Seven Bangladeshis have been named in Forbes’ “30 under 30” Class of Asia 2023.
Forbes today released its eighth annual "30 Under 30 Asia" list, which includes 300 young entrepreneurs, leaders, and trailblazers under the age of 30 from across the Asia-Pacific region who are effecting positive change and driving innovation in the face of global economic uncertainty and a challenging environment.
The Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Class of 2023 includes 30 notable honorees chosen from the following ten categories: The Arts (Art & Style, Food & Drink); Entertainment & Sports; Finance & Venture Capital; Media, Marketing & Advertising; Retail & Ecommerce; Enterprise Technology; Industry, Manufacturing & Energy; Healthcare & Science; Social Impact and Consumer Technology.
Read more: Forbes features Hasina at 43 on its most powerful women list
These are the Bangladeshis who made it to Forbes’ 30 under 30 Class of Asia
Anowar Sayef, Saraban Tahura (Cofounders, Turtle Venture)
Category: Social Impact
Tahura and Sayef cofounded Turtle Venture, Bangladesh's first venture studio dedicated to assisting and encouraging indigenous businesses. It has worked with 90 entrepreneurs since 2018, assisting them in raising over $15 million in initial finance.
Turtle Venture, in addition to conducting accelerator programs for women in technology, offers a program called "Young Turtle" that encourages entrepreneurship among university students.
Aziz Arman (Founder, Jatri)
Category: Consumer Technology
Arman cofounded Jatri to use technology to assist in solving Bangladesh's chaotic transportation situation. Last year, the Dhaka Bus Owners' Association decided to utilize the startup e-ticketing system for the capital city's 5,650 public buses, a move that is supposed to ensure equitable pricing for users.
Jatri also provides chartered and rental automobile services. In 2021, the firm received a $1.2 million pre-seed series A investment round from investors such as Reflect Ventures, Brain-Too-Free Ventures, and SBK Tech Venture, bringing its total funding to $5.25 million.
Read more: Bangladeshis dominate Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2021 list
Rubaiyat Farhan and Tasfia Tasbin (Cofounders, Markopolo.ai)
Category: Media, Marketing & Advertising
Markopolo.ai provides digital marketing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, allowing them to write ad material rapidly and seamlessly cross-post on social media. The company's subscription-based program predicts ad success and peak posting circumstances using machine-learning models that identify trends.
It also offers a large consumer dataset to assist businesses in automating and optimizing social media marketing, creating content, and reaching out to responsive audiences. In 2022, the company secured $700,000 in a pre-Series A investment led by Singapore VC firm Accelerating Asia.
Diptha Saha (Cofounder, Agroshift Technologies)
Category: Consumer Technology
Saha is the cofounder and chief operating officer of this agricultural supply chain platform, which was founded in 2022. Agroshift enables companies to source directly from farmers, lowering consumer prices and assisting farmers in obtaining a fair price.
The agritech firm won H&M's STITCH for RMG Global Innovation Challenge last year, which aims to enhance the lifestyles of women in the garment industry. It secured $1.8 million in a pre-seed round led by Shorooq Partners and Anchorless Bangladesh in October, reportedly the country's largest such financing to date.
Read more: 3 Bangladeshi companies on Forbes list
Jahnnobi Rahman (Cofounder, Relaxy)
Category: Social Impact
Jahnnobi Rahman, a recent computer science graduate, cofounded Relaxy to give an accessible digital solution to an increasing number of young Bangladeshis suffering with mental health difficulties. Relaxy provides free services such as mood checks and meditations, but it makes money by providing virtual therapy sessions on-demand at a low cost.
To accommodate customers' schedules and demands, the firm intends to launch subscription services on its app. Its app was just selected second runner-up in Huawei's ICT Incubator 2022 in Bangladesh, and it has over 15,000 users.