In the heady early days of the pandemic, Big & Mini’s big idea was first hatched: to ease the social isolation by connecting seniors (the Bigs) and teens (the Minis) for free, teleconferenced chats. Melding a philanthropic spirit with startup hustle, the founders – UT classmates Aditi Merchant and Allen Zhou and Zhou's younger brother Anthony – have expanded their nonprofit operation, garnering national headlines and innovation grants, and matching more than 1,000 young and young-at-heart new friends across 25 countries. Big-ups, y’all.
