Merlin Mani, 17, runs a "mini Dragons' Den" club at her London secondary school and wants to launch a tech company. She says, "If I were Elon Musk, I'd give some of that money to charity." This week she attends a five‑day course created by angel investors Deborah Gruenberger and Isobel McDermott‑Spencer to give teens a foothold in tech. School offers little tech education, and startups are hiring fewer juniors as AI automates routine work.

The course covers building blocks, investor assessment, and lets students play investors, culminating in a pitch from healthtech startup Zonova Technologies. 35% of young people reported receiving enterprise education in secondary school, and girls even less, according to a Federation of Small Businesses poll. The program also aims to open doors for young women, a point Mani echoes, noting that female founders must work twice as hard for recognition. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham vows to add manufacturing and AI subjects to secondary curricula.

Despite fears of AI reducing jobs, Mani remains confident she will build a company on her own terms.