Islamabad: Five talented Pakistanis have been featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list for 2023.
This distinguished list recognizes the outstanding achievements and potential of these individuals as rising leaders and innovators in their respective fields.
Forbes’ eighth annual “30 Under 30 Asia” list featured 300 young entrepreneurs, leaders and trailblazers across the Asia-Pacific region, all under the age of 30.
There are 30 entries selected for each of the 10 categories: the arts (art and style, food and drink), entertainment and sports, finance and venture capital, media, marketing and advertising, retail and e-commerce, enterprise technology; industry, manufacturing and energy, healthcare and science, social impact; and consumer technology.
Pakistanis on the list include artist Ayesha Mubarak Ali, 26, Bioniks founder Anas Niaz, 29, co-founders of KalPay, Shershah Hassan and Waleed Amjad Islam, both aged 25 and a 29-year-old screenwriter Azam Mahmood.
Anas Niaz (Social Impact)
Muhammad Anas Niaz, a 29-year-old mechatronics engineer and a social entrepreneur by passion, co-founded Pakistan’s first bionic limb startup, in 2016 with Ovais Hussain Qureshi.
Bioniks is a social enterprise that develops low-cost bionic arms that are available in superhero themes. The startup can develop robotic arms for kids as young as 3 years.
Bioniks produces cutting-edge 3D-printed prosthetics that are custom-made and integrated with sensors and software, enabling users to grasp objects with robotic fingers. The devices can be easily updated and monitored through a cloud-based system. While the latest bionic arms typically cost $20,000 or higher, the ones from Bioniks are a tenth of the cost.
The company also connects those who can not afford the prosthetics with donors, ensuring that financial constraints do not hinder access to life-changing technology. Talking to Gulf News, Niaz said: “It is a huge honour to be featured in the Forbes list as an enterprise creating social impact in Pakistan and beyond.”
In 2018, Bioniks was invited to the UAE’s esteemed tech event Gitex Future Stars 2018 and sponsored by the Department of Health Abu Dhabi as one of the most promising health startups offering advanced and low-cost prosthetics.
Ayesha Mubarak Ali (The Arts)
Pakistani visual tech artist, Ayesha Mubarak Ali, also made it to the list. 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 the Maleth II mission. “Never could I have imagined that the path I embarked upon in ‘fusion-art’ would lead me to the milestone,” Mubarak wrote in a Twitter post.
The 26-year-old fusion-tech artist and creative director specializes in using cutting-edge technologies to challenge the traditional ideas of reality and human identity, exploring the themes involving light pollution, identity politics, and the future of humanity.
Ali also joined Metaverse Fashion Council Advisory Board in June 2022 and has been showcasing her work internationally including at Karachi Biennale and Islington Mill Gallery. The young artist has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in Karachi. She is also the co-founder and creative director of MetaVisionaries, an e-learning platform registered in London, UK.
Shershaha and Waleed (Finance and Venture Capital)
Shershah Hassan and Waleed Amjad Islam, both aged 25, are cofounders of Pakistan’s Sharia-compliant buy-now-pay-later startup KalPay, which aims to reach the country’s 240 million population. Launched in June 2021, KalPay has been partnering with other tech companies in Pakistan such as 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.
Azam Mahmood (Media, Marketing & Advertising)
Azam Mahmood, 29, is a talented storyteller whose work often centers on his experience being a queer Muslim as well as an immigrant in London. Mahmood is a story editor for the reboot of the drama series “Queer as Folk,” as well as working with Golden Globe-winning actor Ramy Youssef on the show he created, “Ramy.”
