5 Pakistanis feature on Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30 Asia’ list

Forbes announced its 30 under 30 Asia list for 2023 on Thursday, featuring young delegates making a difference across ten industries; entertainment and sports; finance and venture capital; enterprise technology; media, marketing & advertising; industry, manufacturing & energy; social impact; consumer technology; the arts; retail & commerce and healthcare & science.

For the final list, Forbes reporters and editors parsed through thousands of online submissions, as well as tapped industry sources and list alumni for recommendations. Candidates were evaluated by the Forbes Asia team and a panel of independent judges on a variety of factors, including funding and/or revenue, social impact, scale, inventiveness and potential.

This year, five Pakistanis across several industries made it to the list:

Shershah Hassan, Waleed Amjad Islam

(finance and venture capital)

Hassan and Islam are co-founders of Pakistan’s Shariah-compliant buy-now-pay-later startup KalPay, which aims to reach the country’s huge Muslim population.

Launched in June 2021, KalPay has been partnering with other tech companies in Pakistan, like foodpanda and other BNPL player Muawin, to extend its reach and provide financial access in a country where credit card penetration is less than 1% and almost 90% of transactions are done by cash. One backer of KalPay is Singapore-based Sabr Capital, which invests in Sharia-compliant ventures.

Anas Niaz

(social impact)

Niaz is the founder of Bioniks, a social enterprise that develops low-cost bionic arms through 3D-printed technology. The prosthetics are custom-made and equipped with sensors and software that allow the user to hold objects using robotic fingers. The devices can be updated and monitored via a cloud system.

Founded in 2016, the company can make arms for patients as young as 3 years old. While the latest bionic arms typically cost $20,000 or more, the ones from Bioniks are a tenth of the cost. The company also connects those who cannot afford the prosthetics with potential donors.

Niaz holds a Bachelor’s degree in mechatronics, robotics and automation from SZABIST Karachi.

Azam Mahmood

(media, marketing & advertising)

Screenwriter Azam Mahmood has leveraged his talent as a storyteller to bring stories of queer people of color onto major networks – something he never saw growing up in Karachi.

Mahmood is a story editor for the reboot of ‘Queer as Folk,’ as well as working with Golden Globe-winning actor Ramy Youssef on the show he created, ‘Ramy’. Mahmood says he did not initially know how to write honestly, but began telling stories that reflected his own experiences as a South Asian gay man breaking through the entertainment industry, which led him to unpack topics like male vulnerability with sensitivity and humor.

Ayesha Mubarak Ali

(the arts)

An internationally acclaimed multimedia visual tech-artist, Ali fuses traditional methods and digital technology to explore themes such as identity politics, light pollution, space applications and the future of humanity.

She is the first Pakistani artist to collaborate with NASA scientists and in July 2022 her art was sent to the International Space Station through SpaceX for Maleth II. Ali’s fusion-art practice has been featured in NFT NYC, Forbes Middle East, E27, Hello and GRAZIA.

Ali also joined the Metaverse Fashion Council Advisory Board in June 2022 and has been showcasing her work internationally including at the Karachi Biennale and Islington Mill Gallery.

Local, international artists turn Karachi into a technological canvas

Other notable leaders on the list include, Sara Wahedi, founder of Ehtesab that helps users in Afghanistan navigate gunfire, roadblocks, explosions and other security risks through its app.

Also featured is Austen Chu, co-founder of Wristcheck, an online luxury watch consignment store with the aim to provide more transparency into the shopping process for secondhand timepieces, based in Hong Kong.

Highnoon included in Forbes Asia’s ‘200 Best Under a Billion’