Editor's note: This year we honored some of the brightest young minds in the Bay Area innovation sector as part of our Inno Under 25 feature. Check out all the profiles from this years honorees here.
While other teenagers were shopping at the mall, twin sisters Neeka and Leila Mashouf were attending fashion shows and hanging out at the headquarters of Bebe’s, the fashion brand founded by their uncle, Manny Mashouf. Now in their mid-20s, they’re running their own company that uses carbon capture technology to produce sustainable textiles for the fashion industry. Neeka studied materials engineering and business at UC Berkeley, and was a product manager at Lyft. But Leila was still going through medical school when they were thinking about the concept for Rubi Laboratories. After a successful test at a biohacking lab last summer where they turned carbon dioxide into cellulose, they both were all in.
Neeka Mashouf
- Age: 26 (25 at time of selection)
- Title: CEO and co-founder of Rubi Laboratories
- Residence: San Francisco
- Education: Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration and Materials Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley
Leila Mashouf
- Age: 26 (25 at time of selection)
- Title: CTO and co-founder of Rubi Laboratories
- Residence: San Francisco
- Education: MD from Harvard Medical school Doctor of Medicine, Bachelor’s Degree in computational neuroscience, entrepreneurship & management at Johns Hopkins University.
About Rubi Laboratories
- What the company does: Produces fabric from captured carbon emissions
- Funding: $4.5 million
What has that been like working together as twins, and is it different than you expected?
Leila: I think we’ve always wanted to find a way to work together. We’ve always been really close. Growing up, we started so many companies, like a jewelry company and we sold art. All of the cute little kid things. So, we’ve always worked together, and we just do things well together. I think some challenges are maybe assuming that communication just happens. Like, oh, she can read my mind. But that’s not always the case. So, definitely changing the way we communicate, in the work sense, to be ultra clear about things in a way that you would be to a colleague but maybe not with your sister.
Who is somebody who has really influenced or inspired you?
Neeka: Our family. And there’s different people who have had various impacts. But our uncle, who’s the founder of BeBe, from an early age taught us that one idea, one person … you can go for it, be bold and create something that impacts so many people and is a completely new concept. Our dad is an engineer. He taught us from a really young age the amazing beauty of science and prototyping and testing things out. Our mom, too. She’s the most resourceful person we know.
Why have you decided to become entrepreneurs?
Leila: When I’ve always thought about what I want to do with my life, it’s always been really centered around impact and what can I do as an individual to really amplify that kind of work? I thought about becoming a doctor or surgeon. That was a really wonderful way to make an impact in the world.
What was that aha moment where you said, this is a business that we want to pursue?
Neeka: It was last summer. We had been testing things on the side and prototyped our tech in the lab for the first time. That was one of the key moments where all of a sudden we were able to see, oh my gosh, we just made cellulose from CO2 using our system. Like, our technology works and is something that can impact this big problem that we’ve seen in fashion.
What are three apps on your phone that you can’t live without?
Leila: TikTok, definitely. And ThredUp, the online consignment store. I love that app. That’s probably where I get all my clothing. And messaging apps.
