LaunchX: Empowering Youth Entrepreneurs to Engineer Enterprises

Young people are the future, poised to play an instrumental role in shaping the world around us. Yet, many face challenges that traditional systems do not prepare them for, from rapid technological change to global crises and shifting professional landscapes. To empower them, we must offer them with ample opportunities to thrive – providing them with platforms that cultivate ambition, creativity, and resilience. LaunchX is an innovating programme blending innovation with education to allow young people to unlock their full potential and achieve their dreams. We spoke to Forest Richter, President of LaunchX, as the programme is named in the 2025 Corporate Excellence Awards.

With a fully remote team dispersed throughout the world, LaunchX offers a robust and rigorous curriculum designed to help develop budding entrepreneurs. Laurie Stach founded the organisation in 2012, starting with the first Launch Summer Programme held in 2013 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2014, MIT invited Laurie and the Launch programme to become a part of the Martin Trust Centre for MIT Entrepreneurship, running for several years with the school’s resource support.

2016 to 2018 marked the beginning of LaunchX’s growth, as Laurie and the team decided to leave the Trust Centre and branch into additional universities. This expansion allowed the programme to meet the growing demand for high school entrepreneurship education, providing opportunities for growth and development to a broader base of young people. From 2018 and beyond, LaunchX grew in locations and students alike.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck and lockdowns subsequently enforced in 2020, LaunchX moved its services online. The programme continued to grow, with record applications and student reviews despite the ongoing difficulties. This obstacle provided LaunchX with the opportunity to leverage the powerful resource of online learning and prompted the programme to continue the 2022 summer programme via its online platform.

2023 was a pivotal year for LaunchX, with the launch of the first Innovation Programme. Through this exciting new offering, students were able to partner with existing businesses and enterprises to solve real problems of the modern business landscape. That year, LaunchX offered four programmes throughout the summer – making 2023 the largest year of Launchies.

In 2024, LaunchX started AwardX – a high school entrepreneurship competition focused on company viability. AwardX challenges student teams to validate their ideas in the real market, requiring them to create minimum viable products, generate actual sales, and prove that their startup concepts are not only imaginative, but executable. The launch of AwardX reflected the programme’s powerful mission of building real entrepreneurs.

Finally, 2025 saw the beginning of the Online BootCamp, a programme designed to provide students with the foundational knowledge they need to thrive in the world of startups. Today, LaunchX continues to innovate and expand its programmes, always striving to offer rigorous – yet practical – programmes to enhance and empower young talent from across the globe.

“We believe in the incredible potential of youth entrepreneurs around the world,” stated Forest. “Where some would ask high school students to make a business plan, we ask students to start a revenue-generating business in less than five weeks. Or where businesses might give students a simulation, our Innovation Students consult on a genuine business problem with a real world company. We believe youth entrepreneurs should pursue their passion to make a positive change in their community, city, and corner of the world.”

This is precisely what enables LaunchX to stand out from its peers; the programme goes beyond theory, expecting students to act as real consultants and launch real revenue-generating startups during the programmes. The team has been developing and calibrating this fiercely independent curriculum for more than a decade, dedicated to providing the best learning experience for the Launchie students.

Ultimately, LaunchX expects its students to, after learning the foundational knowledge, put it into practice by going and doing. Launchies in the Innovation Programme are expected to provide a real solution to the partner business within three weeks; youth entrepreneurs in the flagship Entrepreneurship Programme are expected to startup a real business and generate a minimum of $250 in revenue within four to five weeks.

“We provide support throughout the programme through courses, simulations, mentorship, and more,” added Forest, “but we expect our high-calibre students to take initiative and meet their goals.”

Of course, the LaunchX team practices what it preaches. The organisation is continually pursuing internal innovation, both to create a better experience for its students and to understand the landscape of entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. Team members are invited and encouraged to seek new solutions, start new initiatives, and improve any aspect of the student experience. While LaunchX has been providing quality programming since 2012, the organisation still views itself as a nimble startup with the capacity to disrupt and innovate in incredible ways.

This culture has been baked into the day-to-day experience of its team members. No one person is seen as more important than the rest, and no aspect of the programme is off limits for exploration. LaunchX works hard to ensure that the team feel comfortable to pinpoint areas of improvement, working collaboratively to solve problems as they arise.

There is a significant demand for LaunchX around the world. Over the last year, one of the organisation’s biggest challenges has been understanding the market and where it makes the most sense to expand. With so much opportunity to empower youth entrepreneurs worldwide, the team want to ensure that LaunchX uses its finite resources in a way that maintains the rigor and incredible experiences that have come to be associated with the programme.

“We often approach problems like these by looking for small experiments that we can do,” Forest told us. “We are a very data-focused company, and we are constantly looking for low-risk ways of testing new programmes and areas – and quickly learning from those findings. This may mean launching a new programme, expanding into a new geographic area, or talking with government officials about bringing LaunchX into the public education system. All of these initiatives have potential to empower more youth entrepreneurs.”

This year, LaunchX implemented this strategy with the introduction of LaunchX Online BootCamp. This two-week programme serves as a pre-programme for the flagship Entrepreneurship Programme. In the first cohort alone, LaunchX saw more than 200 students – a shining glimpse into future success.

Of the 2025 BootCamp, Alum Yeskendir Aidarbekuly said: “I am truly grateful for the experience – it has been a valuable journey that has inspired me to think more boldly and build with greater purpose.”

In addition to this, the organisation has also launched its youth entrepreneurship competition, AwardX. The team has run three distinct competitions to date, with more on the way. For LaunchX, this has been an incredible opportunity to reward youth entrepreneurs for their passion and skills as they pitch unique ideas and businesses. Melvin Gatete, a participant in AwardX East Africa, commented: “I like how it supports everyone, no matter what stage their business is at.” 

What’s more, LaunchX has also introduced the beyondX Youth Conference. This is a worldwide conference for youth entrepreneurs that will take place in San Francisco this year. The conference will serve as a chance for youth entrepreneurs to find their community, allowing them to connect with like-minded peers while experiencing personal development.

Each of these empowering programmes have not only educated emerging entrepreneurs but have also allowed the LaunchX team to work closely with the young minds of tomorrow, teaching the team invaluable lessons that can only be learned from the next generation of talent. Drawing upon these experiences is an essential element of expanding and enhancing the LaunchX programmes, and a habit that the entire team prioritise across operations.

To those looking to establish themselves within this inspirational industry, Forest shared the following advice: “Never underestimate youth. There are such capable students around the world, ready to take on challenges. Focus on providing those students with the best experience possible so that they can continue to grow and develop their skills. Because you are working with youth, never stop innovating. Look at the current landscape of youth entrepreneurship and work to adapt, so that you can provide relevant experiences for the next generation of youth entrepreneurs.”

Looking to the future, LaunchX aims to maintain its status as a global company and continue to empower more youth entrepreneurs around the world. The organisation is seeing an ongoing influx of international students and is honoured to serve individuals from such a diverse set of backgrounds to help empower and educate them, wherever they live. LaunchX will be exploring the addition of more programmes, in both public forums and private institutions.

Driven by the goal of becoming a name synonymous with global youth entrepreneurship, LaunchX is an outstanding organisation wholly deserving of being named the Best Youth Entrepreneurship Programme 2025.

Contact Details

Contact: Forest Richter

Company: LaunchX

Web Address: www.launchx.com