- February 03, 2023
- By Maryland Today Staff
A discoverer of international pop stars, an innovator using AI to keep patients from overpaying, a next-gen publishing platform pioneer and a software engineer enhancing the gaming experience are representing the University of Maryland on this year’s Forbes’ 30 Under 30 lists, the annual who’s who of North America’s up-and-coming entrepreneurs, entertainers, athletes, scientists and activists.
The lists comprise 20 categories, including finance, art and style, health care and social impact. They join the nearly 20 Terps showcased on these lists in the past five years. Get to know the four graduates who caught the eye of Forbes’ editors and reporters this year.
TJ Ademiluyi ’17 (finance), co-founder of Alaffia Health, made the magazine’s health care list. The company, which Ademiluyi started with older sister Adun Akanni, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to protect patients from erroneous medical bills. Alaffia Health has more than 300,000 users and $6.6 million in funding, according to Forbes, and reports that it will save its clients $15 million by the end of 2023.
The company uses AI to analyze hospital bills, looking for errors in billing or the use of incorrect or generic diagnostic codes. “We determined that the majority of the waste in the system results from natural human error, lack of transparency in claims processing, and misaligned incentives between health care providers and payers,” Ademiluyi told TechCrunch. “We founded Alaffia to tackle these issues using nascent machine learning and AI, built on top of deep health care domain expertise.”
Tyler Denk ’16 (mechanical engineering) is cofounder of multi-functional newsletter platform Beehiiv, and landed on Forbes’ media list. Beehiiv, founded in 2021, allows users to send customized newsletters and counts The Boston Globe among its clients. Denk and his co-founders have raised over $4 million in funding at a $20 million valuation.
Denk’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs? “Start with something you have a true competency in,” he told venture capital firm Social Leverage. “I’ve attempted several side projects in industries and disciplines that were flashy and popular, but I had no business being there. Being able to really command the space you occupy due to experience or reputation really helps legitimize your business and have others … believe in you.”
Sarah Lorentzen ’18 (communication) is senior director of international A&R at RCA Records and made the magazine’s music list. Raised in both the U.S. and Nigeria, Lorentzen has been a major advocate for African music and was instrumental in signing Nigerian star Tems to the label. Since then, Tems has scored a No. 1 hit on Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats chart with “Free Mind,” and had a two-time platinum smash with her single, “Essence,” recorded with Wizkid and Justin Bieber.
Daniel Luu ’16 (bioengineering) is the founder of Akrew, a company that creates marketplaces where gamers can connect and trade in-game necessities. He was named to Forbes’ games list. Akrew’s products, Nookazon and Traderie, went viral during the pandemic and allow Animal Crossing players to make trades. More than 20 million gamers have used the platforms. Now, Akrew has similar marketplaces for Diablo 2, Pokemon and various Roblox titles.