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In 2023, the duo joined forces in London with Ayerbe’s university friend, Bergen Merey, to launch Throxy, a company specializing in AI agents for sales teams. Now all aged 24, the trio has successfully raised nearly £5 million in two funding rounds and boasts annual sales of almost £1.2 million. They are part of a burgeoning wave of 20-somethings venturing into entrepreneurship. Data from Enterprise Nation reveals that 62% of Gen Z – individuals born between 1997 and 2012 – aspire to start their own businesses. This trend is further corroborated by data from the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans program, which shows a doubling in loans awarded to Gen Z founders over the past five years.
For the young entrepreneurs at Throxy, the journey has been both rewarding and demanding. Ramos candidly admits that a traditional nine-to-five culture is non-existent at Throxy, replaced by a "9-9-6" ethos, working from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. Ayerbe echoes this sentiment, stating, "If I had known the amount of effort and work I needed to do to take the company to this point, I would probably have never started it."
A significant advantage the Throxy founders possess, compared to previous generations, is their inherent familiarity with artificial intelligence. For Jiménez de Parga Ramos, building an AI-led business felt like a natural progression. "I was working with early models of ChatGPT on research projects before they were released to the public," he explains. "It honestly felt like magic. It felt like there was going to be something transformational here that is going to fundamentally change the way we as humans do work, for the better."
There’s a growing possibility that Ayerbe and his co-founders might one day lead a company valued at over $1 billion (£740 million), a designation known as a "unicorn." Research by investment network Antler indicates a trend towards younger entrepreneurs founding the most successful AI start-ups. An analysis of 3,512 founders of companies that achieved unicorn status revealed that the average age of an AI unicorn founder has fallen from 40 in 2020 to 29 in 2024.
However, navigating the business world in one’s twenties can present challenges, particularly when interacting with older clients and partners who may underestimate their capabilities. Rosie Skuse, now 29 and the founder and CEO of Molto Music Group, a music and entertainment agency, experienced this firsthand. In her early twenties, she was often mistaken for her boss’s assistant, having to gently break the news that she was, in fact, the owner. "Some people wouldn’t even shake my hand," she recalls. "It was really tough, and I used to struggle loads with it. It’s frustrating when people don’t assume it’s your company. Then I’d start to speak and people could see I know what I’m talking about." She found that this initial underestimation could, surprisingly, become an advantage. "Then they’d say, ‘wow, you must be so proud – but you’re so young.’ That shock factor was almost like a secret weapon, because I would catch people off guard, and they would end up actually listening."
Molto Music Group boasts high-end clients such as The Dorchester, The Savoy, Soho House, and Raffles. From its roster of over 300 musicians, the agency curates bespoke house bands for these venues, often contributing to stage and set design. They also collaborate with luxury brands like Hermès and Patek Philippe for private events. Despite launching in 2019 and facing significant disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to early client contract cancellations, business has rebounded strongly. Molto Music Group achieved its first million in revenue in 2023 and recorded £1.6 million in turnover in 2025, employing seven full-time staff. "I have no business education. It’s all been trial by fire and learning as we go," Skuse admits. "I’ve had to work a lot on my tone and delivery – and my handshake – but being young and fostering a young company can be a breath of fresh air compared with our competitors. It’s more memorable."
Experienced business founders offer valuable advice to their younger counterparts. Lee Broders, 53, who launched his first IT business at 26 after a decade in the military, has become a serial entrepreneur with seven ventures, including business mentoring and photography. Broders emphasizes that achieving the first million in revenue is not the ultimate goal; rather, it’s about scaling a business for long-term sustainability. "Speed can often hide fragile foundations," he notes. "Growing something quickly doesn’t always equal sustainability or robustness." He elaborates, "It’s great if you’re turning over a million pounds, but if it’s costing £990,000, and you’re actually making £10,000 a year, that’s very different."
Sarah Skelton, co-founder and managing director of Flourish, a recruitment firm for the sales industry, started her first business in 2024 at the age of 46. She expresses concern that founders in their twenties might miss out on crucial leadership and management skills, which are often best acquired through traditional work experience. "It’s great that in this day and age you can set up a business quite quickly," she says. "But I think you have to have lived experiences to be really strong at that leadership piece, which is the quite critical bit here." Skelton highlights the importance of a robust network, stating, "Also when you’re growing a business, leaning on people in a network is really important. But of course, if you’re super young and you’re going straight into this, where’s your network?" She contrasts her own extensive network, built over 25 years of placing candidates and engaging with businesses globally, with the challenge young entrepreneurs face. "It’s really tough when you’re that young. How do you know who to lean on and where to find those people?"
Ramos Leo
Nakalama John
George Anjay
