Meet the Australian entrepreneurs who made the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Asia
A number of young Australians have made the recent Forbes 30 Under 30 list for their outstanding entrepreneurial skills.
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The Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2021 presents 600 of the brightest young entrepreneurs, leaders, and stars from around the world and we were proud to see how many young Aussies made the cut. Here are some of them:
Danzal Baker (Baker Boy), 24
Awarded the Order of Australia, the indigenous rapper known as Baker Boy, from Victoria, has been recognised for his contributions to Australia’s performing arts, including rapping in his native language Yolngu Matha. Baker also won Young Australian of the Year at 2019’s National indigenous Music Awards, and last year was named Artist of the Year.
Emmanuel Barbas, 25 and James Hachem, 24
Barbas and Hachem co-founded Melbourne-based beauty brand Alya Skin in 2018 featuring the signature pink clay mask, made from red and white kaolin clays. The top seller helped Alya Skin generate $3.5 million in sales in its first year in business.
Jamie Cerexhe, 28
Co-founder and engineering head of Mastt, the Sydney-based start-up that helps government construction projects finish on time and within budget, founded in 2018. This is done through an innovative use of software that tracks all aspects of construction projects. Mastt joined Microsoft’s ScaleUp program and won the start-up pitch competition at the Oracle Construction Technology Summit.
Genevieve Day, 29
The founder of the influencer talent agency Day Management, a Melbourne-based start-up that represents some of the country’s leading social media personalities including fashionista Kristy Wu and model Jessica Vander Leahy. Day was a finalist at the Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards in 2019.
Victoria Devine, 29
Devine is founder of Melbourne-based financial advisory start-up Zella, a personal finance site for millennial women, and was named one of the 50 most influential financial advisers in Australia last year.
Eleni Glouftsis, 28
In 2017 Glouftsis became the first woman to umpire an Australian Football League match in Victoria. Since then, she has officiated 40 games and in January received the Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to the sport.
Alexandra Grigg, 29
A senior portfolio analyst with South Australian Venture Capital Fund, Grigg was named Young Leader of the Year at the Women in Finance Awards 2020, which was hosted by Australian media company Momentum Media.
Priscilla Hajiantoni, 27
Melbourne-based skincare brand Bangn Body started with natural firming lotion gaining fans through social media before branching into other products and generating an estimated $8 million in its first two years of business.
Hunter Johnson, 29
Johnson from Victoria, started The Man Cave in 2014 to fight the issue of toxic masculinity in Australia, where one in three women experience physical violence from men, according to government statistics. Johnson’s work with the awareness platform led him to be a finalist for the 2020 Victoria Young Australian of the Year.
Skye Kinder, 29
Kinder became an advocate for healthcare patients in rural areas of Australia after watching her father struggle to travel to Melbourne from Central Victoria for specialist treatments. She was appointed vice president of Rural Doctors Association of Victoria, and was awarded 2019 Victorian Young Australian of the Year.
Natalie Khoei, 26 and Shadi Kord, 27
Khoei and Kord from Sydney, became firm friends over their love for fashion and co-founded Meshki as a small e-commerce business to sell accessories that reflected their taste. They expanded into a full fashion brand and now have over 750,000 customers, most from Instagram.
Nicole Liu, 26
Kin Fertility is a Sydney-based start-up with an online contraception subscription service, where users fill out a questionnaire, consult with doctors and can have their contraceptive pills delivered to them. Liu raised $800,000 in funding from investment firm Blackbird Ventures last year.
Caleb Marshall, 29
Caleb Marshall wanted to maximise his health through diet and started Tropeaka with his housemate Blake Mackenzie in 2016. The Sydney-based health food and nutrition company makes and sells protein, superfood, energy bars and herbal tea and promotes the food via Instagram.
Keita Matsumoto, 28
Matsumoto, from Victoria, serves on the Board of Directors of Kindred Spirits Foundation, investing in education and workforce development across Australia. He was a Gurukul Scholar studying under His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama and was recognised in the 2018 Australian Education Awards.
Sanjana Nagesh, 24
Nagesh, who is Indian and is based in Sydney, wanted to positively reinforce South Asian women in the mainstream media. She started the Instagram page BrownGirlGang in 2017 showcasing their successes and celebrating South Asian culture. BrownGirlGang has more than 120,000 followers, including celebrities like US actor/writer/producer Mindy Kaling.
Grace Partridge, 28
Partridge, from NSW, started Australian not for profit Antidote in 2015 and helps to promote social justice causes through culture and the arts, often at iconic venues such as the Sydney Opera House.
Harry Sanders, 23
Sanders founded search engine optimisation company StudioHawk in Melbourne when he was just 17 years old. He now earns $3 million in revenues from more than 300 clients including fitness apparel brand New Balance and Germany’s Bauer Media Group.
Shannon Speight, 29
The former veterinarian co-founded agritech start-up Black Box in 2019 and has travelled 60,000km across Australia and collected data from more than 700,000 animals to help cattle farmers track and analyse livestock to boost productivity.
Jade Spooner, 28 and Amal Wakim, 27
Best friends Spooner and Wakim started their Sydney-based nutritional business after they lost 50kg between them by following a certain eating plan. Their start-up Equalution ranked No. 14 out of 50 companies for revenue growth over three years on Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Australia list last year.
Iain Stewart, 29 and Tim Stewart, 29
Identical twin brothers Iain and Tim Stewart co-founded Exergenics in 2019, a Melbourne-based start-up that develops software to help improve commercial airconditioning to ensure maximum energy efficiency.
Exergenics Co-Founders Iain and Tim Stewart have been named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for 2021! The list recognizes young entrepreneurs who are making a positive impact around the world. Well done to all this year’s honourees.https://t.co/XxHwnUcmBa#ForbesUnder30pic.twitter.com/ieL3lcNNRF
— exergenics (@exergenics) April 20, 2021
Heidi Walkden, 26
Walkden is a research fellow at Griffith University’s Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research where she examines treatments for brain infections, particularly bacteria causing melioidosis.
Thrilled to share that I have been named in the @ForbesAsia 30 Under 30 list in Healthcare & Science! It's an honour to be recognised in this way and only possible with the support of my family, friends and colleagues âž¡ï¸ https://t.co/RPO0ciHNhu#ForbesUnder30#ForbesU30Asiapic.twitter.com/TelQrRqAKG
— Dr Heidi Walkden (@heidi_walkden) April 20, 2021
Originally published as Meet the Australian entrepreneurs who made the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Asia
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