DUSTIN ARMER & EASON ABBOTT CO-FOUNDERS RENATA MEDICAL Dustin Armer Eason Abbott WHY: Former R&D engineers from Edwards Lifesciences in 2019 co-founded Newport Beach startup Renata, which makes a stent for congenital heart disease that expands in size as patients age and grow. Received support from executive leadership at Edwards Read More
JOHN DRACHMAN & SEAN RAWSON CO-FOUNDERS WATERFORD PROPERTY COMPANY John Drachman Sean Rawson WHY: Co-founders of six-year-old Newport Beach firm that provides housing to a demographic of workers that can ill-afford paying market-rate rents in the cities that they work in. Tenants at Waterford properties in Orange and Anaheim save anywhere from Read More
Justin Chen Li JUSTIN CHEN LI FOUNDER / CEO HELIO GENOMICS WHY: Leads cancer diagnostics firm that’s one of the better-funded medtech companies in OC. Raised more than $180M as of last June, which includes Asia operations from Helio’s sister company Laboratory for Advanced Medicine & Health Group (LAMH). Company Read More
Michael Cannavo MICHAEL CANNAVO CO-FOUNDER / CO-CEO SUPER73 INC. WHY: Co-founder and co-CEO of electric bike maker Super73, with a 70K-square-foot manufacturing facility and headquarters in Irvine. Handmade 25 e-bikes for Kickstarter campaign in 2016 and now sells thousands, ranging from $1,995 to $4,395 each, across 300 dealers in North America. Read More
Kurt Busch KURT BUSCH CO-FOUNDER / CEO SYNTIANT CORP. WHY: Co-founded, runs Irvine-based AI computing company Syntiant Corp.; a winner of Business Journal’s 2020 Innovator of the Year Award. IN THE NEWS: The company was founded in 2017. Since then, more than 100M of its chip sets and machine learning Read More
Brandon Dekker Architecture and Design Brandon Dekker has been named CannonDesign’s Executive Director of the West Region. In this firmwide role, Dekker will focus on advancing strategic growth and design impact, both across the firm and specifically in the West Region. He will support the continued success of CannonDesign’s design Read More
TIM BRITT FOUNDER / EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN SYNOPTEK WHY: Grew up in Wyoming, where he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. Earned industrial engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA degree from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. In 2001, began building Synoptek. Made 10 Read More
Emad Sarieddine Civil Engineering Emad Sarieddine, PE, is now Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Kier + Wright (K+W). Since joining in 1999, he has guided teams, strengthened culture, and driven growth. As COO, Sarieddine oversees operations, optimizes systems, ensures quality, and mentors future leaders, maintaining K+W’s high standards across all Read More
Alex Bhathal Lisa Bhathal Merage ALEX BHATHAL LISA BHATHAL MERAGE CO-FOUNDER CO-FOUNDER / MANAGING PARTNER RAJ CAPITAL RAJ CAPITAL WHY: Siblings founded Newport Beach-based RAJ Sports, a subsidiary of RAJ Capital. Parents Raj and Marta are entrepreneurs who built swimwear empire. Awarded a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) expansion franchise Read More
Nektarios Matheou Civil Engineering Nektarios Matheou, PE, steps into his new role as Principal at Kier + Wright (K+W). With nearly 15 years at the firm and two decades in the industry, he’s helped shape K+W’s collaborative culture, mentored rising talent, and guided strategic growth through his leadership, client focus, Read More
