Cornel Amariei

Cornel Amariei is a Romanian-born inventor, speaker, author, and entrepreneur, known for funding .lumen, a startup that builds glasses that empower the life of the blind. Cornel was born in a family where both of his parents have locomotive disabilities, and his sister has a mental disability. Growing up in such an environment, made him curious, but also aware of the limited means he had. Growing up, he began programming at 7 years old and started to build robots at 13. Cornel is known for funding the first high-school robotics club in Romania, and his first two companies, both profitable, together with JA, while still in high school. In his professional career, he had the Head of Innovation position at Continental Automotive Systems, overseeing the innovation culture and projects related to autonomous driving, smart sensors, and e-mobility. Now, he is leading .lumen, where they are continuously testing technologies that empower the life of the blind, with over 200 people with visual impairment. .lumen is the fastest-growing Romanian startup for its stage, having a team of 40 engineers, scientists, psychologists, business developers, and industrial designers. The first product is expected to start mass production next year. For his work, Cornel was nominated in the first Forbes 30 under 30 Europe list, is the first Romanian to ever win JCI’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World, and is incredibly proud to also be the first Romanian to be a laureate in the Global Business Hall of Fame, by JA.