Yahoo Finance The Child Inventors Hoping To Get Noticed
A 10-year-old inventor with an app aimed at helping disabled people was among those hoping to get noticed by investors at this year's Web Summit in Dublin.
Alex Knoll travelled from Idaho in the US to be at the influential tech event, where thousands of startups showcase their ideas to web enthusiasts, financial backers and journalists.
He came up with The Ability App after seeing a man in a wheelchair unable to open a door.
"It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) 's similar to Yelp (Xetra: Y9L.DE - news) but it's for disabled people and it helps them find disability features, services and employment," he said.
As one (Other OTC: IUSDF - news) of the youngest CEOs at the event, I asked him how people reacted to his age.
"People look at me and are like 'Oh my gosh there's a kid here - how cool!
"A lot of people believe kids have a lot more imagination (than adults). Sometimes kids can come up with better ideas."
Other young people among the mass of exhibitors at the summit included a group of teenagers behind a website called Project Zilkr.
The team of four, with an average age of 16, have developed what they describe as Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB - news) or LinkedIn for young entrepreneurs, helping others to get business mentoring and support.
Ciara Judge, one of Project Zilkr's founders, told me how tech stars like Mark Zuckerberg have inspired them.
"He was a student when he started Facebook and look at him now," she said.
Ciara and her teenage business partners said the startup world does not take young people seriously.
"High (LSE: 0O9Y.L - news) school is when you come up against a lot of barriers to innovation and starting up your own companies."
They want their project to change that.
"We have the ideas, we have the talent, we just need the opportunity, funding and resources," she said.
The Web Summit's CEO, Paddy Cosgrave, told me he's seen more young people than ever at the event this year, and that there has been an awakening among children.
"Kids now have essentially what is a supercomputer in their hands and they can use software that is incredibly exciting and plays a big part in their lives.
"That naturally gets them excited about: 'Wow, imagine if I worked for Instagram or Snapchat?'"
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