired by podcaster David Savage about their startups – and it was genuinely mindblowing to see not only how well they’re doing, but how well they carry themselves.

Bekele has invented a skin cancer-treating soap, Mardani a FemTech to make periods safer, and Sharma a brain-controlled exoskeleton arm to make assistive technology more accessible.

Very tough to put in to words how impressive these teenagers are – watch out.

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