South Asians on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 List

Forbes has unveiled their 30 Under 30 Asia list for 2018, and featured are some extraordinary South Asian individuals who are paving the way for future generations with their outstanding drive and talent.

Dubbed as both ‘innovators and disruptors’ by Forbes, a total of 300 young individuals have been selected across ten categories. Interestingly, India has the most nominations with 65 individuals in total, while China holds 59 spots.

Also featured are a high number of Pakistanis, where notably, young people make over 60% of the country’s population.

Vetted by a panel of expert judges, these young stars cover all sectors such as the Arts, Enterprise and Technology, Finance and Venture Capital, Healthcare and Science, Media, Marketing and Advertising, Retail and E-Commerce and Social Entrepreneurship.

Some of the names on the list will be more familiar than others. Take, for instance, Bollywood celebrity Anushka Sharma, who at the age of 29 has already achieved numerous acting milestones. Having passed 10 years in the Indian film industry, she has appeared in 15 films to date.

Aside from acting, Sharma co-owns a production company called Clean Slate Films which produced the critically-acclaimed film, NH10.

Known for taking risks in both her on-screen roles and her experimental films, Anushka also launched a clothing line called Nush which is aimed at women of all sizes and income.

Joining Anushka on the list is the Pakistani musician, Momina Mustehsan. The 26-year-old is well-known for her incredible live performances on Pakistan’s Coke Studio and her duet with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan that went viral.

Aside from her music, however, Momina is hugely passionate about social causes such as cyberbullying, women’s rights and mental health awareness. She is considered to be one of the biggest influencers amongst Pakistan’s younger generation.

In the world of sport, P.V. Sindhu is a 22-year-old badminton athlete who is nothing less than an Indian national hero, having won India’s first medal of the Rio Olympics.

As a strong promoter of women in sport, Sindhu is joined by cricketer Smriti Mandhana. The 21-year-old left-handed batter is the first female Indian cricketer to score a double hundred in a one-day game.

As well as these high profile names, Forbes also recognises those in the world of tech, science, and healthcare.

Among them include 26-year-old Rohan M Ganapathy and 23-year-old Yashas Karanam, the cofounders of Bellatrix Aerospace. The company develops products that make space travel more eco-friendly. By implementing reusable features into rocket launchers, it can cut the cost of space travel dramatically.

On the other side of the border is a 17-year-old scientist, Muhammad Shaheer Niazi. Astonishingly, the teenager is one of the first people to have ever photographed the movement of ions.

19-year-old inventor Diva Sharma also appears on the list. The Stanford University student has developed a device that can detect distress in humans and animals. Prabhdeep is one of the cofounders of StanPlus, a medical transport service that operates in eight Indian cities. With 300 ambulances, it aims to respond to a patient call within 15 minutes.

Pakistani entrepreneur Sadia Bashir is the founder of Pixel Art Games Academy which aims to offer training in video game development and recruitment opportunities.

She also hopes to reduce the gender gap in the gaming industry by creating scholarships for Pakistani women to develop an interest in the field.

In the Consumer Technology category are the ShareChat co-founders, Farid Ahsan, Bhanu Pratap Singh and Ankush Sachdeva.

ShareChat is a language-based social media platform which allows users to interact in South Asian languages such as Hindi and Punjabi. Incredibly, since starting in 2015, they have raised $23.6 million from investors such as SAIF Partners and Xiaomi.

26-year-old Bala Sarda is the founder and CEO of Vahdam Teas. The company supports domestic farmers and homegrown teas delivered straight to your doorstep and Sarda has managed to raise $2 million in funding.

Promoting social causes across India are Shriyans Bhandari and Ramesh Dhami who are single-handedly tackling the nation’s footwear shortage through recycling discarded shoes and turning them into footwear for poverty-stricken children.

They have set up 50 shoe collection centres around India and have refurbished over 100,000 shoes.

Suhani Jalota of the Myna Mahila Foundation offers support to women from slum communities.

In particular, by helping impoverished women with menstrual hygiene and employment opportunities. Jalota is only 23 years old.

Take a look at some of the South Asians featured on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 List:

The Arts

Bhumika Arora, 29 ~ Model
Anjali Batra, 28 ~ Co-founder, Food Talk India
Nishanth Chopra, 24 ~ Founder, Oshadi

Enterprise Technology

Trishneet Arora, 25 ~ Founder, TAC Security
Sadia Bashir, 29 ~ Founder, Pixel Art Games Academy
Toshendra Kumar Sharma, 28 ~ Founder, Tosh Innovations Private Limited
Ashwin Ramesh, 27 ~ CEO, Synup
SqaudRun Solutions ~ Co-founders

Finance & Venture Capital

Akim Arhipov, 23 ~ CEO, BAASIS ID
Nikhil Kapur, 29 ~ Principal, GREE Ventures
Varun Malhotra, 29 ~ Vice President, Quona Capital
Nikunj Jain, 29 and Ayush Varshney, 25 ~ Co-founders, NashVentures
Perpule ~ Co-founders
Rorian Pratyaksa, 26 ~ Co-founder, PayAccess
Arun Venkatachalam, 28 ~ Analyst, Habrok Capital Management

Industry, Manufacturing & Energy

Sibabrata Das, 29 and Manoj Meena, 29 ~ Co-founders, Atomberg Technologies
BOHECO ~ Co-founders
Nikhil Bohra, 29 ~ Founder, Krimanshi Technologies
Shailendra Dhakad, 27 and Rajesh Saitla, 28 ~ Co-founders, Carmel Organics
Rahul Gayam, 29 ~ CTO, Gayam Motor Works
Shailesh Gupta, 29 and Sumit Dinesh Ranka, 27 ~ Co-founders, Innov8
Aakriti Kumar, 29 ~ Founder, Differniture Spaces
Anu Meena, 24 ~ Founder, AgroWave
Anjal Niraula, 28 ~ Managing Director, Gham Power
Nishith Rastogi, 20 ~ Founder, Locus.sh
Ishrat Sahgal, 28 ~ Founder, Mishcat Co.
Jasveer Singh, 29 ~ Founder, QiK Rooms
Vinesh Sinha, 29 ~ Founder, FatHopes Energy
Pranav Manocha, 22 and Ashutosh Srivastava, 22 ~ Co-founders, We-Convert
Yashraj Bhardway, 18 and Yuvraj Bhardwaj, 18 ~ Co-founders, Zenith Vipers

Media, Marketing & Advertising

Gautam Raj Anand, 26 ~ Founder, Hubhopper
Riad Chikhani, 22 ~ Founder, GAMRUS Group
Shobhit Banga, 24 and Supriya Paul, 24 ~ Co-founders, Josh Talks
Shwetal Shah, 25 ~ Head of Partnerships and Outreach, Erase All Kittens
Frederick Devarampati, 25 and Sri Charan Lakkaraju, 28 ~ Co-founders, stuMagz
Anshul Tewari, 27 ~ Founder, Youth Ki Awaaz

Retail & ECommerce

Ammar Roslizar, 28 and Ammar Shahrin, 29 ~ Co-founders, ARBA Travel & Tours
Krishnan Menon, 28 and Marshall Utoyo, 28 ~ Co-founders, Fabelio
Tushar Khandelwal, 29 ~ Co-founder, Voyagin
Vidit Aatrey, 27 and Sanjeev Barnwal, 28 ~ Co-founders, Meesho
Adeel Shaffi, 30 and Adnan Shaffi, 28 ~ Co-founders, PriceOye
Bala Sarda, 26 ~ Founder, Vahdam Teas
Dhruv Sharma, 26 ~ Founder GuestHouser
Nyha Shree, 28 ~ Co-founder, jumper.ai
Sanna Vohra, 27 ~ Founder, The Wedding Brigade
Zefo ~ Co-founders
Ankiti Bose, 26 and Dhruv Kapoor, 27 ~ Co-founders, Zilingo

Consumer Technology

Swapnil Jain, 28 and Tarun Mehta, 28 ~ Co-founders, Ather Energy
Dinesh Balasingham, 29 ~ COO, The Chope Group
Rishi Gaurav Bhatnagar, 26 ~ Founder, Kaavadia
Ankit Prasad, 27 ~ Founder, Bobble Keyboard
ShareChat ~ Co-founders
Unacademy ~ Co-founders
Ravijot Chugh, 29 and Phalgun Kompalli, 29 ~ Co-founders, UpGrad
Arshan Vakil, 27 ~ Founder, Kings Learning

Entertainment & Sports

Smriti Mandhana, 21 ~ Athlete, Cricket
Momina Mustehsan, 26 ~ Musician
Anushka Sharma, 29 ~ Actress
P.V. Sindhu, 22 ~ Athlete, Badminton
Padmanabh Singh, 20 ~ Polo Captain, Indian National Polo Tea,

Healthcare & Science

Gauri Angrish, 28 ~ Founder, CAREDOSE
Rohan M Ganapathy, 26 and Yashas Karanam, 23 ~ Co-founders, Bellatrix Aerospace
Deepanjali Dalmia, 27 ~ Founder, Heyday Care
Kshitij Garg, 29 ~ Founder, Healers at Home
Dinesh Visva Gunasekaran, 25 ~ Founder, VISRE
Sirawaj Itthipuripat, 29 ~ Neuroscientist, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi
Jugal Anchalla, 26 and Abhishek Kumar, 25 ~ Co-founder JustDoc
Abrahim Ali Shah, 23 and Asad Raza, 23 ~ CTOs Neurostic
Muhammad Shaheer Niazi, 17 ~ Scientist
Priya Prakash, 26 ~ Founder, HealthSetGo
Diva Sharma, 19 ~ Inventor
Prabhdeep Singh, 30 ~ Co-founder, StanPlus Tech

Social Entrepreneurs

Kanchan Amatya, 23 ~ Founder, Sustainable Fish Farming Initiative (SFFI)
Azizjon Azimi, 20 ~ Founder, TajRupt
Binish Desai, 24 ~ Founder, Eco-Eclectic Technologies
Eco Cell Industries ~ Co-founders
Hamza Farrukh, 24 ~ Founder, Bondh-E-Shams
Shriyans Bhandari, 23 and Ramesh Dhami, 22 ~ Co-founders, Greensole
Syed Faizan Hussain, 24 ~ Founder, Perihelion Systems
Sajid Iqbal, 27 ~ Founder, Change
Suhani Jalota, 23 ~ Founder, Myna Mahila Foundation
Aayushi KC, 28 ~ Founder, Khaalisisi Management
Elaha Mahboob, 25 ~ Co-founder, Digital Citizen Fund (DCF)
Rohit Nayak, 29 ~ Cofounder, EcoAd
Anan Chowdhary, 20 and Nishant Gadihoke, 17 ~ Co-founders, Oswald Labs
Ayman Sadiq, 26 ~ CEO, 10 Minute School
Rita Sharma, 25 ~ Founder, Make Love Not Scars

Asia has long been a growing hub of innovative young minds and technological progress. And never more has South Asia been at the heart of the re-shaping of so many sectors of society.

Changing their homelands for the better, Generation Z are more keen to take huge leaps and tackle those issues that affect them the most. Together they are determinedly pushing South Asia into the modern era.

Congratulations to all those featured on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018!