News Desk |
Five Pakistanis and a local start-up have been featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2019 list. Forbes while releasing the list stated that 300 “entrepreneurs and game-changers, representing 23 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region” were chosen who stood out for the right reasons.
“From innovating in technology and disrupting age-old industries to demonstrating immense talent and dominating the world stage (cue in Naomi Osaka), this group of young stars shines in more ways than one,” the magazine said.
Ahmed Rauf Essa
Ahmed Rauf Essa, the co-founder of Telemart that Forbes has stated as one of the largest e-commerce platforms in Pakistan, while in business school at the age of 23″.
“Outside of B2C, the company also has an extensive wholesale channel which caters to more than 500 dealers online, and is an end-to-end solutions provider for major firms such as P&G, Lucky Cement, and Ufone,” it said.
Read more: Nine Pakistanis featured in Forbes Asia ‘30 Under 30’ list
Karishma Ali
The second in the list is Karishma Ali, a female footballer who hails from Chitral and according to Forbes, “is the first girl from her hometown to have played football at a national and international level.”
Apart from participating in national games, Ali has represented Pakistan internationally as well. She has recently participated in Jubilee Games Dubai, and her team was the first women team to participate in the AFL International Cup. Ali is also the founder of the Chitral Women’s Sports Club.
Read more: Six Pakistanis shine in the Forbes ’30 Under 30′ 2018 list
Laila Kasuri
Laila Kasuri is a water analyst with Global Green Growth Investment’s Police Solution Division and has led the research at various organizations like World Bank, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences on climate-smart irrigation, flood risk reduction, and river basin planning.
Forbes commenting on her achievements stated, “As climate change takes its toll on the developing world, water specialists like Laila Kasuri are becoming increasingly important in taking a preventative approach to sustainability.”
Zainab Bibi
Zainab Bibi founded the Pakistan Society for Green Energy in 2013. The organization has been working on developing renewable energy sources and has successfully established a biofuel from waste tissue paper and introduced Camelina Sativa a drought-resistant plant that can be made into bio-diesel.
Zain Ashraf Mughal
Zain Ashraf Mughal is the founder of Seed Out, Pakistan’s first crowdfunding platform that aims to promote interest-free micro-financing entrepreneurship.The donors can choose to donate or lend money to the projects listed with the availability to track the progress of the project. When the profit is made the company helps to reinvest the money in other projects. According to the company, Seed Out has a 97% repayment rate and has helped 538 locals raise funding.
Roshni Rides
Roshni Rides is a women’s friendly local carpooling platform in Pakistan. The start-up is founded by Hanaa Lakhani, Hasan Usmani, Gia Farooqi and Muneeb Mian. The start-up initially provided transportation to the refugees from their camps to nearby hospitals or markets. The start-up also won $1 million Hult Prize in 2017. It is now looking forward to providing safe rides to working women in the country.