Specials about Coolest Entrepreneurs Under 30

• They're solving big problems.
  These young entrepreneurs are going after sectors that are in desperate need of reform, such as health care and education. Zach Sims and Ryan Bubinski, co-founders of Codeacademy, and Adam Pritzker, Matthew Brimer, and Brad Hargreaves, the team behind General Assembly, are teaching the business and technology skills that are critically important in today's job market. Nathan Sigworth's Pharmasecure is working to combat counterfeit drugs in developing countries, while Aza Raskin's Massive Health app, the Eatery, creates a community that encourages healthy eating. GiveForward founder Desiree Vargas Wrigley is helping families raise money to cover the costs of medical emergencies.

• They're creating jobs--lots of them.
  While unemployment stats are consistently bleak and the jobless rate among young people a staggering 23%, the Inc. 30 Under 30 are creating jobs--and at a higher rate than ever before. This year, the Inc. 30 Under 30 employs more than 1,800 people, up 73% since last year. The median number of employees at companies on the list is 25, up 92% from last year. The biggest such job creators are serial entrepreneurs like Steve Espinosa (Appstack, a mobile website creator), and those who are well beyond start-up stage and have been in business for more than five years like Ilya Pozin (Ciplex, a web designer).

• Manufacturing is back.  
  Inc. has already noted that American manufacturing is making a comeback. The young manufacturers who rank among the Inc. 30 Under 30 this year care about where they do business, too. Take Rachel Weeks, founder of School House, which makes fashion-forward college clothing; she brought her manufacturing from Sri Lanka back to Durham, North Carolina and, in the process, found a new and meaningful brand identity. Ziver Birg of Zivelo makes kiosks in Marion, Indiana and helps keep 200 metal fabricators employed at a local factory.

• They're still young, but older than before. 
  This year, 70% of the Inc. 30 Under 30 founders are older than 27. And not one was younger than 25. It makes sense, if you think about it. GenY, a highly entrepreneurial generation, is growing up. Will the group that follows be as smitten with creating new businesses, and as comfortable taking on the risk? We hope so.

• The future's in mobile. 
  We could cull together an Inc. 30 Under 30 made up entirely of mobile app makers, but we narrowed the field of applicants to those with truly innovative products. Among them: Geoloqi, which provides location-tracking of people in potentially life-threatening situations for a U.S. Department of Defense contractor; and Heyzap, which has created one of the largest mobile gaming communities in the world.