Five Nepalis from various fields have made it to the Forbes' list of 300 under 30 brightest young entrepreneurs, innovators and game changers of Asia.
In its second year, the Asia list has featured 300 promising Asia young leaders— 30 in each of the 10 categories — from all walks of life, pushing the boundaries of innovation, according to Forbes.
The list is representative of Asia Pacific region. From China (76 honorees) to India (53 honorees) and Southeast Asia to Australia (29 honorees), Uzbekistan (1 honoree) and Bhutan (1 honoree), there are 24 countries represented and over 30 nationalities in total — including young expats who have flocked to the region to help fuel its growth.
Here are profiles of Nepalis who made it on Forbes list under various categories.
Media, Marketing and Advertising
Prabhat Yadav
Founder, Explore Gadgets
Yadav's Kathmandu-based company Explore Gadgets began as a YouTube channel in 2012, just after he'd completed his final year of school. The channel introduced his Nepalese audience to the latest technological gadgets, which are often difficult and expensive to access in Nepal. He's the only "YouTuber" in Nepal to receive a Silver Play Button award — an award for reaching 100,000 subscribers — from Youtube. The channel now has over 360,000 subscribers.
Social Entrepreneurs
Ravi Kumar, 29 (Spouse: Mia Mitchell, 28)
Code for Nepal
Cofounders, Code for Nepal
Husband and wife Kumar and Mitchell cofounded Code for Nepal, an organization aiming to increase digital literacy and use of big data in the country. To that end, they have launched nepalmap.org last year to make data on the country more accessible. Kumar has helped rebuild more than 25 schools in the remote villages of Nepal, similar to the one he comes from, and now serves as a lead digital strategist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. Mitchell works on foreign assistance at the White House office of Management and Budget.
Surya Karki
Cofounder, Diyalo Foundation
Karki is the founder of Nepal's Diyalo Foundation, which provides free education to children living in rural parts of the country. It also works to develop sustainable energy and farming by offering related services and training programs to rural residents. Born in rural Nepal to a single mother, Karki won a national scholarship at the age of eight and is currently working on his master's degree at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Retail and Ecommerce
Aashish Acharya, Sabin Bhandari
WhiteSpace
Cofounders, WhiteSpace
The duo came up with their idea for an online apparel store — the first of its kind in Nepal — in 2012 while in college. Threadpaints quickly established itself as a trendy marketplace selling everything from t-shirts designed by hip local designers, to shoulder bags, watches and perfumes. And the brand remains true to its roots, raising funds through its 'T-shirts For Relief' campaign to help those affected in the aftermath of the devastating 2015 Nepal earthquake.
"The 30 under 30 Asia list took almost six months to put together. In addition to receiving thousands of nominations online, we tasked our dozen correspondents and researchers from every corner of the region to find the best of the best young entrepreneurs making waves in their respective industries. Our in-house team then sifted through the nominations and enlisted the help of 30 judges — legends in their fields — to help pick the final 300", Forbes said.
Judges on this year’s list include shoe designer Jimmy Choo and chef George Calombaris for The Arts, rugby player Sonny Bill Williams and Malaysian singer and songwriter Yuna for Entertainment & Sports, Hiroshi Mikitani of Rakuten for Retail and E-commerce, Misfit founder Sonny Vu for Healthcare & Science, Didi Chuxing’s CEO Jean Liu for Consumer Technology, Indian philanthropist Vineet Nayar and Solina Chau, Director of Li Ka-shing Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs, and Nepali billionaire Binod Chaudhary and Kaifu Lee for Finance & Venture Capital.
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