Rising Stars

Leigh-Kathryn Bonner, 25

BEE DOWNTOWN Durham, N.C.

Founded 2015 → Funding $75,000 → 2017 Revenue $350,000

Human Beeing

“It might take me twice as long to move a 60-pound beehive, but I’ll do it in high heels and a dress coming out of a meeting with the New York Stock Exchange,” boasts Leigh-Kathryn Bonner, founder of Bee Downtown, which installs honeybee hives on companies’ property. It started when she pitched her parents on the idea. They agreed to provide funding, but if she wasn’t profitable in a year, she would have to find a real job. Three years later, Bee Downtown has sold more than 100 hives to the likes of Burt’s Bees, Delta, IBM, and Chick-fil-A, as those companies and others seek to boost morale and bring employees outdoors. Bee Downtown does the beekeeping, but also suits up companies’ employees for beekeeping classes, generates environmental