Federal prosecutors have charged the founder of an education technology startup spun out of Harvard who was recognized on a Forbes 30 Under 30 list in

An AI startup CEO on a Forbes '30 Under 30' list has been charged with defrauding investors out of $10 million

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2024-11-20 13:30:19

Federal prosecutors have charged the founder of an education technology startup spun out of Harvard who was recognized on a Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2021 with fraud.

Joanna Smith-Griffin was said by federal prosecutors in New York to have lied for years about her startup AllHere Education's revenues and contracts with school districts. The company received $10 million under false pretenses, the indictment says.

AllHere, which came out of the Harvard Innovation Lab, created an AI chatbot that was supposed to help reduce student absenteeism. It furloughed its staff earlier this year and had a major contract with the Los Angeles Unified School District, according to the education-news website The 74. The company is currently in bankruptcy proceedings.

Smith-Griffin was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for education in 2021. She is the latest in a line of young entrepreneurs spotlighted by the publication — including Sam Bankman-Fried, Charlie Javice, and Martin Shkreli — to face criminal charges.