The Business Journal recognized five local pioneers at the publication’s 10th annual Innovator of the Year Awards, including a young entrepreneur who created a wearable device to relieve chronic pain.
“I was lucky enough that the device I created for my sister has an impact on many more people,” said honoree Kamran Ansari, who co-founded FluxWear as a teen in 2020.
This year’s event took place Sept. 12 at the Irvine Marriot hotel where keynote speaker Robert Brunswick, co-founder and chairman of Buchanan Street Partners for 25 years, shared with the audience various definitions of what an innovator is and how he’s come to know the term in his own career.
“You need to be willing [to] constructively disrupt and to embrace change,” he said. “No doubt today we’ll have the opportunity to hear from our five winners with their own description and experience.”
Brunswick was recognized at last year’s awards for his philanthropic work at Hoag Innovators, a pitch competition and investment platform for doctors.
The speaker also highlighted the work of the late Augie Nieto, calling the founder of Life Fitness a “consummate innovator.”
“Innovation isn’t just about big ideas. It’s about having the courage to act on them,” Brunswick said. “It’s about turning those ‘what ifs’ into ‘why nots.’”
Over the last 10 years, the Business Journal has honored 50 local innovators from the Orange County business community at its annual Innovator awards.
Winners
Out of the 60 individuals nominated, the event’s five honorees were:
• Arun Gupta, executive chairman of Newport Beach’s Big Health, a provider of digital treatments for mental health conditions.
• Kamran Ansari, co-founder and chief executive of FluxWear, which creates a non-invasive neuromodulation device designed as a wearable cap.
• Danny Mendoza, founder and CEO of Brea-based Foster Love, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing foster youth’s critical needs.
• Cheri Tree, founder and chief executive of San Clemente-based tech firm Codebreaker Technologies.
• Raymond Cohen, CEO of medical device maker Axonics Inc. headquartered in Irvine.
The five winners will be profiled in the Sept. 23 print edition of the Business Journal.
What’s Next
The Business Journal’s next event will be the 30th annual Women in Business Awards on Oct. 30.
Brieane Olson, chief executive of Anaheim-based retailer PacSun, will be this year’s keynote speaker.
The final event of 2024 will be the General Counsel Awards on Nov. 14 and will have Erwin Chemerinsky, the current dean of University of California, Berkeley’s School of Law, return as the main speaker.
