WALTHAM, MA—Sixteen people South Asian-origin have made to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of 600 change-makers in various areas, including business, finance, society, art, science and technology, among others. Of all the South Asians, 87.5 percent are of Indian origin, according to Forbes magazine. The list of South Asian and their bios is provided below courtesy of Forbes.
“The 2017 FORBES 30 Under 30 is the most definitive gathering of today’s leading young change-makers and innovators in the U.S,” said Forbes article announcing the exclusive list. “We bring you 30 game changers in 20 industries all under 30 years old — 600 in total — who are challenging the conventional wisdom and rewriting the rules for the next generation of entrepreneurs, entertainers, educators and more. They are passionate and formidable bunch, and for good reason. Their goal is nothing short of breaking the status quo and transforming the world.”
This year’s list of 600 is packed with boldfaced names, such as actress Margot Robbie, five time Pro Bowler Von Miller, singer Gallant, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Wesley Lowery, vegan chef and “Cupcake Wars” winner Chloe Coscarelli, and social media personalities Kylie Jenner and Tyler Oakley, according to Forbes.
There are 20 categories with 30 honorees. The categories are Art & Style, Consumer Tech, Education, Energy, Enterprise Tech, Finance, Food & Drink, Games, Healthcare, Hollywood & Entertainment, Law & Policy, Manufacturing & Industry, Marketing & Advertising, Media, Music, Retail & E-commerce, Science, Social Entrepreneurs, Sports and Venture Capital. Forbes received 15,000+ nominations for just 600 spots.
30 Under 30 2017 By The Numbers as listed by Forbes:
- 50%+ are founders or cofounders;
- 57% started their business to solve a problem;
- 27% want their business to change the world;
- 75% live or work on the two coasts: 39% on the West Coast; 36% on the East Coast;
- 1:6 are immigrants from 44 countries;
- 5 most attended universities: Harvard University, MIT, New York University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania;
- 1 dream mentor (by far): Elon Musk. Others most preferred include Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Sheryl Sandberg;
- Nearly half (49%) describe millennials as Innovators. Other most-used definitions: Idealists (23%); Influencers (18%); Inventors (10%);
- Nearly half (48%) describe success as achieving your potential, or liking yourself and what you do (also 48%).
- Only 4% pursue success for fame and fortune;
- 35% believe Grit is the most important trait for entrepreneurs; followed by Passion (21%).
Here is the list of South Asians included in the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30:
Anish Abuwala
Portfolio Manager, Caxton Associates LP
Finance
Set to manage his own portfolio focusing on emerging markets as part of a global strategy emphasizing currencies, fixed income and equities at $8 billion hedge fund. Has been supporting Joshua Berkowitz in managing a $1.5 billion cross-asset portfolio at Caxton Associates.
Raja Bobbili
Analyst, Abrams Capital
Finance
At over $8 billion hedge fund Abrams Capital, Bobbili works with four other investment staff to manage one of Wall Street’s most concentrated and successful portfolios. His specialty is in financials, communications and retail.
Nishant Garg
Jimit Shah
Cofounders, Flow Labs
Energy
Flow Labs has devised a small wireless-enabled sensor that attaches to water pipes and measures the amount of water flowing through them — ideal for homes and businesses looking for ways to save water and save money.
Anurag Garg
CEO, Dattus
Manufacturing & Industry
Garg is cofounder and CEO of Dattus, an industrial Internet of things company that transforms old manufacturing facilities into smarter factories.The company has raised $1.7 million in seed funding.
Akshay Goyal
Vice President, Starwood Capital
Finance
The youngest vice president in Starwood’s history when he was promoted at age 26, Goyal focuses on hotel acquisitions and has helped drive over $7 billion in deals. Recently helped sell a portfolio of 240 U.S. hotels to China Life for $2 billion.
Neha Gupta
Business Operations, DAQRI
Manufacturing & Industry
Gupta helped launch The Honest Company and played a role in the sale of Beats by Dre to Apple. Now she manages manufacturing and supply chain for DAQRI, which makes augmented reality headsets to improve safety and efficiency for industrial workers.
Mohammad Islam
Senior Associate, DFJ
Venture Capital
Islam started his investing career in 2012 at In-Q-Tel, the venture arm of the CIA. He joined DFJ in 2014 and has worked with 10 portfolio companies at the firm. Islam previously gained his technical chops as an engineer at Lockheed Martin.
Karan Jani
PhD Candidate, Georgia Institute of Technology
Science
Jani is involved in the gravitational wave experiment at LIGO Lab and part of the team that detected the first gravitational waves. For his work, he was a co-recipient of the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
Mansi Jayakumar
Global Director of Innovation, Y&R
Marketing & Advertising
A self-described “tech junkie,” Jayakumar heads Y&R’s global innovation initiatives across more than 190 offices, including creating Spark Plug, a global innovation incubator program and including projects with Samsung and Dell.
Akshay Khanna
Vice President of Strategy, Philadelphia 76ers
Sports
Khanna has led the acquisition and merger of two eSports teams for the Sixers, manages the team’s entrepreneur innovation lab, developed a StubHub-partnered ticketing platform for Sixers games, and negotiated an estimated $25 million jersey sponsorship deal with StubHub.
Vivek Kopparthi
Cofounder, NeoLight
Healthcare
Worldwide, jaundice is responsible for 50% of hospital readmissions for newborns and 10 infant deaths per hour. The treatment: exposure to light from a special flourescent bulb. But that usually happens in the hospital. NeoLight has developed a phototherapy device that is portable for use at home. The company is also working on a second tool to treat infant hypothermia.
Saswat Panda
Cofounder, LiveLike VR
Consumer Technology
The opportunity for sports to be shown in virtual reality is massive and LiveLike VR wants to make fans sitting at home on the couch feel like they are at the big game. The company has raised $5 million from CAA Ventures, former NBA commissioner David Stern and the NFL.
Dhruv Maheshwari
Research Analyst, Point72 Asset Management
Finance
Part of new macro multi strategy team at billionaire Steve Cohen’s quantitative trading arm, cubist systematic strategies. Former vice president at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where he was part of a $9 billion quantitative trading group.
Sudhakar Nuti
M.D. candidate, Yale University
Healthcare
Nuti studies variations in the quality of health care in the United States, and effort that has resulted in multiple publications in the Journal of the American Medical Association. One recent finding: despite the controversy over the quality of care provided by the U.S.Department of Veterans Affairs, there was no measurable difference in quality between the VA and other hospitals.
Aniq Rahman
President, Moat
Marketing & Advertising
President of Moat, a profitable SaaS analytics and intelligence company focused on digital advertising founded in 2010 with close to 225 employees. Rahman was previously CEO of Instinctiv, later sold to SoundCloud. He is also a partner at Vast Ventures, and the funds collectively have more than 75 investments around the world, including Hyperloop One, Diamond Foundry, Sweetgreen, Juicero, ZocDoc and Gingko Bioworks.
Arun Sharma
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School
Science
Sharma worked as an investigator for a grant funded by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space. This year, the research project, “Effects of Microgravity on Stem Cell-Derived Heart Cells from Diverse Patient Populations” was shot up into space aboard the SpaceX Dragon and received by the International Space Station. Now with Harvard, Sharma uses induced pluripotent stem cells to study cardiovascular biology.
Anarghya Vardhana
Senior Associate, Maveron
Venture Capital
Vardhana joined Maveron in November 2015 after spending a year at Rothenberg Ventures, where she launched a VR accelerator and sourced and made seed investments in a dozen startups in the VR/AR space. She began her career in 2010 at Google, working on AdWords Express internationalization and localization.
Ajay Yadav
Founder, Roomi
Consumer Technology
Looking for a new roommate? Yadav’s startup Roomi is an app that lets users find the right roommate to live with, chat with each other, search for listings, apply for an apartment and pay rent. New York-based Roomi has raised $7 million to date.
