Girl Power on Inc.com's 30 Under 30 Coolest Entrepreneurs List

On Monday, Inc.com published its annual list of 30 Under 30 Coolest Young Entrepreneurs and I've got to say that it's a pretty amazing group of young business owners. I've also got to say, in the interest of full disclosure, that I was the senior editor for the feature, so I'm naturally biased. What I like most about this year's list is the unprecedented number of women on it. As you may know, The Center for Women's Business Research says that women start companies at twice the rate of men. But most lists of up and coming young entrepreneurs have precious few female honorees. At Inc.com, this year was different. And I don't believe that's because we looked harder or made a bigger commitment to finding young women to put on the list. I honestly believe that we're reaching a tipping point, and that there's a significant increase in young women starting companies in a wide variety of industries. See for yourself. Inc.com's 30 Under 30 female honorees include:
FEED Projects. Lauren Bush and Ellen Gustafson make gorgeous canvas bags and donate their profits to not-for-profit organizations that feed hungry children worldwide.

Anapata. Ooshma Garg, just 22, founded this online recruiting company to connect women and minority graduates with companies searching for a diverse pool of job candidates.

Sprouter. Sarah Prevette started Sprouter, a Twitter-like community specifically for entrepreneurs, so that business owners like her would have their own place to connect and offer one another advice.

Songkick: Michelle You cofounded this online platform where fans can easily track their favorite bands' concert dates, buy tickets and share photos and reviews.

CityCraft: Callie Works-Leary started this Dallas-based fabric store and sewing lounge because she could only find the beautiful designer fabrics she loved on line. The store appeals to a new generation of young sewers.

Urban Escapes: New Yorker Maia Josebachvili needed to escape the urban jungle on weekends, so she founded her travel company to help other young professionals do the same.

Rent the Runway. Jennifer Hyman and Jenny Fleiss rent out gorgeous designer dresses for special occasions to more than 450,000 members who pay a fraction of the retail price.

Motto Agency: Ashleigh Hansberger co-founded this Myrtle Beach, SC brand strategy firm with her friend Sunny Bonnell to help companies launch, grow and reinvent their brands.

LearnVest. Alexa von Tobel was on her way to a job at Morgan Stanley when she realized there were no online personal finance resources for people her own age. Her response was to launch LearnVest.

The Second Glass. Morgan First co-founded The Second Glass with Tyler Balliet to make wine appreciation accessible and, well, palatable, to their own generation through events and a website.

Her Campus. Stephanie Kaplan, Windsor Hanger, and Annie Wang were Harvard classmates who started an online content-rich website for college women. Now, 30 more schools have micro-sites on Her Campus and more are scheduled for the fall.

Have you noticed an increase in the number of young women staring their own companies? Tell us about them!

Photo of Her Campus founders Stephanie Kaplan, Windsor Hanger, and Annie Wang courtesy of Her Campus.