Seven Pakistanis have made it to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list this year.
Among them is filmmaker and creative director Bushra Sultan, the only Pakistani in the Arts category. Sultan, based in Lahore, focuses on challenging the constraints on women in Pakistan. Her notable works include a campaign for Demesne Couture called Guria, which depicts women as puppets to comment on the pressures of the wedding industry, and the bold Chimera campaign featuring headless women.
In the Finance and Venture Capital category, Aleena Nadeem and Sarkhail Bawany were recognized. Nadeem founded EduFi, an education startup that helps Pakistanis attend university by allowing them to pay tuition monthly instead of in a lump sum. She is an MIT graduate with experience at McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, and Ventura Capital. Bawany is the head of product at Abhi, a fintech company that allows workers to access part of their salary before payday in emergencies. Abhi has partnered with companies like Unilever Pakistan and expanded to the Middle East and Bangladesh. Bawany also leads Abhipay, Abhi’s payment services subsidiary.
Kasra Zunnaiyyer, featured in the Enterprise Technology category, co-founded Trukkr, a startup that provides a management platform for Pakistan’s logistics sector, including financing and fleet tracking. In the Consumer Technology category, Adeel Abid, Aizaz Nayyer, and Ali Raza, co-founders of Linkstar, developed a platform that helps freelancers build portfolio websites and learn from online courses. They also acquired Oliv, a Dubai-based career marketplace for hiring students and graduates.