Twelve Filipinos landed on this year’s Forbes “30 Under 30 Asia” list.
The annual list honors the people in Asia under 30 years old who made the greatest impact in the region across different categories
For its seventh edition this year, Forbes recognized the individuals who managed to inspire change despite the numerous challenges brought in by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“From innovative ways of delivering e-commerce and online learning services to venturing into the Web3 space—their forward-thinking vision shows determination and optimism. They are redefining the future of business and society in Asia,” Rana Wehbe Watson said on the report.
Forbes’ 2022 honorees in Asia were chosen among over 4,000 nominees, a record-breaking number in the region.
The final 300 entries were then selected and vetted by Forbes’ reporters, and a “group of respected judges, including some of the most active venture capitalists and successful business leaders in the region.”
Twenty-two countries in Asia were also represented in the list. These include India (61), followed by Singapore (34), Japan (33), Australia (32), Indonesia (30) and China (28).
The full list can be accessed here.
Filipinos on the list
Forbes recognized several Filipino entrepreneurs and innovators across several categories.
Of these, six of them were alumni of the Ateneo de Manila University. The university congratulated them on social media on May 31.
These alumni were named to Forbes 30 under 30 Asia List 2022. AMDG!💙https://t.co/wdawxohR31 pic.twitter.com/tteCfXsIxP
— Ateneo de Manila Loyola Schools (@AteneoLS) May 30, 2022
Billie Dumaliang, a graduate of BS Management at AdMU, co-founded the popular Masungi Georeserve sanctuary in Rizal with her older sister Ann in 2015.
The wildlife sanctuary is a geotourism project that spans over 2,700 hectares in the province.
More than 68,000 trees have been planted at the site so far.
The conservation park has been cited in several awards—the 2021 Water Changemakers Award and a special commendation in the 2018 UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
It is also currently being funded by sustainable tourism.
Shawntel Nicole Martinez Nieto, helped launch a charity program called the “One Cainta Food Program” that provided over 1.1 million food hampers to about 400,000 people in Luzon since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Forbes also stated that Nieto co-founded the Society of Sustainability Practitioners, a group of sustainable practitioners, and is behind the Modular Education X, an education platform on social media, and the SustainaRumble Podcasts.
Nieto also received the Diana Award in 2021 and one of the 25 Dalai Lama Fellows in 2018.
Justin Banusing, Kevin Hoang and Ariane Lim founded an e-sports startup in the country called AcadArena in 2019.
This startup helped “student gamers in Southeast Asia to compete in international e-sports tournaments.”
AcadArena had since partnered with over 600,000 schools that supported some 100,000 students in launching gaming clubs and communities.
It had also raised a staggering $3.5 million (P18,3470,000.00) in seed funding.
Jeth Lorenz Ang, Renz Carlo Chong and Nicolo Alfonso Odulio co-founded BreederDAO, a startup that specializes in “breeding and crafting NFT characters and game items” for play-to-earn games such as “Axie Infinity, Sipher, Cyball and Crabada.”
BreederDAO “charges players or game guilds to create the desired traits for the playable NFT to win the game.”
“In January, just two months after its launch, the Philippines-based startup raised $10 million in series A funding through a token sale co-led by Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z and Delphi Digital,” Forbes said.
Industry, manufacturing and energy
Kevin Zhang founded the tech-driven logistics startup Inteluck eight years ago.
It had since expanded across Southeast Asia. Interluck entered Thailand in 2021 and would soon launch in Vietnam and Indonesia in 2023.
Interluck’s clients include Asia Brewery, Coca-Cola and Nestle.
Earvin Ang and Jesse Manalansan, co-founded a real-estate solutions company called Aqwire.
Aqwire helps “real estate developers in the Philippines access foreign investors, including millions of Filipinos working overseas.”
Its clients include big names in the industry such as Ayala Land, Megaworld and Vista Land.
Victor Lim founded Kraver’s Kitchen, a multi-brand cloud kitchen network in 2020.
Kraver’s Kitchen has since served popular brands such as the Foodee Group and Pizza Hut. It also serves other several private restaurants.
Last March, it launched Kra-Verse, a “meta delivery and dining experience.” Then, later, in July, it partnered with Grab Philippines to launch Grab Kitchen for online restaurants.
“The startup raised $3 million (P157,260,000) in a Series A led by Quest Ventures, following a seed round of $1.4 million (P73 million),” Forbes said.