Taylor Rosenthal is a budding Bill Gates. The 14-year-old's start-up company is so hot, he's already turned down a $44 million takeover offer.
The high-school student from Alabama is the creator of RecMed, a vending machine that dispenses first aid products.
Taylor Rosenthal is a budding Bill Gates. The 14-year-old's start-up company is so hot, he's already turned down a $44 million takeover offer.
The high-school student from Alabama is the creator of RecMed, a vending machine that dispenses first aid products.
The company, which he launched in 2014, started asa year eight project when the straight-A student was taking part in a Young Entrepreneurs Academy class.
"We had to come up with a business idea," he told CNN.
"Every time I'd travel for a baseball tournament in Alabama, I'd notice that kids would get hurt and parents couldn't find a band-aid. I wanted to solve that."
Taylor Rosenthal - the creator of RecMed, a vending machine that dispenses first aid products. Photo / Supplied
Taylor explains that he initially got the idea for a "pop-up" medical shop from his parents, both of whom work in medicine, but that idea wasn't cost-effective.
"We noticed that it would cost too much to pay people minimum wage to sit at tournaments for six hours," he said.
Customers can either purchase pre-packaged first-aid kits for between $US5.99 (NZ$8.70) and $US15.95 (NZ$24.8), or individual supplies like bandaids, rubber gloves and hydrocortisone wipes, ranging from $US6 (NZ$8.7) to $US20 (NZ$29).
The company will make money from selling the units for $US5500 ($8000) each, restocking supplies, and may consider putting advertising on the machines.
After applying for and receiving a patent, he began receiving business offers. He has raised $US100,000 ($146,000) in angel investment and has already rejected a $US30 million (NZ$44 million) takeover offer.
He now has a pending order for RecMed's first 100 units for the Six Flags amusement park, and Taylor hopes to sell them for use in other "high-traffic areas for kids" like beaches and stadiums.
This week, he's exhibiting his idea at the TechCrunch Disrupt week in New York.