These 15 young entrepreneurs have all been shortlisted because of the tremendous impact of their business ventures and how they are inspiring others with their leadership.
The One Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Award recognises five of the world's most promising entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35. The award highlights the work of innovative young business leaders whose enterprises are shaping the world around them and inspiring others to launch their own ventures.
The shortlisted nominees are currently being reviewed by One Young World’s expert judging panel, who will decide the final five winners.
The five winners will be announced in July and will be presented with this award at the One Young World 2023 Summit.
The Shortlist
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, United Kingdom
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE is a prodigy in every sense of the word. Aged 11, she was the youngest girl ever to pass A-level computing, and was just 20 years old when she received her Master’s Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Oxford.
Since then, she has forged an enviable CV, including positions at Goldman Sachs, Hewlett-Packard and Deutsche Bank. Then there are the Honorary Doctorates from Open University, Glasgow Caledonian University, Kent University, Bristol University & Coventry University and an Honorary Fellowship at Keble College, Oxford. She is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Sunderland and sits on the Council of Research England as well as being the current President of the British Science Association.
It is this wealth of experience and pioneering spirit that led her to co-found the Stemettes, an award-winning social initiative dedicated to inspiring and promoting the next generation of young women and non-binary people in the STEM sectors. Since its inception 10 years ago, it has exposed 60,000 young people across Europe to Anne-Marie’s vision for a more diverse and balanced science and tech community. In 2022 she released her new book She’s in CTRL a guidebook for women to take back tech.
In recognition of her influence and achievements, Anne-Marie was awarded an MBE in the 2017 New Year’s Honours for services to young women and STEM sectors. In 2020, she was voted the most influential woman in tech in the UK by Computer Weekly.
Bas Timmer, The Netherlands
Bas Timmer is an accomplished designer, entrepreneur, and founder of the Sheltersuit Foundation. He has been recognized as a Next Generation Leader by TIME Magazine for his exceptional use of design to bring comfort and protection to people experiencing homelessness. Bas is passionate about creating a better world for those experiencing homelessness and to making a positive impact on society.
While studying Fashion in the Netherlands, Bas had seen many homeless people sitting on the street and when the father of a close friend died from hypothermia, Bas took action. After designing the first Sheltersuit in 2014, which is a 100% upcycled product that combines a jacket and sleeping bag into a multifunctional garment for the unsheltered, Bas created and grew Sheltersuit Foundation into an international organisation and provided warmth and protection to over 25,000 individuals worldwide, establishing Bas as one of Fashion’s most forward-thinking designers.
Bas has aligned himself with the best designers in the fashion industry, most notably with Gabriella Hearst during her premier as Creative Director at Chloé. Gabriella invited Bas to be part of the runway show at Paris Fashion Week in 2021. With a blend of multidisciplinary design, environmental consciousness, social impact knowhow, and entrepreneurial vigor, Bas is at the forefront of social impact design.
Bas is currently partnering to launch ShelterLab, a collaboration centre where design, alternative manufacturing, upcycled raw materials, inclusive employment, and creative energy come together to help people suffering from homelessness and to unlock new ideas and positive impact for the unhoused.
Everette Taylor, United States
Everette Taylor is CEO of Kickstarter, the world’s premiere crowdfunding platform. Everette is a creative entrepreneur who is passionate about art, supporting creatives and entrepreneurs, and helping people bring their dreams to reality.
Before joining Kickstarter, Everette served as the CMO of Artsy, the largest online marketplace for fine art. During his time at Artsy, he was named by Forbes as one of the World's Most Influential CMOs due to the business seeing all-time record revenue growth during his tenure.
As a marketing executive, he led both on-demand rental car company Skurt as their CMO and software company Qualaroo to successful acquisitions. He also led growth and co-founded GrowthHackers.com which became the largest community for growth marketers. He also helped e-commerce company Sticker Mule see its largest growth as a company as their youngest CMO ever and oversaw growth strategy of new social products for Microsoft China.
As an entrepreneur, Everette started his first company at the age of 19 called EZ Events which was successfully acquired in 2011. He then went on to establish ET Enterprises in 2013, a diverse portfolio of companies that includes PopSocial, MilliSense, ArtX and more. As CEO of PopSocial, he was recognized as Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2018 for his innovation in the social media marketing space.
In 2019, Everette received an honorary doctorate degree from Shaw University upon recognition of his “meritorious contributions to human society and welfare for humanity”.
Hunter Johnson, Australia
Hunter Johnson is the CEO of The Man Cave, an emotional intelligence charity that works with over 200 schools and has directly impacted the lives of over 50,000 young men across Australia. Hunter also leads STUFF™, which alongside funding Man Cave, is Australia's fastest-growing, men's personal care brand which has over 1600 points of sale across the country. Hunter also works as an Advisor to The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust (QCT). His work has led him to speak around the world including presenting at the United Nations, Government House, Human Rights Commission, Sydney Opera House, national TV and radio networks.
In Australia, suicide is the leading cause of death for young men under 18. On average, more than one woman a week is killed due to domestic violence and 1 in 3 women will experience sexual abuse before 18. The fundamental belief at Man Cave & STUFF is that this is preventable if there is investment in programs and initiatives that focus on early intervention, on men's strengths rather than their deficits, and provide a positive future state for masculinity.
Man Cave is now the leading service-provider working in the Australian education system delivering "healthy masculinity" programs that focus on young men's emotional intelligence, character development, consent education and values-led leadership. Whilst the programs have directly impacted over 50,000 young men over the past 8 years through immersive, long-term programs, he has subsequently impacted over 1M people through schools and communities, including parents, teachers, coaches, mentors and community leaders.
Hunter has been recognised as an Honouree for the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list, Finalist for the Young Australian of the Year Awards (VIC), named a Queen's Young Leader by Her Majesty The Queen, Winner of the EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Southern Region) and listed as one of Harper's Bazaar's "Visionary Men of the Year"
Lubomila Jordanova, Germany
Lubomila Jordanova is the co-founder and CEO of Plan A, Europe's leading corporate carbon accounting, decarbonisation, and ESG reporting software solutions provider. Lubomila is also co-founder of the Greentech Alliance, a community of more than 2,000 startups connected to more than 500 advisors from VC, media, and business. She serves as an Advisory Board Member to the Sustainability Board at Chloé.
Plan A’s mission is to decarbonise businesses of all sizes, worldwide. Therefore, Greentech has developed a SaaS platform that combines cutting-edge technologies and the latest scientific standards and methodologies (compliant with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol; certified by TÜV Rheinland). The Plan A Sustainability Platform enables businesses to self-manage their entire net-zero journey – from data collection over emissions calculation, target setting, and decarbonisation planning to non-financial reporting – in one central hub. The Berlin, Paris, and London-based company counts N26, ApaxPartners, Albion Capital, Sorare, BMW, Trivago, Société Générale, Payhawk, and the European Union among its customers.
To date the Plan A Sustainability Platform has brought 7 Mt of carbon under management. Within the next two years, Plan A wants to increase this metric to 1 gigatonne of CO2e on an annual basis. Moreover, the SaaS platform currently empowers 1,500+ businesses to self-manage their net-zero journey and reduce their absolute emissions by at least 5% annually and by up to 50% over 10 years. In December 2022, Plan A signed an exclusive long-term partnership with Visa. With this, both organisations aim to empower companies to future-proof their businesses and stay competitive by managing their net-zero journey at scale.
Lubomila has been recognised as Obama Leader Europe 2022, MIT Innovator Under 35 Europe 2022, Marshall Fund Fellow 2022, Top 50 Women in Tech in Germany 2021 (Handelsblatt) and 30 under 30 (Forbes), among others.
Mateo Nicolás Salvatto, Argentina
Mateo Salvatto is a 24-year-old tech entrepreneur from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
When he was 17 he achieved Argentina's first ever International Robotics Championship in Israel, and a year later created his first company: Asteroid, whose first product, the Háblalo app, already assists more than 375.000 people with communication disabilities in 65 countries, entirely for free. Meanwhile, Asteroid works side by side with companies and governments to transform them into more inclusive organisations using technology. Their mission is to turn society into a more accessible place for all through their "Inclusion Revolution".
Mateo also serves as a teacher in innovation & entrepreneurship to young kids at ORT Schools. His book "The Battle for The Future", written to motivate the new generations to collaborate for good, has sold +70k copies and became #1 Best Seller in 2021. For his many appearances on national and international media pronouncing about the importance of technology as a force for good,he is recognized as one of the primary young voices in Argentina, having been awarded, for example, with the national Golden Eikon to the Communicator of the Year in 2022.
He was also recognized as Humanitarian Innovator of the Year by MIT Technology Review, Best Social Innovator Worldwide by Peking University and Outstanding Entrepreneur by National Congress, among many other important awards. Asteroid was selected in 2020 as one of the Top 100 Startups Worldwide by the Global Entrepreneurship Network in Saudi Arabia.
Lately, Mateo was included in the "MERCO Ranking" as the 38th most influential businessman in Argentina (youngest in history on the ranking).
Nina Ellaine Dizon-Cabrera, The Philippines
Nina Ellaine Dizon-Cabrera’s journey is a true testament to perseverance and hard work. Despite dropping out of college and coming from a middle-income family, Nina founded Colourette in 2015. Her company has become a trailblazer in the beauty industry, standing out as the first in the Philippines to genuinely showcase inclusivity and diversity.
At the heart of Colourette's mission is the empowerment of consumers. Nina’s campaigns prioritize representation and inclusivity, rejecting the notion that insecurities and colourism are acceptable tools for profit. Her flagship product, the Colourtint, comes in over 30 shades designed to complement the Filipino skin tone, and just recently they launched First Base skin tint, the first one in the country to launch 12 skin tone shades to reflect the brand's commitment to making everyone feel seen and valued.
Yet, Colourette's impact extends beyond its innovative products. The company has taken a socially aware stance, standing up for issues they believe in, such as advocating for the Anti-Terrorism Bill and the Sogie Bill. They also proudly supported Leni Robredo during the recent elections. Additionally, Colourette has shown its commitment to the community through its charitable efforts, including donating 1.6 million pesos to the Typhoon Ulysses relief efforts.
Nina’s unwavering dedication to Colourette's purpose has earned her numerous accolades, including recognition as a 2022 Tatler Gen T Honouree and one of 2022 Preview's 50 most influential people in the advocate category. Her positive impact on the beauty industry, combined with her commitment to social responsibility, has made her a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs and a respected figure in the Philippines. Colourette's inclusive and socially aware approach to beauty has made it a staple in many Filipino households, uplifting and empowering people to embrace their unique beauty with confidence and pride.
Odunayo Eweniyi, Nigeria
Piggyvest is a Nigerian fintech startup founded in 2016 by Somto Ifezue, Joshua Chibueze, and Odunayo Eweniyi. It started as a simple online savings platform, allowing users to save small amounts of money periodically, but it has since evolved into a robust personal wealth management platform.
Piggyvest offers various services, including automated savings, micro-investments, and budgeting tools. The platform enables users to set savings targets, lock away funds for a specified period, and earn competitive interest rates on their savings. It also provides investment opportunities in pre-vetted, low-medium-risk ventures, allowing users to grow their wealth. By leveraging technology, Piggyvest has made financial planning and management more accessible and convenient for its users. The platform appeals primarily to young, tech-savvy individuals who want to take control of their personal finances, save towards specific goals, and build a secure financial future.
Our vision is to establish a comprehensive and inclusive digital wealth management ecosystem tailored to the unique needs of young people in Nigeria and expand to other emerging markets. By leveraging cutting-edge technology and user-centered design, we aim to revolutionize personal finance management and general financial services for millions of individuals, fostering financial stability and empowering them to build a prosperous future.
Piggyvest now proudly serves more than 4.5 million users, managing assets exceeding $250 million. Our innovative payment products have successfully processed transactions worth over $1 billion while catering to the needs of over 2 million users and supporting a network of over 1,000 active merchants.
Pranav Vempati, India
Pranav Vempati, a 29-year-old Social Entrepreneur from Hyderabad, India. Driven by the vision of leveraging technology for profound social transformation, Pranav established Makers Hive Innovations in 2018.
Approximately 57.7 million individuals worldwide have experienced limb loss due to traumatic circumstances. Despite the existence of numerous Advanced Assistive Devices in the global market, a large portion of the population lacks access to them as they cost upwards of $50,000. Makers Hive has addressed this issue by creating the KalArm® Bionic Hand, a technologically advanced and remarkably cost-effective solution. Compared to other Bionic Hands offering similar features, KalArm® is almost five times more affordable, making it the most economical option available. KalArm® stands as India's first fully functional Bionic Hand and serves as a remarkable tribute to the late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President of India.
Under Pranav’s leadership, Makers Hive had garnered many prestigious accolades, including the 12th AEGIS Graham Bell Award, Forbes 100 to Watch, AssisTech Best AT Start-Up Award, etc. Notably, Pranav himself has been featured on the coveted Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 List. Eminent entities such as the Department of Science and Technology - Govt of India, the Hon’ble Vice President of India, the British High Commission, and the World Health Organization have commended Makers Hive's remarkable contributions.
Pranav and his team at Makers Hive are now venturing into the development of bionic legs, bionic eyes, and exoskeletons. His ultimate pursuit is to champion inclusivity and galvanize a society where technology acts as a catalyst for positive social change and equality.
Robin Takashi Lewis, Japan
Robin is a Japan-based social entrepreneur and educator. He is Co-founder of mymizu, an award-winning platform to reduce plastic waste through the power of technology and community, which to date has saved millions of plastic bottles from going to waste and built a new plastic-free hydration network across 50+ countries. He is also the CEO of Social Innovation Japan, a platform for accelerating action for the SDGs, two-time winner of Japan's 'Minister of Environment Prize' and one of Nikkei’s '100 companies building the future of Japan'.
For 12+ years, Robin has worked with social enterprises, NGOs and inter-governmental organisations such as the World Bank, and has managed sustainable development projects in countries including Japan, Haiti, Vanuatu and Mozambique. He has empowered 10,000+ youth through education initiatives, from leadership training and climate action courses, to developing scholarship programs and collaborative projects with youth across demographics and regions.
In 2017, he began a creative storytelling project, walking 1,000+ km along Japan’s coastline to promote tourism to the area devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and support its recovery (“Michinoku Coastal Trail” project). In 2020, he was recognised by M.I.T. Technology Review’s ‘Innovators Under-35’ Awards and in 2022 won Business Insider Japan's 'Beyond Millennials' Award.
Robin is a Board Member of one of Japan's leading innovation hubs, Shibuya QWS, and serves as an advisor and mentor to several impact organisations and accelerator programs. His work has been featured in media including CNN, Vogue and Netflix.
Ruma Devi, India
A girl with a dream in her eyes and a needle in her hand stepped out of her house to provide others a better tomorrow. A story of a lady who came from an orthodox and deprived background, managed home and social work together amazingly. And that is Ruma Devi, succeeded in her goal with a strong determination and courage of changing the environment for ladies in her region.
Despite being born in the deprived desert area and dropping out of school in class 8th, she was being invited to Harvard University as a speaker for her exemplary work in the field of women empowerment through revolutionary innovations; honoured by highest civilian award ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ by the President of India.
A role model and initiator of change, she has been successful in generating continuous income for artisans and their families. Her business model in the field of innovation has won her critical acclaim at the national and international level and has helped women artisans reach out to new clientele.
Ruma Devi Foundation is a social welfare organisation, established in the year 2021 with the vision of rural development through various initiatives in the sector of livelihood, education, health and infrastructure. As an Expert craftsman, she has trained more than 30,000+ women artisans from 250+ villages of Thar region of Rajasthan
Sara Wahedi, Afghanistan
Sara Wahedi is the CEO and Founder of Ehtesab, Afghanistan’s first civic technology startup. In 2022, Sara Wahedi was named as one of TIME Magazine’s ’Next Generation Leaders’, MIT Technology Review’s ‘Innovators under 35’ and the BBC's 'Top 100 Women', for her work in democratizing access to information for Afghans.
Ehtesab has been providing near real-time security and city service alerts to Afghans through the ‘Ehtesab App’ (meaning “accountability” in Dari and Pashto) since June 2020, which expanded from five cities to nationwide coverage in 2023. The application also allows users to send reports on incidents which occur in their vicinity - becoming the first citizen engagement platform in Afghanistan’s history. Due to the Taliban’s crackdown on women’s and girls’ education and self-agency, Ehtesab is working on providing instant-access digital guides instructing women about the procedures for dealing with threatening or emergency situations, providing women with tools to safely de-escalate, disrupt, and record their grievances in a method which will be integral for future accountability purposes.
By allowing citizens, especially Afghan women and youth, to engage and inform–in giving the right information and then disseminating that to local communities– the app is focused on providing viable civic technology solutions to serve the needs of communities and those who reside within them. This ensures that the impact of these practices in the technological landscape in Afghanistan is to increase democratic access to information, documentation of human rights violations, and a safe, simple and easily accessible method to report anonymously. The app is completely youth-led, with the team’s average age of 21.
Theodoric Chew, Singapore
Theodoric Chew is the Co-founder & CEO of Intellect, Asia’s largest mental health technology company, providing comprehensive modern-day mental healthcare for organisations and individuals across the region.
Intellect’s mission is to rebuild the mental healthcare ecosystem and infrastructure in Asia first, and then the world, to be able to make mental health and wellbeing support accessible and relevant for anyone, everyday.
Sparked by his own personal mental health journey growing up, today, Intellect has grown to serve over 3 million members worldwide, trusted by the world’s largest employers and organisations. The company’s mental health services has since expanded to serve over 10 different Asian languages and all of the region, to reach millions more.
Intellect has raised over $30m in venture funding till date, backed by the world's leading investors including Tiger Global, Y Combinator, Insignia Ventures Partners, HOF Capital, IHH Healthcare Group, K3 Ventures, JAFCO, Headline, East Ventures, MS&AD Ventures, and an extensive list of family offices, venture capital firms, big tech executives & renowned angel investors.
Theodoric was named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list, as well as on Prestige’s 40 under 40 list both in 2022. Intellect was also named one of Google’s Best Apps of the Year in 2020, and won the Best Mental Wellness Vendor of the year at the 2022 HR Vendor Awards.
Tiffany A. Yu, United States
Tiffany Yu is the Founder & CEO of Diversability, a social enterprise on a mission to elevate disability pride, build disability power, and advance disability leadership for the 1+ billion disabled people globally. Diversability does that through disability community, visibility, and engaged allyship. Diversability began as the first disability student club at Georgetown University in 2009 and has grown to a 100% disabled team of 8 who manage a digital ecosystem of over 80,000. To date, Diversability has hosted over 100 events and has helped to get disabled people paid over $133,000.
Tiffany has also helped invest over $170,000 in disability initiatives through a microgrant for disability projects and a disability endowment fund, created The Anti-Ableism Series on social media that has garnered over 5 million views, and co-founded a fiscal sponsor for BIPOC disabled-led initiatives. She has been named a LinkedIn Top Voice in Disability Advocacy, TikTok Asian & Pacific Islander Trailblazer, Well+Good Changemaker, and World Economic Forum SDG Champion. She recently received an honorary doctorate recognizing her disability advocacy work. She serves on the LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games advisory group on workforce development and was a mayoral appointee on the San Francisco Mayor's Disability Council.
Wemimo Abbey, Nigeria
Wemimo Abbey is the co-founder and co-CEO of Esusu. He comes from a finance background, and prior to Esusu, he founded companies in the non-profit and technology spaces.
Esusu is the leading financial technology platform leveraging data solutions like rent reporting and zero-interest rent relief to build credit, improve financial health, and empower residents and property owners while working to bridge the racial wealth gap and dismantle barriers to housing, particularly for families in marginalized communities who have often been denied equitable housing access.
Wemimo’s deeply-rooted personal mission has led him to grow Esusu at an exponential rate and keep social good at the heart of the company. Under Wemimo’s leadership, Esusu is one of the few Black-owned tech unicorn companies in the US, which has established over 50,000 credit scores and deployed millions in rent relief.
As a result of a recent partnership with Campus Apartments, Esusu was able to help over 21,000 college students establish and build credit for free. In addition, established and improved credit scores enable renters access to quality auto and student loan products, among others, to empower future generations to better their financial futures.
Wemimo has been named to the 2022 Fortune 40 Under 40, 2022 Crain’s 40 Under 40, 2022 Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts, and the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, among others. He regularly speaks at global conferences, has presented at the United Nations, Clinton Global Initiative, and has testified in front of the U.S. Congress.